Bevel, a grooming brand made by Walker & Co. to address the personal-care needs of Black men, has built equity with its target audience through a focus on authenticity, passion and purpose.

Tia Cummings, vp/marketing at Walker & Company, discussed this topic at the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) 2020 Brand Building Conference, which was held online.

“It’s hard being Black in America,” she said. “As a brand that is dedicated to supporting Black men, Walker & Co. brands should be speaking up on all of these topics that are important to them to show that we care and that we’re here for you.”

Purposeful passion comes naturally to the manufacturer and marketer of grooming products aimed at an audience that has not always been served well by mainstream players. (For more, read WARC’s in-depth report: Bevel grooming products stand up to specific needs of Black male consumers.)

“The brand has long fostered conversations around mental health, masculinity, racism [and] recidivism, because these are topics that are disproportionately affecting the Black community,” Cummings said.

“We unequivocally prioritise the needs of Black consumers … We have a very strong point of view that comes through in everything that we do.”

This passion also feeds into the brand purpose supporting Bevel, which was launched by Walker & Co. in 2013. Procter & Gamble then acquired Walker & Co. in 2018.

“To put it simply, Bevel exists to support Black men … with designs, tailored personal care solutions, and experiences that conform to the needs of Black men,” Cummings said.

“Because Bevel was created to serve as a solution to his personal-care needs, we are uncompromising on design, product efficiency, content and advocacy.”

Authenticity is another core element of the Bevel brand proposition - as demonstrated by a decision to move its home base from Palo Alto, California to Atlanta, Georgia.

“One of the reasons we moved our company headquarters from Silicon Valley to Atlanta last year was that we thought it was very important to be based in the same places where our consumers are living and going about their lives every day,” said Cummings.

Sourced from WARC