👋  2025 = It's Growth Time!

Welcome to 2025's first Growthnotes! We are back to unpacking the strategies of some of the world's fastest-growing brands, so you can do the same!

This week: Manscaped - the men’s self-care brand that destigmatized groin grooming and turned it into a $ 1 billion business 🦄! 

Let's go!

🥜 Manscaped's Workbook for Success

Manscaped’s scaling success is mindblowing, growing from $3 million in trailing 12-month revenue in Q1 2018 to nearly $300 million in 2021, mostly through DTC channels. Their success comes down to 3 strategic moves:

1. Filling a HUGE Market Gap

2. Mastering Performance Marketing to Drive DTC Success

3. Leveraging Influencer Partnerships and Podcast Sponsorships

1. Filling The HUGE Gap in Men’s Grooming

When Manscaped launched in 2016, men’s grooming was taboo🤫, and premium products catering to men’s groin areas were close to none.

“There’s literally a product for every inch of a woman’s body! But, not for men.” CEO and Founder of Manscaped Paul Tran said in interviews.

That’s why he started Manscaped.

In their early days, Manscaped focused primarily on below-the-waist care, but they never identified themselves as “razors” or “shavers”. Why?

Manscaped's ambition ran deeper; they didn't want to compete with traditional brands like Gillette, so they crafted a holistic hygiene routine for men, with hair trimmer, ball aftershave lotion, and even anti-chafing ball deodorant. They want to be a brand that makes men “look good, feel good, and do good”.

The results?

By creating their own lane and expanding the audience's imagination, Manscaped transformed a taboo subject into an open conversation about self-care and confidence.

2. Incredible Performance Marketing Success

Yet, it’s one thing to differentiate yourself from the rest, it’s another to convince your audience that you’re more than just fancy razors.

Manscaped cracked the code by embracing DTC and performance marketing, especially during COVID-19. Here's how:

👉 Multi-Personas Targeting

Manscaped has made grooming everybody's business. Young men, baby boomers, wives, girlfriends, your BFFs…

While primarily attracting Millennials and Gen Z through humor-driven ads and content on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, they also targeted Gen X, boomers, and women with tailored content and celebrity endorsement.

🧊 Use Humor as Icebreakers

Because Manscaped is trying to solve a problem that people, especially men, are embarrassed to discuss, they use humor to break down the barrier. Just look at this hilarious video of seniors reacting to Manscaped's ad - it makes you feel comfortable talking about grooming before introducing a premium product that solves a very real problem.

🧪 Testing as a Growth Strategy

Honestly, there is no better way to test your idea's viability and learn what resonates with your audience than to test!

In an exclusive interview with Growthnotes, discussing How MANSCAPED Rewrote the DTC Playbook, Manscaped's CMO Marcelo Kertész explained how the brand started testing with small bets on different ads.

Why rely on performance marketing? Because within weeks, Manscaped could quickly see what worked (then doubled down!) and what didn’t (quick pivot to cut loss).

The continuous testing at the early stage certainly paid off. That is how they found the right message 👇 and even trademarked it.

🔥 Try Manscaped's 5-Step Testing Strategy

3. Influencer and Podcast Sponsorships

Manscaped has sponsored over 2,000 YouTubers, leveraging their content and niches to highlight different grooming kits and bundles, attracting over 2 BILLION views in a year. They are very creative in their partnerships, working with sports, gaming, tech, and male lifestyle channels while experimenting with influencers in the comedy and ASMR spaces.

This video by Karl Jobst, which was sponsored by Manscaped, got almost 9 million views!

In 2022, Manscaped invested over $3 million in creator content and podcast sponsorships. Their podcast reach? More than 15,000 episodes across 1,000 shows - from cricket and camping to parenting podcasts.

💡 Takeaway

Manscaped's story shows that DTC success takes more than a good product; it matters how you start conversations and test the best ways to convey the message systematically and strategically. Want to replicate Manscaped’s success? Remember:

• Evoke emotions - humor is universal and connects.

• Testing gives you real insight.

• Influencers and podcasts continue to be areas worthy of investing.