Marketing Case Study: Gillette As Razors For Women

* Male grooming product seemed to be a bright spot in the industry with the advent of male-specific personal care products that outpaced the growth in women’s beauty market

Examining the consumer behavior for nondisposable razors, we can observe that consumers are focusing on the premium segment. Also, they are becoming more sophisticated and expecting new technologies to smooth the shaving process. Focusing on that, Paramount should invest in the premium products category. Even though that would create cannibalism for the “pro-products” which is already loosing market.

Gillette ads have focused on men in all the different ways a man will have to use their product. They have also used heroes from all the different sports played like, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, and Honus Wagner for baseball, also Soccer star Park Ji-Sung, motorcycle champion Kenan Sofuoglu, cricketer Rahul Dravid, and Victor Cruz are just a few of the endorsement. The brand’s natural fit with baseball and tradition has helped the company connect emotionally and literally with its core audience. Taps into a key passion for men and strengthening the connection with

The company offered a new product, safety razors and blades, a product of convenience at a reasonable price. Gillette had a few lean years to establish a customer base. To attract new customers Gillette tried advertising by putting his face stamped on the thin razor blades, and then gave away the razor as a free gift. The razor was useless without the blades. The marketing gimmick of “FREE” worked! Gillette gave free razors that then created a demand for the blades. Gillette sold razors in bulk at discounted prices to banks so they could use them as give away when you opened an account, the” Shave and Save” campaigns were huge success. Gillette took it even further when he then sold to the Wrigley’s gum company; packets of coffee, tea, spices, and marshmallows. Gillette sold millions of razors at steep discount to the Army hoping the habits soldiers developed at war

The article analysis the Paramount’s situation, competition, product positioning, marketing strategy through the U.S. razor market, market segments and consumer behavior and the trends of nondisposable razors and refill cartridges. After the company

The introduction of the Sensor Shaving System, one of the biggest product launches ever, forced Gillette to reevaluate its strategy in its shaving and non-shaving business. It had to decide whether to go ahead with the launch and if so, at what scale.

You love the sight of his face. Why not help him keep it smooth and beautiful with the Philips Norelco Electric Shaver 2100? It costs a paltry $34, but it's a champion razor with three heads and a pop-up trimmer to boot. You'd pay more for replacement blades on some other models than you would for this quality grooming tool. And because it's cordless, Dad can carry it with him

The main target market for the company is people of 15 and over years of the age, who represent healthy and luxurious lifestyle, and appreciate high quality product. Such people are mostly representatives of business who loves take care of their health and body: regular work out in gym, yoga, SPA, aroma therapies etc. Those people demonstrate elegant style in everything, starting from a coffee what they drink and finishing a shampoo or hand lotion what they use. Bright example of such group of customers can be those who prefer Starbucks coffee to Tim Horton’s one.

Synopsis: Gillette has long been known for innovation in both product development and marketing strategy. In the highly competitive, but mature, razor and blade market, Gillette holds a commanding worldwide market share. The peak of its innovation occurred in 2006 with the introduction of the Fusion 5-bladed razor. Today, innovation in razors and blades is thwarted by a lack of new technology and increasing consumer reluctance to pay for the “latest and greatest” in shaving technology. Gillette must decide how to put the razor wars behind them and maintain or increase its share of the global razor market.

* Customers: Male consumer products have been trending upward in the last decade. The customer segments are broken up into three areas; social/emotional, involved razor users, and uninvolved or maintenance users. Social/emotional are responsible for 39% of Nondisposable razors, Involved is for 28%, and maintenance users account for 33%. In 2009 consumers razors and replacement cartridges at a higher rate than ever before.

For this reason, Gillette has always been trying to innovate in the market with new products. But they did not want their product to be bought just because they are a novelty but because it was perceived by the customer as a good quality product and have a staying power and product loyalty. This can be illustrated by the launch of the “Fusion” product by

Paramount Health and Beauty Company is in the process of launching a new technologically advanced nondisposable razor “Clean Edge”. With its improved design, Clean Edge provides superior performance by utilizing a vibrating technology to stimulate hair follicles and lift the hair from the skin, allowing for a more thorough shave. The company has decided to introduce it in the men’s market where it has a strong presence. The company is now focussing on positioning and naming of this new product. It also needs to decide on the promotional activities to be performed adhering to the budget constraints and also must decide on the distribution channels through which it can reach to the masses.

The Indonesian economy has constantly grown within the last 20 years. However, the shaving market is still underdeveloped compared with Western markets. Hence, Gillette should provide more information to spread widely concept of shaving. Moreover, it should introduce new products to facilitate the introduction of shaving products to non-shavers and increase the frequency of shaving in current shavers.

This bad public image has led to loss of existing customers and potential customers switching to more ethical brands. Nike’s marketing team has had to make it a big priority to counter any negative publicity and re-focus consumer’s attention on what they are doing about the allegations.

Gillette is successful because the focus on the one thing they know and that is men. They understand what men need for their grooming needs, and their products are sold all over the world (P Kotler, 2017). Gillette’s popularity has worked because of several factors, including high-quality innovation, consumer research, and mass communications. With their research, and the fact they have kept improving their product, Gillette has made many breakthrough product innovations, which should allow their success to keep increasing. In 1971, there was the Trac II, the first twin-blade shaving system, then the Atra in 1977 there was a razor with a pivoting head, and then in 1989 they developed the Sensor the first razor with spring-mounted twin blades dubbed (P Kotler, 2017). In 1998, Gillette introduced the Mach3 it was the first triple-blade system, surpassed only by the 2006 launch of the six-blade Fusion, promoted as “the best shave on the planet.” (P Kotler, 2017) It is possible that Gillette can become as successful with Women as Men due to the fact Procter & Gamble acquired Gillette in 2005 and Procter & Gamble are experts at marketing to women, due to the fact most of their lines such as dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent, and hygiene products are aim for their woman clients.