MKT202.

6
Customer Driven Marketing
Strategy of Gillette

Submitted By

Syed Akhlakur Rahman (ID: 1921201030)

Anika Hossain (ID: 1921016030)
Syed Tajwar Hossain Ali (ID: 1921779630)
Saiyeda Halimatus Saddia ( ID: 1912563630)
Mohammad Fazla Sharafat Ullah (ID: 1922035630)

Submitted To
Ms. Tilka Farzana
Lecturer
Marketing & International Business
North South University
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

With our deepest appreciation, we would like to thank our honorable faculty and instructor of this report, Tilka
Farzana ma’am for her valuable guidance.

It’s our great pleasure to be able to submit this report on Gillette. Here we have tried to put our best effort to
identify all the required criterions to complete this report properly. Our knowledge gained from this course and
guideline provided by our instructor has helped us all throughout the report. All the provided data has been
collected both from online and offline sources. References have been provided at the end of the paper. We have
tried our best to follow all the instructions.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report is based on a globally renowned brand named Gillette, which has been manufacturing men’s
grooming products for more than a century. Being one of the oldest and the largest company in its sector,
Gillette largely dominated the market as there were a few if not no competitor in the market back in 90s.
However, at present scenario, new entrants have led to increased threats of taking over the consumer market.
This new companies are applying aggressive marketing campaigns and taking various strategies to take over
the market. For Gillette, to hold its market shares, it has to implement different strategies to keep dominating
the market. As the largest company with developed supply chain management, it is easier for Gillette to take
such strategies. But the challenge is to use all its resources effectively and efficiently to develop multiple
strategies for different market segments which will form a bold impact on the market.

This report shows the development of various customer driven marketing strategies based on its strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats along with different data which will help Gillette to segment their
consumer market for better sales growth and competitive advantages.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction .........................................................................................................................................................................4
Mission Statement ...........................................................................................................................................................5
Vision Statement ..............................................................................................................................................................5
.............................................................................................................................................................................................6
Market Segmentation ..........................................................................................................................................................6
Geographic Segmentation ...............................................................................................................................................7
Demographic ....................................................................................................................................................................7
Psychographic ..................................................................................................................................................................8
Behavioral ........................................................................................................................................................................8
Target Marketing Strategy ...............................................................................................................................................9
Positioning........................................................................................................................................................................9
1) Identifying Competitive advantages ....................................................................................................................9
2) Choosing Right Competitive Advantages to promote .............................................................................................9
3) Selecting an overall positioning strategy ...............................................................................................................10
Marketing Mix Strategies ...................................................................................................................................................11
Product ...........................................................................................................................................................................11
Levels of products ......................................................................................................................................................11
Type of Consumer Product ........................................................................................................................................11
Product Line ...............................................................................................................................................................12
Brand Strategy............................................................................................................................................................13
Product Life Cycle.......................................................................................................................................................14
Price ...............................................................................................................................................................................15
Place ...............................................................................................................................................................................15
Promotion ......................................................................................................................................................................15
Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................................................................17
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INTRODUCTION

Gillette is an American brand which offers safety razors and other personal care products which includes various
shaving supplies.

Gillette, among other personal care products of men, is mainly a safety razor brand. Established by a man
named King C. Gillette on 28th September 1901 in the city of Boston, Massachusetts; initially it was named
“American Safety Razor Company”. The company patented the invention of razor in 1904. Since then they
have been working relentlessly to bring customers the best shave in the world through innovation. The
company takes the perception of precision seriously.
In 1952 the company changed its name to “The Gillette Company”. The company was a target by other
corporations for merger due to its high market share and number of products. Under the CEO Coleman
Mockler, Gillette successfully avoided three merger attempts from 1975 to 1991. But in 2005 1st October,
P&G finally took acquisition of The Gillette Company and the symbol G ceased to exist from the trade market.
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Mission Statement
The mission of Gillette is to build shareholder values through sustained profitable growth. They are focused to
accomplish their mission by gaining competitive advantages through quality, reliability, diversification and
wide distribution chains.

