KING OF SHAVES AZOR CAMPAIGN BATTLEBUS

KMI have launched the first British designed, engineered and manufactured razor in over 100 years. The King of Shaves Azor Hybrid Synergy System Razor is the brainchild of Will King, the man behind the hugely successful King of Shaves 'software' brand. The new razor 'hardware' promises to shave closer, last longer and cost less, as well as being much more planet friendly than its competitors.

Elegant in its simplicity, and engineered without compromise, the Azor is available in two styles, 'Pola' (white and black) and 'Warp' (black and white). The Azor's key features include an internationally patented TST (Touch Skin Technology) elastomer skin bumper and pivot system, which pushes the blades progressively closer onto the skin for a superbly comfortable yet close shave, a unique wishbone shaped head design providing greater visibility when shaving, and a light, beautifully engineered handle which is aesthetically pleasing as well as being ergonomically optimised for performance.

The Azor's revolutionary technology is also matched with the King of Shaves long-standing commitment to the environment. Often battery powered, many system razors are made from metal, are highly energy consumptive in manufacturing, and flagrantly over-packaged, whereas the handle for the Azor is made in the UK, and all packaging (for handle and cartridge refills) has already been recycled, or is 100% recyclable.

King of Shaves is bringing the Azor to UK shavers with a 'Fair Shave' Campaign BattleBus, touring the UK throughout this summer.

Availability:
The Azor is available nationwide from Boots (from 21st July 2008), Sainsbury's and online from www.kmishop.com.

Pricing:
• King of Shaves Azor in 'Pola' or 'Warp' styles with three cartridges: RRP £4.99
• 4 Azor Endurium replacement cartridges: RRP £4.99
• 8 Azor Endurium replacement cartridges: RRP £9.49

The UK's leading shaving 'software' brand King of Shaves has entered the shaving 'hardware' market with the launch of their very first razor - the unique and stylish Azor. Already described as a "cut above the competition" by Esquire magazine, the new Azor Hybrid Synergy System Razor promises to shave closer, last longer and cost less! To celebrate the Azor's arrival, King of Shaves is hitting the road in their new black and white Azor Campaign BattleBus introducing the shaving public to the new Azor (rated 5 out of 5 in the Daily Mail Live Magazine) and spreading their shaving manifesto: 'A Better Future for UK Shavers' - as King of Shaves strives to put some fairness back into one of the UK's last monopolised markets allowing you to choose different, shave better and save money.

The King of Shaves Battlebus is the brainchild of Will King (founder of King of Shaves) who originally introduced the King of Shaves Fair Shave Manifesto on a soapbox at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park London. Visitors to the BattleBus will also get the chance to meet the 'King' at selected locations.

The bus will tour the UK for six fun-packed weeks throughout the summer visiting eight locations across the UK including London, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, Lowestoft, Sheffield and the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent. The tour will also host an exclusive outside broadcast of the Johnny and Denise (long term King of Shaves fans) Capital FM Breakfast show taking place at Canary Wharf, London.

Azor BattleBus visitors will also get the chance to pick up a free Azor and King of Shaves award winning shaving software.

The BattleBus Tour Schedule:
17th July: Nottingham
21st - 22nd July: Oxford Street, London
24th July: Lowestoft Airshow
25th July: Capital FM outside broadcast; Canary Wharf
26th - 27th July: Sheffield Meadowhall Motor Show
29th - 30th July: Finsbury Square Avenue
31st July: Canary Wharf
2nd - 3rd August: Bluewater
12th - 13th August: Birmingham
16th - 17th August: Bristol Cribbs Causeway
21st August: Tesco HQ
23rd - 24th August: Manchester Trafford Centre

And we'll be publishing news, pictures and videos from the tour right here on this Azor blog. To get us started, below are some pictures taken at the press and industry launch party for the Azor which was held at the Hemple Hotel in London.

We're campaigning against stealth shaving taxes. Join us today!

Thanks to everyone who made the first day of our tour so successful, especially Dave, Andy, Tim, Diane, Jenny and our compere, Phil (no tie needed next time!)

