Latest / The Marketing Funnel Podcast with Fexingo: Awareness, Interest, Decision, and Action Stages / How Dollar Shave Club Built a Funnel on Disruption
Transcript
- Lucas: So, Luna, have you ever been in a bathroom and seen a razor that looks exactly like something you'd find in a hotel, except it's on your counter and you vaguely remember receiving it in the mail? Luna: I mean, I use a safety razor, but I know exactly what you're talking about. That bright orange and blue packaging, the slightly smug logo. It's everywhere now. Lucas: Right. And that's because Dollar Shave Club essentially rewired how we buy something as boring as a razor. Today we're going to look at how they built a full marketing funnel — awareness, interest, decision, action — on a budget that was a rounding error for the old guard. Luna: And it all started with a two-million-dollar video that looks like it cost about twelve dollars to make. Lucas: Exactly. That video, which came out back in 2012, was the spark. But what's interesting to me is that it didn't just generate awareness. It did something much harder — it built a brand personality in ninety seconds. That's the piece that most companies spend millions trying to find. Luna: Let's actually set the scene for people who haven't seen it. It's a guy walking through a warehouse, talking straight to camera, holding a box of razors. He says something like 'our blades are f*ing great' and then shows how the handle is weighted, how it doesn't give you five blades just because you're a man. Lucas: And that was the top of the funnel. It was irreverent, it was specific, and it invited sharing before sharing was the default. But here's the thing — a million views don't equal a million customers. The real magic was in how they moved people from that initial laugh to a paid subscription. Luna: And that's where the funnel gets interesting. Because a subscription is a commitment. You're not just buying one razor, you're signing up for a regular delivery. So how did they make that leap feel easy? Lucas: Well, they removed the friction. At the time, buying razors meant going to a store, facing a locked display case, and paying whatever the duopoly told you to pay. Dollar Shave Club offered a simple quiz — maybe you have thick hair, maybe you have sensitive skin — and then a monthly price point that was lower than the incumbents. That's the interest and decision stage compressed into under two minutes. Luna: I've read that their landing page conversion rates were brutal, though. Like, single digits. But they didn't panic because they knew the volume of traffic from the video was enough to make those numbers work. Lucas: That's a key lesson. A lot of marketers obsess over the conversion rate as if it's a grade. But for Dollar Shave Club, the math was simple: if they could get enough cheap attention at the top, even a modest conversion rate would fill their order book. And they did get that attention because they understood their audience. Luna: Who was that audience? I mean, my dad uses their stuff, my brother uses their stuff. But it's not just any guy, right? Lucas: It was younger, digitally native, and frankly a little tired of being marketed to. The video's humor was aimed squarely at them — it mocked the old-school 'our razor has a strip of aloe and a vibrating handle' ads. So the awareness was practically peer to peer. People shared it because it felt like an inside joke. Luna: And then the brand kept that joke going. Their social media was basically a series of running gags — the CEO's face on a cardboard cutout, fake product announcements. It kept the interest stage alive long after the initial video faded. Lucas: And that sustained interest is what allowed them to eventually branch out into other products — wipes, toothpaste, even a cologne. They weren't just a razor company by then; they were a lifestyle brand for a certain type of guy. Which, of course, made them very attractive to a big consumer goods company. Luna: Unilever bought them in 2016 for a billion dollars. And that's where the funnel story gets complicated, because after that, the brand had to grow up. The edgy humor that worked at a startup doesn't always survive in a corporate structure. Lucas: Right. And I think that's a really important lesson for any marketer. The same tactics that got you from zero to a million subscribers can actually hold you back when you're trying to reach Walmart shoppers. Dollar Shave Club had to evolve its messaging without losing its soul. And they've had some success, but it's a delicate balance. Luna: And now they're sold in stores too. So they've become, in a way, part of the system they originally disrupted. It's like the marketing funnel eventually closed on them. Lucas: That's a poetic way to put it. But before we get too philosophical, let's zoom back to the early days and talk about the actual mechanics of how they structured each stage. Because that's where the takeaways are. Luna: Let's break it down. At the awareness stage, you have the video and the PR. But they also had a smart pre-launch play — they seeded the video to tech blogs and early adopters before it went public. So the launch day felt like a groundswell, not an ad. Lucas: And then at the