Vision Statement
The vision of the founder has inspired more than 100 years of innovation. And they believe they are not done
yet. King C. Gillette said and Gillette quotes, “We’ll stop making razor blades when we can’t keep making
them better”.
So, leading the marketplace through continuous innovation of new consumer friendly, reliable and advanced
products is the vision of the company.
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MARKET SEGMENTATION

The process a company adapts in order to divide the market on the basis of distinct needs, characteristics and
behaviour by producing different products with different marketing mixes.

Gillette segments its razors in accordance to the distinct needs of its consumers. It does this with the help of
segmenting the consumer markets first.

In this report, we are dividing the market into segments which include all the four bases- Geographic,
Demographic, Psychographic and Behavioral, from the perspective of Gillette.
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Geographic Segmentation
Gillette is one of the only razor brands that you may find in all households, small or big. This is due to the
availability of Gillette razors all over the world. Gillette uses geography to segment its market by, for example,
planning to introduce its latest premium razors in a mega city first as it is likely to reach a larger number of
premium consumers than any other areas.

Being focused on convenience products, Gillette has to follow an intensive distribution all over the world. To
make it effective, it targets the geographical locations with most population in order to reach the maximum
potential consumers using their global distribution chain. Using local distribution chain, the products get
distributed to other areas with less dense population.

Geographic segmentation is important while launching a new product. In some geographic locations, say for
example, in a rural area of Africa, it is unlikely for the local population to use the premium products of Gillette
(i.e. Gillette Labs). So it will not be profitable to design a premium product for such areas. Whereas, in a
developed megacity, like New York, people like to use products with more comfort and off course that comes
with a cost .So, Gillette can upward stretch its product line in location by offering more premium products.

Demographic
Demographic segmentation includes some key indicators such as age, gender, sex, Family, education and
Income which are very essential elements for a company to segment its market.

Age- Gillette has a wide variety of razors that is suitable for different age groups. For example, a 16 year old
will not need a very intensive razor as he may have just started to shave. Young users get more attracted towards
dynamic designs, so the product designers have to design such products that goes with the trend. On the other
hand, a 40 year old man will need to shave every morning and thus need a much more effective razor blade and
in this case they mostly prefer minimalistic designs. The marketers has to segment the market for their products
according to the age groups and develop different products for different groups.

Gender- As the taglines of Gillette are “The best a man can get” (1989-2019) and “The best men can be”
(since 2019), it’s no wonder that most of the products of Gillette are for men. Gillette dominates the market for
male grooming products. Gillette also offers a short range of products for women, such as Gillette Venus series
razors.

Income- Like every other product, income plays a very important role in segmenting the market. In rural
areas, as rural people earns low amount of living, it is more likely to find Gillette’s one time use cheap razors
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which costs less than $0.35 USD or 30 BDT, rather than the high end ones which causes a dent in the wallet
crossing almost 1000 taka. So, it is important to understand the demand of different products by segmenting
the market from income perspective.

Occupation- Business professionals and modern teens are always the prime target for Gillette’s new high
end razors because they have to be very keen on how they present themselves. On the other hand, a person
with a low income occupation may not worry as much about outgrowing their beard.

Psychographic
Psychographic factors such as Life style, social class and personality influence a customer very much for which it is
extremely important to segment the market on psychographic factor.
For example, in an area like Punjab, a Sikh person probably won’t shave like an English man, mostly because of their
tradition which had created a unique personality and Sikh people believe their beard and “pagri” are a symbol of their
personality and social tradition.