The amAzor bus drew a lot of attention parked outside Boots Nottingham headquarters, one person was overheard to say "Wow, that beats Gillette's!". Diane carried out plenty of pure play King of shaves, lots of Azors were sampled (with their features and benefits clearly explained) and it's fair to say there was a lot of interest in the launch, which goes live 'properly' from Monday.

Driving back, I heard radio trails for our 'to baldly go' event on Capital running next week, and climaxing on Friday where we're aiming to raise £10,000 for 'Help a London child", and also had the chance to meet quite a few Boots senior executives, all of whom wished us well in our upcoming 'King v Kong ding dong' as one put it ;-)

Next stop, Boots flagship UK store at Sedley Place, Oxford Street on Monday, with fun and more planned throughout the day!

Click here to see some photos on our www.flickr.com pages.

The King of Shaves Azor Campaign BattleBus visited KMI's Chesham HQ for its final preparations before hitting the road this summer. It then travelled up the road to Winchmore Hill for a small launch BBQ party for KMI staff and key supporters.

Ronnie the tour manager 'introduces' the Battle Bus here:

Some pictures of the day can be see on our flickr pages if you click here.

Knowledge and Merchandising Inc's Azor BattleBus - KMI 14 July 2008 photoset

Hi there, firstly very pleased with this review, hopefully 'mostlythis' can make it to Canary Wharf next Friday for our 'To Baldly Go' promotion with Johnny & Denise and the Capital 95.8FM Breakfast Team.

In fact we were in the Capital studios this morning, see the pics, and with the Azor launching at Boots flagship store on Oxford Street (opposite Debenhams) on Monday, we've got a lot going on next week, including interviews all day Tuesday, and taking the Amazor 'battlebus' to Lowestoft Airshow on Thursday.

A busy, busy week. If you want to keep up to date, check out our new Azor Campaign BattleBus blog here (thanks simon).

Will King (Founder - King of Shaves) was last seen getting to grips with Guitar Hero on the Azor BattleBus in preparation for contenders who wish to "Challenge the King" on the Azor Guitar on the bus during its current Summer 2008 Tour.

Would be "Guitar Heroes" will be invited to step up to the plate (on the twin guitar - 40" plasma TV with external Wii station) when the bus is in town and compete either for the high score, against a mate or (when the King is in residence) to challenge the King himself. Daily winners of the High Score will win a copy of Guitar Hero for the Wii (the game and not the console I am afraid) and the National Champion will win a 45 mph radio controlled scale replica of the King of Shaves Class 1 Powerboat worth over $1,500 US... Have you got what it takes to beat the King?

The King of Shaves Azor BattleBus Tour Schedule Summer 2008:
17th July: Boots HQ, Nottingham
21st - 22nd July: Oxford Street, London
24th July: Lowestoft Airshow
25th July: Capital FM outside broadcast; Canary Wharf
26th - 27th July: Sheffield Meadowhall Motor Show
29th - 30th July: Finsbury Square Avenue
31st July: Canary Wharf
2nd - 3rd August: Bluewater
12th - 13th August: Birmingham
16th - 17th August: Bristol Cribbs Causeway
21st August: Tesco HQ
23rd - 24th August: Manchester Trafford Centre

A lot more to follow here, but suffice to say we've taken London by storm in our Azor bus, with lots of close shaves (in more ways than one) but here's our fantastic amAzor bus royally parked outside Boots flagship store on Oxford Street.

Watch this space for updated...will Will get arrested. Did Dave extinguish the 'minor fire'? How many King of Shaves did Diane do? Check back soon...

I couldn't get this blog to update some photos from today's "Exploits" so you'll have to click here to read the full story. Come visit

Yesterday the King of Shaves Azor Campaign Battlebus toured the streets of London promoting out 'fair shave manifesto' via Will and his megaphone... "We're tough on stealth shaving taxes... tough on stubble and the causes of stubble... the Azor gives you the 'King of Shaves' without the ransom...!"

