Rugby, Raz*War and the power of YOU!

What is the link between Raz*War and Rugby?  Both words begin with an “R”... good point. But what else?  I personally feel that Raz*War has a lot more things in common with Rugby than just a simple initial.  Firstly, Rugby is a somewhat of a “contact sport”, and certainly a “combat sport”. Raz*War is certainly a brand of "battle", with the notion of “fight” or “combat” inscribed in the brand name itself. Indeed, Raz*War declared war against the indecent profit margins (see a future blog post) made by the incumbents in this industry. Consumers should be aware that these prices are due to a real oligopolistic market situation, between two players that face each other and that very “wisely” do not want to offend one another, just to prevent a – surely damaging – price war. We are speaking of money, dear reader, of a LOT of money. Stock prices of the two well renowned razor companies can plunge if a price war is declared (and we would all prefer to avoid a new financial crisis triggered by the fall of the two “razor giants”! :-)

Rugby specialists and the fans of the famous “All Blacks” in particular, would maybe remark that the crossing of the razor and the brush on our logo shares some similarities with the famous “Haka” gestures. At one point in their “Ka Mate”, all Black players do, indeed, cross their arms in a gesture of defiance against the other team (see ). I would love to see the “All Blacks” with a razor in one hand and a brush in the other, singing, in traditional Maori language, a special “Raz*War Haka”. We should think about that for the future! (I know we have some new Zealand Raz*War fans, they could maybe put us in contact with the famous team...)

Now, let’s consider another aspect of this sport; although I know (nearly) nothing about Rugby (what complex rules!), I feel that this sport is a true example of a team sport. Collectivity is very important in Rugby, and all Rugby fans and even the Rugby-curious, will celebrate the special “team spirit” that show up when playing Rugby.  I also want to remind my readers about the have-to-see movie “Invictus”, directed by Clint Eastwood, where Rugby contributes in building… an entire nation. The importance of collectivity is a key attribute of Rugby, like it is for Raz*War: Look at our logo again, and replace the razor with a hammer and the brush with a sickle… Does this not make you think of something else? Of course, we’re joking about this; do not take me seriously about that aspect of the brand. But, behind the logo, it is also true that we appeal to masses, it is true that we believe in the wisdom of crowds, and it is true that we would like to get shaving at lower prices for everyone. It is true, also, that behind Raz*War, there is a strong team. And, finally, it is also true that we do not see any discontinuity between “us” and our “brand ambassadors”. Raz*War is about “collective action”, just like Rugby is.

I spoke about “fighting stance”, about “team spirit”, but I could also speak about “bravery”, about the “small versus the big”, about “entertainment”, all attributes associated with Rugby, that can also be associated with Raz*War. Maybe one key attribute that still needs further discussion is: respect.  It is often said that Rugby is “a sport of offenders played by gentlemen". Have you already compared a typical match of Rugby with a match a of football? I noticed, for the anecdote, that football players adore spitting on the ground, especially in the direction of the adversary, and after a key offensive or defensive action.  Ok, ok it is anecdotic. Ok, ok, I also saw some Rugby players spitting too; whatever, respect is not (only) a question of spitting or not spitting… But just look at the matches, just listen to the audience (less violence in the public, no racist songs...), just listen and look at the players: there is a lot of “mutual respect” in this sport. And I love that.  And Raz*War is also a brand that would like to respects its consumers, but also its competitors (I used to work for one of them, years ago)… We are a battling brand, (with humility as we are such a small, tiny brand…), but we consider respect to be one of our key values.

Now that you have started understanding why I believe that Raz*War shares things in common with Rugby, I am sure that you are also wondering why I also announced in my title “The Power of You”. Quite simple. A few days ago, I had a discussion with the management team of my son’s Rugby club. They all had the same feelings about the – for them, obvious – links between Rugby and Raz*War, and they wanted to spread the word about Raz*War. AND THEY DID IT!   It’s been a few days that we are registering many sales coming from the city of Jodoigne  and its surroundings.  What happened is that the word started to spread.  The club wanted to be associated with our brand name, and even proposed to associate both names for free…. (Another key difference between Rugby and Football: Money is not the key driving engine, entertainment is.)

And that illustrates the Power of You!; the main topic of this blog post. This brand is characterized (or wants to be perceived as being characterized) by all of the above attributes:  “Fight” and “Respect”, “Team spirit” and “Entertainment”, “Power to the masses”, hence, Power to You. But you – yes you, meaning YOU who is now reading these lines – you are the only one who can transform this brand into a true success. It is very simple: you like our products, our services, our stance? Then, vote for us! By speaking about us, by making sure you tweet (on Twitter) news about us, by buying our products and by sending us your feedback about them.

There was a good reason why the “B West team” (http://Rugbybwest.skynetblogs.be), that small Belgian Rugby team, fell in love with the brand and immediately endorsed it: because Raz*War and Rugby share the same DNA. And there is another good reason why the messages spread so fast; because the “B West team” realized that they could act and influence things.  The message I would like to convey is: DO THE SAME! Understand “The power of YOU!” and speak about us, share the good news, speak in communities and help us succeed!

I just want to take the occasion of this blog post to say that I really want Raz*War to sponsor this small team (let’s first see how our sales progress… ) and that I would be really happy for Raz*War to sponsor up to 10 small Rugby teams in the world (not immediately of course, the brand is not rich enough! But at some point later on). So, managers of small and dynamic Rugby teams across the world, grab your keyboard and write to me at pierre@razwar.com and of course, don’t hesitate to already start talking about our brand!). Ah! Good news for all Rugby fans, we now have distributor in Australia and several potential distributors in New Zealand. Any small Rugby teams over there?  :-)

Posted via web from Raz*War Social Echo