Winners 2018/Personal Goods Silver

Project: Cornerstone: Delivering a smooth shave

Client: Cornerstone

Design: Path

As an etail men’s shaving brand, Cornerstone, wouldn’t be in store alongside established giants like Gillette and Philips, but that didn’t stop the start-up business from beating its membership target six-fold.

Without the opportunity for impulse purchase in-store, Cornerstone needed to use targeted marketing, reviews and recommendations to create awareness, attract subscribers and engage with them. And with every aspect, the design needed to take centre stage. Cornerstone needed a brand positioning and identity to bring it to life.

The solution was a logo that’s based around being chiselled out of rock. Its effectiveness lies in its simplicity, which hones the business’s credentials for consumers – it’s a simple answer to an everyday problem. It’s universally appealing, and works in both a digital and offline space.

Cornerstone’s original target was to achieve 24,000 subscribers in 2017. It actually reached 140,000 subscribers by May of that year. Email open rate is 40%+ against an industry average of 11% and monthly churn is only 1.1% against a target of 10%.