Behavioral
User status, usage rate, Benefits sought, occasions, loyalty and attitude are some key factors for marketers to segment
the target market.
The demand of the products will be higher for the person who uses those products regularly. Definitely, that also involves
Geographic, Demographic and Psychographic segmentations, but however, every market segmentation process is
somehow connected to each other. Let’s say for example, In New York, the majority of the population is corporate workers
who uses grooming products almost every day for their corporate appearance. So, the usage is very high in New York, so
the demand is.
Occasions can also be a factor for market segmentation as some occasions rises the usage rate of products. For example,
During ‘Eid, the sales of grooming products increase in the Muslim majority areas.
Attitude and brand loyalty are another two behavioral factors which helps markers to segment its target market. In an area
like Beverley Hills, people, for their lavish lifestyle, have adopted an attitude to use branded products with top quality.
That also creates brand loyalty for premium products. So, Gillette can identify these areas and promote their most premium
products for most sales.
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Target Marketing Strategy

It is the process of evaluating the attractiveness of each market segment and then entering one or more
segments.
The targeting strategy that Gillette should use for its different product lines is the Differentiated Marketing
Strategy. It is when companies target different market segments and offers different designs which is suitable
for a particular market. They do this in order to provide razors for various purposes and for various age groups
which means they will be able to meet specific consumer needs rather than if they were to use mass marketing
which targets the entire market with one type of product.

Positioning

1) Identifying Competitive advantages

 Product Differentiation – As Gillette manufactures grooming products, there’s not much functional
differentiation can be done. Rather, Gillette focuses on unique designs and better comforts to
differentiate its products from others.
 Channel Differentiation- Gillette is undoubtable one of the most common brands that you can find
nearby, from a local grocery store to a large mega mall, thanks to its intensive indirect distribution
channels. They distribute their products through intermediaries so that they can reach every targeted
corner of the globe. This is the biggest competitive advantage of Gillette, as more availability means
more market share.
 Image Differentiation- Being the largest and the oldest men personal care product company, Gillette
has by default a great image. Gillette never let its image to be fed out with its intensive product
promotion and great quality.

2) Choosing Right Competitive Advantages to promote

 Important differences- different types of promotional activities approaches different important facts
from different point of views. For example, the users of Gillette Blue II will not bother to be attracted
by any tv commercial as it offers only the basic grooming task with a very low cost. Intensive
distribution and availability is enough to sustain the sales. But to promote a premium product like
GilletteLabs, it is important to promote its most attractive feature, instant warmth.
 Distinctiveness- Gillette’s products are all unique and provides a large number of options to choose
from. Also the availability of the products with the same quality with justified prices makes Gillette
distinctive.
 Affordable- Gillette earns its most revenue from its basic products as the sales of these are very high.
People not only buy Gillette’s product because of its brand loyalty, but for it’s very affordable price.
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That’s the reason why local distributors are also stays interested to sell Gillette’s products because of its
affordability compared to other companies.

3) Selecting an overall positioning strategy

 Less for much less- Gillette designed its “Blue II” and “Gillette Guard” series to be the most affordable
razors in the market. These offer only the basic functionality of grooming and is one time use only. But,
as the prices are very low, Gillette basically is using less for much less positioning strategy here.

 More For Less- Gillette’s medium range razors provide more value for money utilities. They are not as
expensive as the premium lineup, but also gives very similar utility. So, technically, consumers are
getting more than the basic line product but for a far less cost than the premium lineup. For example,
Gillette Proglide, Fusion 5.

 More for more- this section is for those people who want the best of the best and in that case, money is
not a concern. They are ready to pay for the best product in the market. The price to performance is not
as much as the mid lineup, but there is no competition in this category as well. Undoubtedly, Gillette
offers the most premium commercially available razors where you will get more, if you pay more!
Ex: GilletteLabs.
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MARKETING MIX STRATEGIES

Product

Levels of products

 Augmented Products- Augmented products are the non-physical parts of the product that creates
value for the consumers. Such as- warranty, Installation, other after sales services, shipping and delivery
etc.
Gillette provides installment facilities for its most premium product GilletteLabs so that anyone
interested to experience the top quality shaving can afford it with a monthly installment of $25 USD.
Gillette also offers free shipping facilities for its most midline-Top line products such as ProGlide
Shield, Mach3, GilletteLabs, Razor Maker Maelstrom, Razor Maker Norse and so on.