Luckily the capital's police force have a sense of humour and despite a 'close shave' outside Buckingham Palace (we turned left instead of right... or 'zagged' instead of 'zigging') our first day on the campaign trail (and our launch at Boots flagship store) was a great success.

Well, that was a VERY busy day!

Courtesy my fab press & media relations team, I started early and I had a full schedule of radio interviews, my UK TV debut on CNN International, an unexpected slot on the highly rated (with 4m listeners) BBC Radio 2 Drivetime show, and later tonight, will be phoning into Radio 5 Live, where Diane, our 'Queen of Shaves' is carrying out one of her fantastic shaves.

Many thanks to:

Jack at Southern FM, Graham at BBC Radio Scotland, Nichola at Orchard FM, Dale at Touch FM, Leighton at Swansea Sound and Billy at BBC Radio Merseyside (glad you enjoyed the Tall Ships and the Open Billy).

And respect to Rachel Horne on Radio 2 Drivetime...big up the BBC. Well done all at TRC who looked after me all day too.

Tomorrow I'm off to do an interview with Radio Suffolk in Ipswich, then driving down to the 'toft where I'll be reunited with the King of Shaves amAzor campaign battlebus, for a day of shaving and guitar playing at the Lowestoft Airshow... phew!

24th July on the tour. Then we must have been at the famous Lowestoft Airshow.

It's Thursday, it's a stunningly beautiful British summer's day and it's day 7 of the Azor Campaign BattleBus tour and the King comes home to where it all began. The Azor tour bus has had a prime position on the Lowestoft sea front at the town air show, with temperatures soaring to 29 degrees.

The excitement is not just in the skies above, with the Azor Air Guitar Challenge rocking the crowds, and the girls of Suffolk teaching the boys some football skils in the King of Shaves soccer shoot out!

Cheryl Smith the store manager at Boots, Lowestoft, came aboard the Azor tour bus and reported to us that the Azor is flying of the shelves like the Red Arrows. The stellar radio and press coverage continues with Beach FM, Eastern Daily Press and the Lowestoft Journal in the flight path after interviewing our local hero - Will King.

Meanwhile the shaving continues on stage, with our master barber Diane Wood providing helpful tips to shaving newcomers, as well as showing shaving old hands how to get the best from the new King of Shaves Azor. And finally many thanks to the talented young gymnasts from the Waveney Gymnastics Club (see the pictures below).

As the sun sets over Suffolk coast, and with the after-sun is being generously applied, our attention turns to Friday and Canary Wharf!

King of Shaves has teamed up with Capital Radio Breakfast Show and Help a London Child to Baldly Go! King of Shaves has pleged £10,000 to the charity, if 100 men or women agree to having their heads shaved live on air with Johnny and the gang. We are outside Canary Wharf tube station from 6-10am so come on down and join in the fun.

The team hard at work at Lowestoft:

Impressive! But not as impressive as how well the Azor shaves:

The only only other mode of transport that was bigger than the BattleBus:

Diane pauses - but just for a moment:

Day 8 and the Azor tour returns to the Capital. King of Shaves in conjunction with Capital Radio and Help a London Child are broadcasting live as we write from Canary Wharf tube station, with Johnny Vaughan and the gang.

We are aiming to raise £10,000 for Help a London Child by attempting to shave the heads of 100 men or women. As you can see from the photos below Johnny and Lisa Snowden his co-host are also getting involved.

We've got so many people wanting their heads shaved as we try and reach our target of 100 men (and women, we're all equal here!) that we've had to draft in help from our friends at Fish Hairdressing - cheers Jacqui, Donna and the Fish'ead team!

Johnny and the Capital Radio gang watch on as the experts keep shaving:

Even Nicky Clarke has come down to Canary Wharf to check out the action:

! If you have ever wondered what it was like to have a headful of dreadlocks removed in the blink of an eye then read on! As the big charity push continues down at Canary Wharf Johhny Vaughan has filled an Azor bag full of shaved locks. The sun is shining and so are the shaved heads!

