Edgewell: 360-degree perspective is key to consumer engagement

With its broad portfolio spanning shaving, skin, sun, infant and feminine care in the personal care segment, Edgewell tees up its message to the New General Market to match the audience.

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Those carefully tweaked messages are evident at the retail shelf, where thought has been put into how to communicate at the point of decision. For example, as Jonathan Rhyan, senior shopper marketing manager for Edgewell Personal Care, noted, the manner in which messages are conveyed — and the content of these messages — is different depending on the shopper’s path to purchase.



With its powerful brand names — such as Playtex, Schick, Edge and Banana Boat — Edgewell has names consumers seek in stores. Still, Edgewell believes consumers must be given a 360-degree perspective of brands, with the digital shopping experience they experience from their couch being entirely cohesive with what happens when they are in store aisles — and vice versa. “We look at it as a holistic experience,” Rhyan said.



Just as significantly, the role of the shelf itself varies depending on customer needs and the particular brand in question. For instance, Rhyan said, women seek information about feminine hygiene products and usage in keeping with the particular life stage in which they happen to be. However, because of the nature of the product, they don’t want to look for answers to their questions while standing in the aisle at the local store.



“The aisle isn’t the right place to be delivering the message, in this case,” Rhyan noted. “So we look at how we deliver that information differently, and then synergize it at the shelf.”



On the other hand, sun care is a category where on-shelf information is paramount. Edgewell has tapped a myriad of technological tools to help shoppers make educated decisions, including what to select based on the weather that day or the activities they plan outside.



Casting an eye to the future, Rhyan said hyper-personalization and micro-targeting represent the next direction brands must take in order to cater to the needs of consumers within and beyond the New General Market. “In order to do that, you have to have a lot of insight and do your homework,” he asserted. “You have to know who your consumer is and how they use your products. Insight work can be expensive, but without it, a company is challenged to get down to that personalized authenticity.”



Edgewell also recognizes that social media has opened up avenues to target the New General Market. But again, the message must be fine-tuned, and marketers must remember that there is no “one-size fits all” solution for reaching millennials.



“What exactly is a millennial? Is it the younger millennial group of 18-24? With kids or without? Millennials are the most culturally diverse group,” Rhyan said. Another example is the Hispanic population, which also requires carefully curated social media approaches. “You really have to understand and shape your messages to speak to people in a meaningful way, particularly as it relates to product or category education. We are putting a lot of emphasis behind our insight work.”



Edgewell has many recent examples of using its toolbox to create relevant messages linked to products. The Rock Your Legs Campaign for its Schick and Skintimate brands features its own emojis. Schick and Skintimate Rock Your Legs emoji displays appeared in major grocery stores and drug stores.



Similarly, Edgewell’s Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration Weightless Lotion Sunscreen was featured in seven episodes of actress Shay Mitchell’s YouTube series, Shaycation. Mitchell has more than 21 million followers across YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, and will promote Hawaiian Tropic across her social media channels.