A Soap Built for Men
How Dr. Squatch Revolutionized Soap Marketing
Jack Haldrup has a common autoimmune skin condition called psoriasis. Because regular supermarket soaps burn his skin — leaving it dry and irritated — he was forced to seek natural, gentler soaps. He told the San Diego Union- Tribune, “I ended up buying handmade soaps from farmers markets, and they made my skin feel great.” While Haldrup relied on natural soaps for his skin, he also realized how beneficial they are overall. But the average guy, he thought, wasn’t going to seek out soap at a farmers market or health food stores. That’s how Dr. Squatch, now a $100 million soap business with a massively successful 2020 Super Bowl ad, came to be. But marketers are all asking the same question: How’d he break into a corporation-dominated market like soap?
through targeted marketing. Haldrup is far from your typical marketing guru — but even as a former IT security consultant, he was savvy enough to notice the different strengths in online marketing platforms. He’s also invested plenty of money into video ads that people want to watch. Haldrup took a risk and paid $20,000 to a professional marketing agency to create a humorous ad about soap. It immediately paid off, increasing the soap subscription base from 11,000 to 17,000 in three months. Today, as of this writing, the ad has over 114 million views.
Not Just for Hippies
At 29 years old, he created Dr. Squatch, an all-natural soap brand for men. This is highly unusual — for many years, soap has been primarily marketed to women, perhaps since companies assume women make the household soap decisions. But Haldrup believed everyone deserves healthy soap. Although they expected their sales to be highest in coastal cities like New York or San Francisco, their biggest audience turns out to be middle America. “[Our soap] is for the guy who would never normally consider buying natural products because he thinks they’re for hippies,” Haldrup says. It’s not easy to break into a highly saturated market like soap, but when you’re competing against name-brand companies in the supermarket, you have to think, “What are these big corporations unable to provide?”
The contents of an average Dr. Squatch soap include lye, vegetable oil, and a variety of scented essential oils, which are not particularly groundbreaking ingredients. But while there’s nothing new about Dr. Squatch’s soap itself, the brand’s targeting and tactics are completely innovative for their industry. Men and women alike have come to adore Dr. Squatch for its attractive subscription system and humorous, personalized messaging. They’ve become a great example of how powerful a strong message can be, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for the company! We’re rooting for you, Dr. Squatch!
Smart Marketing
For Haldrup and his boutique brand, the answer was deeply personalizing their content and building a community
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