There are two dudes behind Two Dudes. Michael McRae and Tomas Tappin were both meant to be lawyers; they met each other at university, and then both pivoted to work in FMCG. Between them, they have worked across sales, marketing and export in New Zealand, Tokyo, Vietnam and Singapore. During their time overseas, they noticed all the exciting men’s personal care products on the shelf. After a bit more research, the pair discovered two things: NZ didn't have any local offerings igniting the category, and there was a wider trend of kiwi men not taking care of themselves.
After 18 months of formulating, McRae and Tappin launched Two Dudes, their range of natural ingredient skin care products for men. What started as a side hustle, selling subscription boxes online, has grown to a nationwide customer base, a tripled product range and a full-time commitment. It is not just a side hustle anymore.
Most recently, Two Dudes launched in 20 supermarkets for a trial over Summer, in addition to the 70 or 80 barbershops, pharmacies and gift shops they were already stocked in.
“Every dude showers. Every dude goes to the supermarket. There are so many touch points within FMCG where you can positively impact a dude's life,” said Michael McRae.
While the founders are born and bred Cantabrians, Two Dudes is now based in Auckland as it is closer to suppliers. The products are formulated with a cosmetic chemist and tested by a group of over 50 dudes to give feedback from different skin types, ages and ethnicities. A loyal group of 200 subscribers also helped lock in the final packaging design.
The brand actually started on social media and was how the community of awesome dudes was built. One look at their Instagram, and you can see things are done a little differently. Relevant content and humour is used in a category that has traditionally been quite boring.
“We use memes, we do limited release products like moisturiser for ballsacks, and we have cool partnerships. You’ll never see us post a bland, meaningless image of a handsome guy with a six-pack using face wash in the mirror.”
Their entry into supermarkets started as a bit of a challenge, but after getting in front of the right people in the head office, the brand's potential was seen; Local and relevant, with a strong online presence, a social purpose and award-winning products.
Two Dudes is on a mission to improve men’s health in NZ. Ten percent of the profits are donated to men’s health charities, and they run events around the country. They are the only local men’s brand with a social purpose, as all the others in the category are from overseas or have female master brands that place ‘for men’ on the label. Their current campaign is a series of men’s yoga classes run with Lululemon.
McRae said the most rewarding part of the job right now is hosting an event and looking around at a room of unrecognisable faces, knowing he and Tappin might have impacted their lives.
Looking forward to 2023, the two dudes behind Two Dudes hope to keep scaling their men’s health mission and expand their grocery footprint. They hope to reach all corners of the country, from Kaitaia to Invercargill.
“A big thank you to the supermarkets who have already joined us on our journey to better men’s health in Aotearoa. We’re already seeing strong results in a number of stores and can’t wait to roll this mission out further in 2023.”