The King of Shaves Azor, shaves you closer, lasts longer, and costs less... and it even copes with dreds!

At the King of Shaves Azor Campaign BattleBus tour at Canary Wharf this morning, even the Breakfast Show's Lisa is getting in on the act shaving Johnny:

Johnny gets the crowd going... whilst we get going on the hair... Look at those shaved heads!

Diane has been working non-stop since 7am:

Will King is here too - well, you wouldn't miss this for the world. There's still time to get down to Canary Wharf and join in:

Johnny and Lisa show their defiant unity with our head shavers as the King of Shaves Azor comes to the fore. We have passed the 100 heads shaved mark, and we estimate that so far we have raised over £20,000 for Help a London Child.

The barbers continue to keep their clippers buzzing as more volunteers come forward... let's see if we can make 150 heads!

Update (25.7.2008, 3.11pm):
We're still shaving! We must have done almost 200 now! And so far raised over £25K...

The cool leather interior with 42" plasma screen and Wii certainly proved a hit when the King of Shaves Azor BattleBus visited Boots HQ in Nottingham:

The King of Shaves Azor Battlebus rocked up to the Sheffield Motor Show at Meadowhall with some big stars in tow. Shelley Rudman, Silver Olympic Medallist who is sponsored by King of Shaves up to the Winter Olympics in Ontario in 2010 was on the stand being interviewed by our MC, Phil Brown, and spoke of the challenges of the Bob Skeleton and what the lead up to the next winter Olympic Games was gong to be like.

In the background wheels were spinning as the stunt drivers at the Motor Show thrilled the crowds with amAzoring feats of daring and skill. As you can see from the images there were endless "close shaves" as the crowd watched in awe at the abilities of the riders.

Sheffield has also given us the Highest Score in the Azor Guitar Challenge... a total of 121,823 points on the Guitar Hero III on the Wii. Each days high score on the tour will win a Guitar Hero game for the Wii and today's lucky winner Luke had the pleasure of being awarded his prize by our two professional barberesses, Shelly and Diane. As you can see from the picture he fitted the bill of a "cosmic rocker" and sets the standards for others to follow.

If his high score is not beaten on the UK Tour then he will also win the $2,000 US King of Shaves remote control replica of the Class 1 Powerboat capable of 45 mph ... so if you want to topple Luke's score get down to the bus on one of the advertised dates and step up to the plate and show us how you can "rock the bus".

Sheffield saw another firs ... Diane our International QoS (Queen of Shaves) performed a close shave on our first disabled customer... who was able to access the shaving emporium on the ramp at teh side of the stage. The gentlemen commented that it was the first wet shave he had for 40 years as his disability has left without the proper use of one arm... his glee was apparent as he left the stage... and claimed that razor technology has come on a long way since he remembers the last time a razor touched his face.

So thanks Sheffield for such an amAzoring welcome... and look out Finsbury Square and Canary Wharf we are on our way next week. 

If you were one of the nearly 300 men or women who came down to Canary Wharf last Friday to support Help a London Child and celebrate the launch of the new King of Shaves Azor then read on...Johnny and the gang will announcing live on the Capital Breakfast Show this Monday between 6am and 9am  the winner of the fabulous holiday to Mauritius curtesy of King of Shaves. So if you were one of the special crew who dared to Baldly Go, don't forget to listen in with your fingers crossed that you could be jetting off for a luxury holiday to Mauritius..and just think, there will be no need to pack any shampoo or a comb!! Good luck to you all....

There are some pictures on our flickr.com pages taken at the Lowestoft Airshow. Click here to view them.

We've put up some pictures on our flickr.com pages taken at Canary Wharf when our King of Shaves Azor BattleBus teamed up with Johnny Vaughan, Lisa Snowdon and the Capital Radio Breakfast Show team. Click here to view them.