interest stage, they used email marketing relentlessly. But it wasn't the 'we're having a sale' type of email. It was storytelling. They had a blog that was genuinely funny, they sent out physical postcards, they did guerrilla stuff like putting stickers on razor display cases in drugstores. That kept people leaning in. Luna: What about the decision stage? Because that's where they had to actually convince you to hand over your credit card info. And that's a big ask. Lucas: That's where the free trial came in. For a few dollars to cover shipping, you could get a starter kit with the handle and a few blades. Once you had it in your hands, the conversion to a paid subscription was a lot higher. It's the classic 'try before you buy' but applied to a razor. Luna: And the action stage was the subscription itself. But they made it sticky — you could pause, skip, or cancel anytime online. That flexibility actually reduced the fear of commitment. It seems counterintuitive, but giving people an easy exit made them more likely to stay. Lucas: That's a brilliant insight. And it's something that most subscription companies don't get. They try to lock you in with year-long contracts and cancellation fees. Dollar Shave Club understood that the brand relationship was the real lock-in, not the fine print. Luna: So what can a small business take from this? Obviously, you're not going to make a viral video that gets twenty million views, but the principles are universal. Lucas: First, know exactly who you're talking to. The video was not for everyone. It was for young men who found the shaving aisle ridiculous. If you try to appeal to everyone, you end up appealing to no one. Second, have a personality. Being boring is a choice, and it's a bad one. Luna: And third, measure the right thing. They didn't just look at views or likes. They looked at sign-ups and customer lifetime value. That's what allowed them to spend money on that video even though it was a gamble. Lucas: And they were willing to lose money on the first box. The razor handle, the shipping, the first set of blades — that probably cost them more than the initial subscription fee. But they knew that if the customer stayed for two or three months, they'd be profitable. That's a long-term play. Luna: It's the same logic as a gym membership that costs a dollar for the first month. You're betting on retention, not acquisition profit. Lucas: Exactly. And that's a lesson that transcends industry. Whether you're selling software or soap, if you can't make your math work over the customer's lifetime, you're just buying churn. Luna: So, looking back, what do you think is the most underappreciated part of Dollar Shave Club's funnel? Lucas: I think it's the fact that they never underestimated the power of a single creative idea. A lot of companies want to replicate their results, but they forget that the video wasn't just a tactic — it was a statement of who the brand was. The funnel was built on the back of that identity. Luna: And once you have that identity, it compounds. Their social media could be funny because the brand was funny. Their emails could be irreverent because the brand was irreverent. It all ties back to that core. Lucas: Which brings me to something I've been thinking about. This show is possible because a small group of listeners chips in a few bucks a month through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. And honestly, that kind of direct relationship reminds me a lot of Dollar Shave Club's model. They bypassed the traditional gatekeepers — the stores, the TV networks — and went straight to their customers. We don't have ads, we don't have sponsors breathing down our necks, we're just making the show we think you want to hear. And that's a pretty great way to work. Luna: It is. And it's nice to know that the people who do support the show are the ones who get the most value from it. It keeps us honest. Lucas: Anyway, back to the funnel. One more thing I want to dig into is the post-acquisition era. Because it's easy to look at Dollar Shave Club as a fairy tale, but the reality is that keeping that funnel alive at scale is a completely different game. Luna: When Unilever bought them, they suddenly had access to massive distribution. But that also meant they had to play nice with retailers who weren't exactly thrilled about a brand that had mocked them for years. Lucas: And they had to tone down the edginess. You can't tell a store buyer that their razor aisle is a rip-off if you want to be on their shelf. So they had to find a middle ground — still irreverent, but not as confrontational. And I think they've done a decent job, but it's hard to keep that startup magic alive when you're part of a conglomerate. Luna: So what's the final takeaway for our listeners? What should they do tomorrow morning? Lucas: I'd say look at your own funnel and ask: does your awareness message match your brand's personality? Are you being memorable for a reason? And are you measuring not just conversion, but retention? If you can nail those two questions, you're already ahead of most companies. Luna: And maybe don't make a video where you walk through a warehouse slapping a razor against your palm. Lucas: Unless it's really, really good.