In a category saturated with silky legs and soft-focus spa fantasies, Wilkinson Sword Intuition dared to get blunt. Partnering with creative agency Pablo, they launched Any Hair Anywhere—a campaign that doesn’t romanticize shaving, but instead meets women with honesty, humour, and real-talk about body hair.
Led by Executive Creative Director Ray Shaughnessy, the team ditched euphemisms and leaned into the gritty, sometimes awkward truths of grooming. The result? A brand platform that cuts through the noise, celebrates every follicle, and positions Intuition as the go-to for women who just want to get the job done—no dolphin mascots required.
What was the brief?
Wilkinson Sword Intuition was in the shadow of the no 1. category leader, Venus. Whilst they struggled to emotionally connect with their audience of female shavers they did get to ride on the coattails of their male counterpart Wilkinson Sword.
Intuition came to us asking for a bold shake-up, with a challenge to help them stand-out from the category and drive emotional connection with women across the UK and Europe. Pretty good brief, no? And one that as a team, we’ve genuinely had a brilliant time developing.
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
We had a really clear starting point when we started developing the new brand platform ‘Any Hair Anywhere’ that was directly born out of extensive research across Intuition’s key markets in Europe. It identified two key points; that the vast majority of women shave, 88% in fact, and that crucially, most simply see shaving as another essential self-maintenance act, not a softly-lit spa moment.
Whilst we can all recognise that the self-care movement has given women some genuine positives, shaving your armpits or bikini line just isn’t part of that - and yet this is what the category had started representing. That then became the creative opportunity, to go against those norms and show women that we get it. This kind of real-talk set the parameters for us tonally allowing us to embrace fresh, blunt honesty that directly tapped into their product efficacy.
What was the process behind ideating the concept?
The other booby-trap in developing this work was the word ‘real’, what could real mean for Intuition that could help us get to a fresh space? How could we stay authentic but without being earnest? How could we capture the often un-chic realities of shaving without being over the top? How could we be direct without just writing a manifesto?
We had all the questions that we explored with multiple ways in. But when Kat & EJ first read out their first version of the track ‘Legs, pits, bikini, face’ we all properly LOLed - luckily when we presented it, our clients did too. That economy and directness of language then helped set the tone on the rest of the brand work and the track mirrors that pared back honesty.
What was the production process like?
I can’t give you a production horror story because honestly, it was a very collaborative, fluid and generous process between agency, client and all partners involved. Everyone who came on board bought into the brand’s new direction and vision, helping add more edges to it, from film to photography to sound - that’s why you choose brilliant production partners, so that they’re able to bring something new and additive.
It was of course a real pinch-me moment with Marielle came onboard as we were all obsessed by her work and nuanced portrayal of women. Ashley ditto, she felt very obvious as the choice of photographer for this campaign which has helped set the visual tone for the brand.
What was the biggest challenge during production? How did you overcome it?
One of the biggest challenges was transcreation. This campaign will run across Wilkinson Sword’s 29 markets, and we were responsible for translating and creating the work in French and German. When you’ve developed an earworm in English, using colloquial language that rhymes and has a particular structure to follow – there was concern we wouldn’t be able to recreate this as well across languages.
However, working with local creatives in these key markets meant that we could brainstorm and test various lyrics and structures to get it right and we’re stoked with how it sounds in French and German. Some have said it sounds better than the original English version - it’s giving Peaches vibes.
What is one funny or notable thing that happened during production?
I’ve never had so many discussions about body hair. We were particularly excited when one of our talents had a lovely long strand of hair on her big toe – we hit the jackpot! Huddling around the monitor to capture it in the best light was a moment I won’t forget.
What’s the main message of this project and why does it matter?
The campaign plainly, but engagingly, makes the simple assertion that hair grows everywhere on a woman’s body. In taking this honest approach, we want to make any hair-care choice feel simpler and positive, by assuring women that the brand has the right intuitively designed tools for any hair-removal job they decide to make.
