The Wahl Clipper Corporation, based in the small Illinois town of Sterling, about two hours due west from Chicago, was founded in 1919 when Leo J. Wahl filed a patent for his electromagnetic hair clipper.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people, not to mention dogs, horses, and cows (someone has to do it) have had the pleasure of getting trimmed up by a Wahl. And the company has continued to innovate: In 1965, it introduced the first vacuum clipper so that the cut hair wouldn’t just fall to the floor. Two years later, it had the first cordless hair clipper. And then it decided to take the engine that made all that noise and good vibrations and use it in handheld back and foot massagers. Why not?

Still, its core business is trimming. And the company embraces digital to help communicate what its products can do for you and your pets. These days, it has a factory in Sterling, but also produces its trimmers in its own factories in England, China, Germany, and Hungary.

With that kind of distribution, you can now find Wahl in more than 150 countries under the names Wahl, Moser, Lister, and Groom Ease.

No matter what the name, Wahl is using digital to spread the message. TWITTER

Wahl claims to be “a cut above all the rest” on its Twitter page, @WahlTrimmers.

At the time Brandchannel visited, Wahl followed almost 700 folks on Twitter with almost 500 followers. (Perhaps some had been shaved off along the way?)

Wahl Trimmers posts such things as a link to pics of the seminfinalists for the Wahl Man of the Year. You want to see some good facial hair? These guys have got the works: mutton chops, goatees, Fu Manchus, soul patches, handlebars, the Van Dyke, you name it.

Wahl also responds to queries, shares interesting info (“1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer”), and retweets mentions of Wahl by the everyday facial-hair lovers on its Twitter page.

Meanwhile, Wahl has just over 900 people or organizations that “like” its Facebook page. Wahl “likes” a few as well, including Movember UK, the American Mustache Institute, and “The Awkward Moment When You Realize That Your Girlfriend is Doing Movember Too.”

Wahl’s Facebook Wall consists of the same comments that it tweets, it appears, such as congrats to the winner of its Man of the Year contest, with a link to its blog.

Meanwhile, Wahl’s YouTube video channel features such videos as weekly grooming tips, men of the year candidate bios, and Wahl advertisements. It has 100 subscribers.

Website

Wahl clearly separates itself into four markets on the front of its website: Professional, Home Product, Animal, and International. Everybody pictured on the home page appears to be very pleased with his or her trims (even the horse and dog).

Also, it would be easy to miss the “Highlights” and “Wahl in the News” sections that are under the front-page images. They are basically self-promotion spots, but worth checking out for both its consistent strides to push hair-cutting technology forward and for all dog-grooming mentions.

At the top and bottom of the page, where such sections as “About” and “Careers” are buried, resides one very interesting area that surprisingly isn’t played up bigger on the site: “sustainability.”

Since Wahl trimmers all need electricity to do their magical work, the company is sure to note to interested consumers that it is “an ethical global manufacturer and distributor” that is “genuinely committed to reducing our impact on the environment.”

To do that, Wahl says it is setting specific targets and trying to define “world-class best environmental impact practices.” It will also be “actively promoting sustainability, recycling, and using environmentally friendly materials wherever practical.”

The site then shares a number of very short stories relating to Wahl and the environment, including “Recycling in Vogue at Wahl” and “Let it charge.” (Seems like the headline writers at Wahl are burning up a little too much energy.)

An interesting exercise is to click between the subsite designed for professionals, general consumers, and animal lovers. They have similar departments: Products, Where/How to Buy, About Wahl, etc. But they are totally different experiences. The one for pros is very utilitarian while the consumer site is much warmer and accessible with an all-caps banner across the page that reads, “Wahl is … New, Innovative, Here, Happening.” Of course it is hard to know how many people feel like they are “happening” while using a Wahl Trimmer.

Regardless of whether they do or whether they don’t, Wahl does an effective job of keeping its name out there for the consumers who are interested in such things. However, the brand is nowhere near its stated goal of creating a “Wahl Nation” and building a vital and vibrant community of brand loyalists.

It could do more with its website and social touchpoints, such as include more video and imagery of all the different cuts a person can make with a Wahl or even simply a raft of how-to videos on what different settings and accessories do on its top sellers.

However, it might want to avoid posting videos of sheep being shorn or anything like that unless they want the huge publicity they’d suddenly get from PETA coming up with an interesting PR stunt as rebuttal. With that in mind, perhaps they do want to post those videos….