Gillette

Manish

Content
The Company Gillette : Story in a nutshell
Perfect Marriage
Product Lines
Marketing Strategies: Global
Marketing Strategies: India
Our thoughts!

The Company Gillette

The search for that perfect shave has

gone through many twists & turns
over the centuries !

The years between 1800 and 1900

have been coined the Golden Era of
the straight edge razor

In
1901
King
C.
Gillette
fundamentally transformed shaving
with the invention of the first safety
razor, which was granted a patent on
November 15th, 1904

Company
founded
on
the
credo:There is a better way to shave
and we will find it.:

The Company Gillette

Today, Gillette has two dedicated R&D centers in Boston, USA and
Reading, UK

Brand Value As of May 2015 : $20.4 Billion

Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts

Perfect marriage

The P&G-Gillette merger in 2005 is one of the biggest mergers in the history of the
consumer goods industry.. a $57 billion deal

It was called a unique case of acquisition by an innovative company to expand its

product line by acquiring another innovative company. Analysts described the
merger as a "perfect marriage".

Product Lines

Gillette

Razors
Razors &
&
Blades
Blades

Shaving
Shaving
cream,
cream, Gel
Gel
&
Foam
& Foam

Skin
Skin Care
Care
&
&
Aftershave
Aftershave

Deoderants
Deoderants
&
&
Antiperspir
Antiperspir
ants
ants

In 1995, Gillette acquired Oral B

In 1996, Gillette acquired Duracell International Inc

Bodywash
Bodywash

Marketing Strategies-Global
Market Leader in the field of razors and blades
Focus on releasing complementary products to enhance existing product lines
Brand extensions: Gillette Hair Care, Body Wash & Clinical strength deodorant
for men
Gillettes ability to increase its share of customer enhanced due to resources
available at P&G
(Share of customer defined as percentage of each customers needs in a particular area met by
the firm and is exploited when a company with brand loyalty effectively capitalizes on that
preference to market other products)

Primarily focused on extension of its core business & the marketing programs
that supports it.
Created synergy between product development and marketing strategy

Marketing Strategies-Global
Sports Marketing Activities:
Focused heavily on male-dominated sports marketing activities
Gillettes stadium, home to the NFLs New England Patriots and soccers
New England Revolution
Sponsoring such athletic activities, Gillette reached to an audience
worldwide

Marketing Strategies-Global
Gillettes image & reputation more than doubled in popularity- david
Beckham worldwide spokesman in 2004
Gillettes Champions program launched in 2007 centred on athletic and
personal accomplishments- Tiger Woods, Roger Federer & Thierry Henry
NASCAR Marketing programs & Gillette Young Guns Program
Gaming also a Gillette sponsored past time

Marketing Strategies-Global
In 2008, Gillette launched an advertising campaign to remind consumers on the
value of Gillettes blade technology.
In the world of high performance, what machine can you run for as low as $1 a
week
In 2008, Gillette s the Best a man can get modernized into The Moment
campaign
2008-2009, Gillettes U.S unit sales of blade catridges fell roughly 10% every
month
Gillette consistently raised prices to offset higher production costs
P&G firmly believes in investing in new and emerging markets.

Marketing Strategies-India
Gillette entered Indian Market in 1984
Over half a billion men were shaving with double-edged razors as they did not
consider shaving a significant enough activity
Launched its newest triple-blade system, Mach3 in 2004 at a premium price (10
times) but sales was flat for a long time and was not able to compete with its
competitors
So Gillette had to focus on changing consumers attitude, leading to some creative
marketing campaigns.
For eg: the launch of the newest Gillette Mach3 in 2009 was supported by the Shave India
Movement 2009 campaign which included several initiatives. Gillette created the platform
India Votes... to shave or not to support this campaign. For two months, various media
channels picked up on the campaign and ran interviews, discussions, editorials and news
stories, which triggered popular interest. The main purpose was to create a debate around
shaving.

Marketing Strategies-India

Women Against Lazy Stubble (WALS) association

Gillette recruited Bollywood celebrities
Sales and market share increased by 38 per cent and 35 per cent respectively
Until 2010, Gillette India followed a strategy of marketing cheaper-end
US -developed razors
An estimated 400 million customers not happy with existing market offerings
provided a promising growth opportunity for Gillette
Intense door to door survey analysis: affordability, safety and ease of use
Gillettes current offering could not satisfy because: lack of running water, longer
facial hair and sit on the floor while shaving.
Introduced a new product, Gillette Guard, the first product created just for the
Indian market in October 2010, Rs15 per razor and Rs 5 for a refill cartridge.
Changed the product as compared to developed countries

Marketing Strategies-India
Gillette Guard for India:
Single Blade
Design complexity reduced
Easy-rinse cartridges (use less water)
Lightweight ribbed handles (better grip)
Safety comb (reduce cuts)
Hang hole in the handle (easy drying and storage)
Simpler Design

80% fewer parts

Lower manufacturing cost

Lower price

Distribution network across millions of small local shops for better reach

A mistake that multinationals make is to push global brands in a onesize-fits-all strategy. Gillettes strategy of spending time and resources
understanding Indian consumers needs proved to be the key to its
success

Marketing Strategies-India
Understood Indian market

Keep valued customer at core & introduced

innovative value proposition for value formoney customer

Appropriate value network

Our thoughts

Guard uses disposable cartridges which makes is not an environmentallyfriendly product

Low barriers to entry in this market
Innovative start-ups (e.g.DollarShaveClub) are growing fast in the US by
selling simple two-blade razors online at a fraction of Gillettes price.
Simple product design and limited marketing and overhead costs: Low price

Thank you