Duke Cannon Supply Co.—a no-nonsense men’s grooming brand founded for men who take masculinity seriously—had found early success in DTC retail. By leveraging simple truths and irreverent humor, they had built a loyal, highly engaged community of customers and fans who finally felt seen and respected by a personal care brand.

To break free from the constraints of cultural bias on what it means to be a man—and help retailers understand the breadth of the brand’s appeal and pull down the aisle—Duke Cannon asked us to uncover the full spectrum of people with whom the brand connected.

Utilizing first-party and survey data from the Duke Cannon Country community, along with qualitative interviews and ethnographies of loyal and new customers, we began assembling the data-supported portraiture of who buys Duke Cannon and why—and multiple demographic cohorts came forward.

• Dukes: Men aged 25-44 who had outgrown brands aimed at teens and were willing to spend more on quality
• Javiers: First- and second-generation Hispanic and Latino men aged 25-44 who desired to signal their success via a well-groomed appearance
• Jakes: The Dukes’ Gen Z cohort aged 18-24 who wanted their brands to deliver quality with purpose beyond what mainstream brands offered
• Amandas: Jakes’ female partners who they wanted to impress, and who unquestionably influenced their product choice

Our research showed that, contrary to some perceptions, Duke Cannon wasn’t just a niche brand for a certain group of men. Its target audience was a phenotype defined by shared virtues, behaviors and beliefs—and thus, the Good Dudes target audience segment was born. From Gen Z to Boomers, rural backroads to downtown skyrise patios, Black to Latino to Caucasian, the men (and women) defined as Good Dudes are all around us—and now Duke Cannon was able to prove it to retailers.