117 posts tagged “azor”
Courtesy Geoff Riley, head of economics at Eton College, I was delighted to speak to approximately 200 young shavers as part of a series of talks to their Entrepreneur Society, headed by co-secretary, Thomas Aedy. Having gone to school at Kirkley High, a comprehensive school in Lowestoft, Eton is probably as far removed from that place of learning as it's possible to be. It was great!
I was met by Thomas, a very assured young man (in his suit & tie - the tie came off shortly afterwards) at Eton landmark, 'the burning bush', and then ushered into one the 25 houses, for fireworks and dinner, kindly hosted by housemaster, Mark Fielker, along with Geoff and a dozen or so of the members of the Entrepreneur Society.
I had about an hour in which to try and impart my enthusiasm for what I do - how King of Shaves has grown, why I founded the business, the challenges, the rewards and the importance of being a 'momentum creator'. We touched on my 'life at the centre of a hurricane brand', the importance of calm (whilst storms are raging around you), why I think companies of the future should be constructed like a wheel, explained Brannovation, Smarketing, Props & Purdo's, took the audience through my '20 second MBA' course and afterwards, answered a series of intelligently framed questions from audience members (attendees were also from local schools, as well as students from Eton).
It was my first 'after dinner' presentation - normally, I try to carry them out in the morning, or at least during the day, but I got two huge rounds of applause, and at the end, Thomas kindly mentioned "I'd been the best speaker they'd had, so far" (I'm sure they say that to all the speakers).
Attendees departed with King of Shaves product, and assorted cans of Red Bull & Relentless - those who were there, will know why these were handed out.
These guys (and girls) are our future - and I hoped my brief discourse on 'Being the best you can be' enthused them to 'embrace change as a constant' - 'knuckle down and build momentum' and most important of all, to 'enthuse, exceed, enjoy'.
Thanks Geoff, and for your blog post too.
Consumer Communities, Digital Dialogues and Shaving. The King of Shaves View. (original blog posting)
I was pleased to be interviewed by Clark Turner, founding editor of top online marketing site, uTalkMarketing.com a week or so ago, and was delighted to
read the article today, courtesy a tweet from one of our followers. If you're in marketing, and want to start to get ahead of the curve in this space, I believe it's worth a read.
You may also have read that King of Shaves is a founding member of the Consumer Forum, i blogged on the site today about the importance of embracing Twitter to connect with your customers, 25/8. Link to that blog here.
Hope you enjoy!
Back in 1993, a young guy called Brett Wells worked at SIPCO (Shell International Petroleum Company) in IT. He was a friend of mine (still is!) and was one of the very first (like, the second!) to shave with the original King of Shaves shaving oil, contributing to its stellar first year sales of £300...
Sixteen years on, we've come on a little way, as has he - now Business Development Manager at a company called Ingenico, and along with five colleagues, is heartily embracing the spirit of Movember, growing 'tache's to raise funds for this worthy cause, and in memory of Tim, a work colleague who sadly passed away due to prostrate cancer.
The six guys (Brett is the one in the purple tie) are pictured, and if you wish to donate to this worthy cause (King of Shaves supports it down-under, in the UK, Wilkinson Sword are doing their bit), please go to their donation page here. They've already raised £880. Well done bro's.
And, when it comes to removing their no doubt beautifully crafted moustache's, we'll provide the necessary hardware and software, and make a donation ourselves.
King of Shaves Azor continues to grow in the face of huge competition from 'Wilkinette'. According to sales numbers we received yesterday (and this is before our integrated TV advertising & trade promotions kicked off early October) here are the highlights:
- King of Shaves Azor handle sales up 309% year on year (to w/e Oct 3rd 2009)
- King of Shaves Azor Endurium replacement cartridges up 1,339% year on year (to w/e Oct 3rd 2009)
- King of Shaves Azor the #5 selling system razor handle by volume (outselling all individual Wilkinson Sword variants, as well as Gillette Mach3 Turbo, Gillette Fusion Power Stealth, Gillettte Fusion Power Phenom & Gillette Fusion Power Gamer).
- Aggressive price promotions by Gillette drove handle sales at the expense of handle cost, the average Gillette system handle (including all power variants) at just £4 (versus RRP's of up to £9.99)
- All Wilkinson Sword products in month-on-month sales decline.
Looking forward to reporting our October sales figures - where our handle market share could easily hit 17% by volume.
Awesome King of Shaves Azor Sales in UK. (original blog post)
In the past four weeks, in the UK alone, we've sold a simply stunning 107,000+ Azor system razor handles and an even more unbelievable 602,000+ Azor Endurium cartridges. With each Azor cartridge delivering 3-4 weeks of high performance use, that's over 2,000,000 weeks of King of Shaving.
