Objective

Wahl Grooming wanted to drive awareness and interest in its Wahl Manscaper line, specifically the Wahl Tool Box—a complete, all-in-one grooming solution for men. The campaign aimed to:

• Deliver widespread awareness and measurable impressions, both paid and organic, through influencer marketing—targeting 36 million impressions and 15 million engagements.
• Reach men aged 24–45, particularly those shopping at Walmart who have experience with and interest in body grooming.
• Position the Tool Box as a convenient, comprehensive grooming product that offers peace of mind by solving all grooming needs in one purchase.

Strategy

Strategy

Wahl sought to build brand and product credibility by tapping into the cultural relevance and relatability of a trusted influencer. Hoffman York also found that humor over-indexed with the target so when looking for potential infleuncer partners they leaned toward comedians. Wahl and Hoffman York selected Charlie Berens—a comedian with Midwestern roots and family-friendly humor—to bring the campaign to life in an engaging and light-hearted way that aligned with the brand’s roots as a family-owned company based in Seterling, IL.

Before moving forward, Hoffman York used the Sprout Social Influencer Marketing platform to conduct research on Charlie’s audience. It was found that Charlie’s social audience is highly engaged, predominantly male, and falls within the brand’s target demographic for this campaign. His comedic content resonated strongly with millennial and Gen Z men, which was a perfect match for Wahl’s target audience.

Charlie also has a sizable and loyal social following of over 8 million across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook. Beyond the numbers, his Midwestern upbringing, values, and humor made him a natural fit for Wahl’s brand personality.

To ensure authenticity, the team chose to build the creative concept around Charlie’s popular “Father/Son” skit series, which already had proven engagement with his audience. For the Wahl collaboration, the son character "borrows" his dad’s grooming tools— the Wahl Tool Box – which wove in product benefits like convenience and all-in-one functionality while feeling authentic to Charlie.

Execution

Charlie created and posted one video and one static photo featuring the Wahl Tool Box. The video was posted across multiple platforms—TikTok, Instagram (as a collab with Wahl Grooming), YouTube Shorts, and Facebook—maximizing reach across his key audiences. The static photo was posted to Charlie’s Instagram.

Wahl Grooming also published the video on its own YouTube Shorts channel, and invested paid support on Instagram and TikTok via Charlie’s handle. The goal of this paid strategy was to amplify visibility and drive performance, with a focus on engagement and video views. The same creative was also boosted on YouTube Shorts through Wahl Grooming’s channel.

Key to the strategy was ensuring the content did not feel forced or overly promotional. Instead, the execution was rooted in humor and relatability—showcasing a believable, entertaining scenario that made the grooming product a key part of the narrative.

Results

The Wahl Grooming x Charlie Berens campaign delivered exceptional results:

• 54.5 million total impressions, with over 23 million organic and more than 31 million driven by paid media—exceeding the original goal by more than 51%.
• Over 19 million total engagements across all platforms—counting likes, comments, saves, shares, and 3-second+ views —exceeding the original goal by more than 26%.
• An estimated ad value equivalent (AVE) of $8.4 million.
  • Gaining roughly 40 times the campaign investment.
• The video was very well received with positive sentiment in comments, with viewers praising the humor, and recognizing the Wahl brand and the Wahl Manscaper Tool Box product.

Media