How long did it take from inception to delivery?
In total the process took 9 months from strategic development to delivery of final master assets.
How did you ensure that the concept aligned with the brand's values, goals, and target audience?
Well it certainly doesn’t hurt that Pablo makes the men’s work too, so we were on very intimate terms with the brand already. Wilkinson Sword Intuition has long been in the shadows of its male counterpart, Wilkinson Sword, but what many didn’t know if that Intuition has been at the forefront of a lot of product innovation for women’s grooming and offer a range of bespoke tools for various needs that many other brands don’t.
Therefore, we knew that Intuition could meet the clear need of women who shave for it not to be an all-encompassing spa-moment but a maintenance task they want to get done as efficiently and safely as possible.
We did test with System 1 across their national sample and a custom sample chosen based on Wilkinson Sword Intuition’s target audience. From this process, we got feedback from women across the UK and Germany to ensure our concept and approach was resonating with women.
Were there any alternative concepts or ideas considered during the ideation phase? If so, what led to the selection of the final concept?
There was an idea that went pretty far down the line featuring a talking dolphin. No more to be said on that.
Can you discuss any collaborative or interdisciplinary aspects of the ideation process, such as working with other departments or external partners?
Music is always a demanding process where we all speak a different language when describing a feel, sound or approach. Noah was EXTREMELY accommodating of our different inputs and requests. Ultimately, we wanted it to feel fresh, like a legit track and we couldn’t be more pleased because we really think that it stacks up to that scrutiny.
Wake the Town really brought a whole other dimension when they found Ruti too, in the best way, that deadpan, cool energy is exactly what we were looking for ‘dur, it’s shaving - DEAL WITH IT’.
How did you ensure that the concept remained innovative and stood out in a crowded marketplace?
We used our shared ambition as our North Star and never deviated from it which totally relied on the strength of our relationship with our clients, Jon and Hanna. We all held hands, firm in the belief that by creating a new expression of ‘realness’ to women’s experiences, Wilkinson Sword Intuition would stand out.
There’s so much BS in that category that we clung onto the idea that the surprise of simple, blunt, honest truth would cut through.
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
The same thing that anyone should want for their client’s brand - to be loved and remembered. We want Wilkinson Sword Intuition to become a true challenger brand in the category so that it no longer relies on Wilkinson Sword credentials, but can stand on its own merit and become the first choice for women who want to shave. Is that too much to ask???!
Credit list for the work?
Client: Edgewell: Wilkinson Sword Intuition
Marketing Director for Europe: Jonathan Norman
Brand Marketing Manager: Hanna Vohwinkel
Creative Agency: Pablo
Executive Creative Director: Dan Watts
Managing Creative Directors: Ray Shaughnessy & Dan Norris
Creative Directors: Katrina Encanto & EJ Galang
Chief Strategy Officer: Mark Sng
Planning Director: Joan Devereux and Britt Iverson
COO and Partner: Peter Moulton
Managing Director: Harriet Knight
Senior Account Manager: Madeleine Huxley
Project Manager: Emma Thompson
Designer: Karen Jane
TV Producer: Sasha Mantel
Production Company: Caviar
Production Company: Caviar
Director: Marielle Heller
Executive Producer: Sorcha Shepherd
Producer: Hannah Cooper
Director Of Photography: Jamie Ramsay
Service Company: Juice Films
Photographer: Ashley Armitage
Offline Editors: Stitch
Editor: Flaura Atkinson
Offline Edit Producer: Maggie Mcdermott / Sarah Adewunmi
VFX Producer: Zuzanne Drozdz and Nicole Duncan
VFX EP: Tom Igglesden
Colourist: Megan Lee
Colour House: ETC
Colour Producer: Alex Carswell
Audio Post Production: 750MPH
Audio Engineer: Giselle Hall
Audio Producer: Aishah Amodu
Music: Wake the Town
Composer Noah Sacre - Speelburg
Artist – Ruti
Music Supervision – Dom Bastyra @ Wake The Town