• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, June 13, 2017

EOS, the upstart beauty brand that’s won Millennial women over with its spherical lip balms, is hoping its shaving cream can win new fans too, with a quirky new campaign aimed at soothing their shaving stress.

“We did quite a bit of research leading up to this campaign, and found that while men had a positive coming-of-age feeling about learning how to shave, women have more anxiety,” says Nancy Chan, the company’s VP of international marketing. “It's a completely different experience. Regardless of age, most have questions like, ‘Do I shave with the growth? Against the growth?’ So in the midst of all these negative associations, we started thinking about the delight we can bring to women.”

The resulting campaign, from TBWA, focuses on women shaving their legs and riffing on things like their alligator-dry skin, or what they love about wearing no pants, while whimsical animations dance through their bathtubs. “We wanted to have a conversation that wasn’t all about nicks and cuts,” she says. “And we want women to know shaving doesn’t have to be such a dreaded affair.”

The goal is to drive awareness, she tells Marketing Daily. “Consumers are familiar with our lip balm, but not with our shave cream.”

Like its lip products, she says the shaving cream was designed specifically for women. That includes ergonomic plastic packaging because the metal cans for aerosol and foam products leave rust rings in bathtubs. “And we use a cream formulation so you can shave wet or dry.”

The digital campaign, which includes YouTube and other paid channels, also has a large influencer component, aimed at women of varying ages. Most women started shaving their legs at about 12, and while they frequently don’t shave at all during cold-weather months, they do shave as often as every other day during warmer weather.

She estimates that about 50% of women say they use some type of shaving support product, including shaving foam or gel, or a razor with an added moisturizing strip. And many use whatever their husbands or partners use.

EOS, short for the “Evolution of Smooth,” started in 2007, and launched its first lip product in 2009, and has quickly become a top-selling brand a favorite of beauty editors.

It had a setback in the form of a class action lawsuit last year when consumers claimed the lip product gave them rashes and blisters. The company settled the suit promptly, but not before scary rash videos popped up all over the Internet. Chan says the settlement confirms that the company’s formulations are safe, hypoallergenic and made with high-quality ingredients.