Billie’s New Bodycare Line: A Look Behind the Scenes

Billie recently launched its biggest category expansion yet: moving beyond body hair into bodycare. The launch was a team effort, and the 15-product lineup offers consumers an impressive selection of products. We spoke with SVP of Brand Marketing, Catherine Wolpe and Senior Director of Product Innovation, Lauren Pepper of the Billie team to dive into all the details of the new bodycare line and what it took to bring it to market:

Q: With the launch of Billie’s new Bodycare line, the brand now offers an expanded selection of products that go beyond shave products and into skin care - can you tell us what the motivation behind the expansion was? 

Catherine: We’ve always strived to champion womankind by challenging harmful pressures and expectations. The bodycare space has often been dominated by messaging that suggests women’s natural bodies are inherently “flawed” and in need of fixing. It was important to us to offer an alternative that isn’t centered around meeting societally dictated beauty standards, and really has our customers’ needs and wants at its core.

We’ve also always had the ambition of Billie becoming the go-to-brand in women’s daily routines, so an expansion into bodycare was a very natural progression.

Q: Can you shed some light on how the team identified what products to produce for the new line?

Lauren: We saw an opportunity to better serve our customers with a range of washes and lotions that not only smell and feel great but are also specifically designed for different skin types and needs. So, whether your primary focus is hydration, brightening skin, or even soothing, we’ve got you covered.

When it came to deodorant, we’d observed that a lot of women described the experience of shopping for deo as feeling like a compromise, where you were choosing between effective antiperspirants that include ingredients you’d prefer to avoid, or natural deodorants that left you smelling not-so-fresh throughout the day. Our two lineups of deodorant, All Day and AHA, are available in a variety of amazing scents and are all aluminum and baking soda-free, while providing effective, 24-hour odor protection.

Q: How were these formulated with the Billie consumer in mind? Are there any key features to highlight? Any difficulties that the team overcame in the development process?

Lauren: Our products were inspired by the needs of the consumer, and the gaps that we felt existed in terms of product offerings on the market. These products offer ingredients and skincare benefits that are often associated with luxe options, but at a price point that’s way more accessible. Like all Billie products, our new bodycare offerings are centered around women deciding for themselves what their bodies want or need and deliver a quality experience at an accessible price point. 

Offering our lineup at an accessible price point led to challenges in hitting the desired gross margin. We leaned heavily on procurement alongside Edgewell’s third party manufacturing partners to understand the cost drivers and figure out how we can hit the desired cost of good without compromising quality and user experience. 

Q: What was the motivation behind “10 Things I Hate About Bodycare” video? Were there any goals that you hoped to achieve with the launch of this campaign?

Catherine: “10 Things I Hate About You” is such an unforgettable film, and everyone remembers its iconic poem scene. We wanted to put a modern spin on that instantly recognizable moment from the movie and use it to encourage women to reject the messaging we see too often telling us that we should hate our bodies. For this effort we partnered with actress, body-positivity advocate, and mental-health activist Jameela Jamil. As someone who’s shown time and time again what it looks like to challenge and reject toxic beauty standards, we thought she’d be the perfect person to reprise this scene and call for a new approach to women’s bodycare. 

Our objective with this work was to deliver an unmissable breakthrough campaign to launch Billie Bodycare, helping drive awareness and, in partnership with our suite of product-focused spots, demand.

Q: Out of the bodycare product lineup, is there one item you were most excited about incorporating into your own daily routine?

Lauren: It’s been really reaffirming to see how varied everyone’s “favorites” have been, even within the Billie team. Personally, I’m most excited about Body Wash. I love treating the skin on my body as delicate as the skin on my face and these benefit-driven washes do just that - and they smell sooo fresh!