Gillette's "Razor Guys": Fans Turned Brand Ambassadors

It's the "Ultimate Summer Job" — and a dream come true for two friends from Syracuse University. They've been traveling around the U.S. to sporting events and other public venues to make a pitch for a new razor — and blogging and tweeting about it along the way.

Yesterday, Adam Ward and Jason Fisher stood on a street in downtown Boston, Mass., inviting men to step up to a mobile sink and try a shave with the Gillette Fusion ProGlide.

Jason Fisher tells the Boston Globe, "Young guys can relate to us. We're not celebrities. We're not paid endorsers. We're just two normal guys."

Ward and Fisher won the right to represent Gillette in a June contest and have been promoting the razor since July 1. They each won $25,000 and, more importantly, snagged a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be street marketers for a major brand run by a powerhouse brander: Procter & Gamble.

It may be a first for Ward and Fisher, but it's also a first for Gillette, a division of P&G that normally pitches its products with the help of sports personalities such as Roger Federer.

This novel move of tapping fans to become brand ambassadors to reach out to their peers could pay off, Boston University advertising professor Geoff Klapisch tells the Globe. "Gillette is going after a younger audience and they clearly understand how a younger demographic uses and consumes social media," says Klapisch.

As part of the campaign, the two college students post consumer reactions to the razor on a branded microsite where they also interview celebrities. Ward and Fisher also record their travels on video in addition to blogging and spreading the word on social media.

Combining street buzz with social media makes sense, especially for campaigns targeting young adults. "Street cred" does a lot of good for a brand, while blogging and tweeting can help create ongoing interest. This is the first time Gillette has relied on ordinary consumers to execute a product launch, and it marks one of the company's most significant social media initiatives.

Every place they go, Ward and Fisher set up a mobile sink and, to date, they've given away around 10,000 samples of the Fusion ProGlide razor. It must be working — their blue van and mobile sink intrigued consumers on Boston's Boylston Street as men stopped by to try the new razor.

As you can see in the video above, they're trying to share the wealth: in addition to serving as the brand's first ever fan street team, they've been been promoting a Bullz-eye contest which closes today.