Words fail me. Many, many thanks to everybody who's turned from 'the Dark side' and have seen the light, who 'get' our ecoptimised, high performance razor with its 'Bendology Technology' and who are shaving closer, longer, for less - and with style too.
King of Shaves Azor also shortlisted for Shortlist Magazine's 2010 Men's Grooming Award for Best Razor - we won 'Best New Shaving Product' last year - will we manage the accolade of 'Top Razor' as we turn our faces towards 2010.
King of Shaves - Truly the Future of Shaving.
Cool shavings & savings with King of Shaves Azor & Clicks in South Africa (original blog post)
It's
a beautiful sunny day in Cape Town, and with Table Mountain in the
background, we showcased our Azor to South Africa's press at the
Killarney racetrack, before letting the 20 or so journalists loose on
the racetrack in V6 'full on' racing cars.
Bob Lansdowne, Cape Town's
premier barber demonstrated the Azor on half a dozen (unshaven)
journalists and was enthusiastic with the product, it being "cool,
without the cost". Available exclusively at Clicks across South Africa, and with retail prices of just 75 rand for the Azor
& 2 blades, and 70 rand for 4 replacement Endurium cartridges, we
are confident that men who previously have bought cheaper disposable
razors will welcome the Azor with open arms.
Many thanks to Redline & draftFCB who put on a great brand experience for 'the King' in South Africa, the Azor & Azure (for women) razors are on sale at Clicks now, look out for some great PR and publicity in the forthcoming weeks and months.
King of Shaves Azor & Gels Now Available In South Africa At Clicks (original blog posting)
I flew into Cape Town via Johannesburg yesterday, for the upcoming press launch of our King of Shaves Azor, exclusively in Clicks
- South Africa's leading health & beauty retailer.
Whilst out in
beautiful Cape Town today, I was delighted to find the Azor already on
shelf (and shopped, according to the young sales assistant I chatted to)
at the Clicks store in the shopping mall on the V&A Waterfront.
Excellent news! Really looking forward to the official launch next week, and many thanks to all at Clicks for helping us get King of Shaves & Azor on sale in the African continent, hot on the heels of South America (Brazil) and the USA.
So, the 'blade wars' start to ramp up. I spotted that Superdrug today now have old style Wilkinson Sword (Schick) Quattro cartridges (not Titanium) at 20p off. Oooh, that's a big shaving, not. Plus, they've also taken £2 off the cost of their manual Quattro razors (still more expensive than Azor at full price) and £3 off their hedge-trimmer razor (sorry, 'Titanium Precision) - also more expensive. Plus, they've brought their 'Mo'vember promotion forward...into October. Bit kneejerk, but as it's for charity, well - I'm not criticising this (we partnered with Movember in Australia a few years back).
In addition to Asda slashing up to £3.30 off Glllette Fusion & Mach3 cartridges, Tesco and Boots have only the sort of (Costco buy in bulk) promotion that P&G could think of, where you have to spend nearly £20 for 13 Fusion blades, saving you £11 off the already over-priced high price. With the average supermarket basket shop being about £80, Gillette are asking you to part with nearly 25% of this, to try and lock men into overpriced Fusion cartridges.
From a retailer perspective, given they specialise in FMCG - Fast Moving Consumer Goods - well, I can't believe they'll be over the moon about this when the promotion ends. The FSDU's I saw over the weekend were rammed full with product (we were pretty low on stocks in most retailers) as even at this 'bargain' price, our Azor (when it goes back to 'fair at full price' in a few weeks will still be LESS than Gillette's deal. Enter SMCG's (Slow Moving Consumer Goods). Ouch.
Plus, you won't have to drop nearly £20 to enjoy the months of King of Shaves shaving with our Award Winning razor, the Azor.
Interesting times - watch this space - and again, HUGE uplifts for King of Shaves Azor over the weekend, more great reviews for Azor at dooyoo.co.uk and our TV commercial Shaveolution (Bend the Rules) featuring our very own Elvis Stubbles is giving 'Wilkinette' troubles. People asking after Mat Le Star's soundtrack 'Lust and Charm' too - available on Soundcloud, downloadable MP3 coming soon I suspect.
You can read Scott Meyer's thorough and well-reasoned review of our King of Shaves Azor on his top US website BasicInstructions.Net here.
Currently available online here and if you live in NYC, from Duane Reade stores, the Azor will make its market debut in the USA in 2010.
Thanks Scott!