Shaving heads outside the King of Shaves Azor BattleBus at Canary Wharf with Johnny Vaughan and Lisa Snowdon of the Captial Radio Breakfast Show raising money for Help a London Child:

Then Johnny tried out the Azor:

Today the King of Shaves Azor BattleBus is in the heart of the City of London at Finsbury Avenue Square. The bus is certainly proving to be a big attraction (and distraction!) for many of the city workers passing by.

Diane and Shelley, our shaving team, have been busy showing guys how to shave themselves with the Azor...

...as well as letting the professionals do the work whilst they take 10 minutes out of their daily routine to enjoy the free treatments. And we're finding that the Azor is fantastic for shaving heads)!

An then there was the footie... beats the hell out of work!

We've put up some pictures on our flickr.com pages taken at around London when our King of Shaves Azor BattleBus started its campaign tour. Click here to see them.

We've put up some pictures on our flickr.com pages taken at Boots flagship store at Sedley Place, Oxford Street, London when our King of Shaves Azor Hybrid Synergy System Razor was launched. Click here to see them.

Congratulations Carl Taylor who won an amazing all-inclusive luxury holiday to Mauritius with £1,000 spending money included!

Carl had his head shaved at Canary Wharf on Friday 25 July along with around 300 other people (!) when the King of Shaves Azor Campaign Battle Bus team got together with Johnny Vaughan and Lisa Snowdon and the rest of the Capital Radio Breakfast gang.

We helped raise over £30,000 for the Help a London Child charity. So it was a fantastic day - thanks to everyone who helped out. Follow these links to see pictures and videos from the day.

The King of Shaves Azor Battle Bus was visited today by three of the King of Shaves Young Blades, young sporting stars who are sponsored by King of Shaves. It is part of the King of Shaves mentoring scheme for young British athletes and the sponsorship takes the form of grants to help with their travel and training. They also get some valuable input from King of Shaves Olympic Sportsmen and Women... like Shelley Rudman the Silver medallist in the Bob Skeleton who is preparing for the Ontario Winter Olympics Games in 2010.

Wade Bennett-Jackson
Event: 100m
Age: 21

"My most recent Championships were the 2005 European juniors where I took the 200m bronze medal, 2006 world junior 100m finalist in 6th place and 4x100m bronze medallist. I am aiming to make the 2009 European Indoor Championships, and then the European Outdoor Championships later on in the year. All in all I want is to make the Olympics in 2012 as that would be a dream come true...

Today I came down for a quick shave, which was actually the best shave I've ever had and have definitely learnt a few new tips from Diane the King of Shaves Barberess."

He was joined by:

Gav Sidhu
Event: Taekwondo
Age: 20

"In April I travelled to Scotland for the Scottish Open with Team England for a Sparring Showdown with Team Scotland! It was a tight contest but we came through winning 3-2. I also made the Semi-Finals in Individual Sparring & Patterns!

I have also attended Championships in Bristol and Cornwall since and came away with a Silver Medal from each Champs in Senior Sparring (Heavyweight). In October are the Nationals in Reading, with Argentina and Ireland travelling for a Tri-Series Sparring Team event against Team England! In November is the World Cup in Uruguay with my main target making the Podium!"

and his sister...

Prity Sidhu
Event:Taekwondo
Age: 19

"The first Championship of the year was the Scottish Open in April where I defended my title as Patterns Gold Medallist but this time in the Senior Division. The European Championships were held in Sardinia, Italy in July. This was my first international competition as a senior. I got through to the semi-finals in sparring and lost by a slight margin. I wasn't too disappointed as it was my first senior championship and I had come away with a bronze medal!"

There was a bit of sibbling rivalry when it came to the Azor Footie game...

...and there was a new contender for the Azor Footie throne...

...and the Azor Guitar Challenge rolled on... todays high score is resting at 171,138 with Ineshan Reddy - if you are reading this before 17.30hrs and you think you can beat him then get down to the Azor Battlebus in Finsbury Avenue Square and show us what you are made of... today's winner gets the Guitar Hero Game for the Wii!!!

A quick montage of some of the video shot by the Azor 'Battle Bus Cam' of the fun being had at the Lowestoft Air Show.