 Actual Product- Gillette offers a ton of different products under the same product line which consists
of Razors, Shaving gel, Blades, Trimmers, after shaves.

 Core Benefit- the core benefit of Gillette’s products is to serve the best comfort while grooming with
an affordable price.

Type of Consumer Product

Most of the products of Gillette are convenience products with affordable and low prices. Also, these are
the most selling products in the personal care category. Gillette provides intensive distribution of these
convenient products and uses mass advertising and other promotional activities to keep the sales on the top.
However, Gillette also manufactures some Specialty products which are basically the top of the line in terms of
quality. The prices are high (Ex; $275 USD for GilletteLabs heated Razor), exclusively distributed and carefully
targeted for the people who wants the best of the best!
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Product Line
As mentioned before, Gillette offers a wide variety of products which includes Razors, Shaving creams, after
shaves, Trimmers etc. These are complementary products for shaving. Altogether, they make Gillette’s product
line for personal care products.
From the perspective of targeted consumers, we may divide the products of Gillette into two sections.
1) Personal care product line for Men- which includes, razors (Gillette Blue II, Gillette Guard, Fusion Series,
GilletteLabs, etc.), Shaving cream, after shave, Trimmers.
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2) Personal Care Product Line for women- For women, Gillette offers different products under Venus lineup.
Which includes razors and shaving cream products for women.

Brand Strategy

As the largest and most experienced producer of grooming products, Gillette definitely has its competitive
advantage in this segment. To keep the first position in hand, Gillette continuously needs to develop new
products according to the needs and trends. The functions doesn’t change that much. But, different look, design,
elegance and pricing gives every product a new identity. So, Gillette keeps on doing Line extension of their
product lines.
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Product Life Cycle

1) Product Development-
 Developing new product to extend the product line begins when a new design or idea strikes
which better suites the companies’ mission. So, at first Gillette has to identify the current trend
to design a new catchy product that might attract the market better.
 As a market leader, Gillette always has to innovate new designs. Research and designing
process involves high costs.
 At the beginning, sales are zero and profits are negative.

2) Introduction-
 Sales are very low at the beginning, So it requires intensive promotional activities regarding
the new features of the product
 High costs of promotional activities to increase the sales
 High cost per customer acquisition
 Profit is negative
 High cost to distribute the product all over the world

3) Growth-
 Sales rise rapidly
 Profit increases
 Average cost per customer
 Easier to attract new customers
 Easier to distribute
 New competitors arise

4) Maturity-
 Demand and sales are the highest
 Low cost and high profit per customer
 Dominates the market
 Lower competition

5) Decline-
 Due to different factors, the demand and sales decrease
 Prices need to be lower
 Profit decreases
 Less production
 Attention to new product development
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Price
As most of the products of Gillette are convenience products with affordable pricing, it basically follows the
value based pricing for most of the products.
For example, in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and in many other countries, majority of the population is lower
middle class or poor. So, people demand such products which are cheap and offers more value for money.
Keeping that in mind, Gillette designed Gillette Guard for Indian market which offers only the basic function
of grooming but the price is very low. Offered Gillette Blue II in Bangladesh. So in these case, they are
following value based pricing strategy for their low-midrange products.
However, in the premium lineup, they mostly follow Cost based pricing strategy. Say for example, designing
a premium product included high costs. Also for different features, the raw materials add more costs on the
product. To manufacture the product, it requires factories, transportations which are costly. After adding up all
these costs and taxes, the product itself is pretty costly. For these, the targeted market is much narrower. To
make it profitable, the prices must be very high, up to the level that the targeted market can afford to purchase
it. These products do not provide perfect value for money, rather these are luxury products that a group of
people are willing to pay for. For example, the $275 USD for a premium razor is definitely not a bang for bucks,
but this pricing is important for the product to sustain in the market, so this is basically cost based pricing.

Place

 Gillette sells its products through two marketing channel. First and the biggest channel is its intermediary
distributors around the world. Thousands of distributors around the world help Gillette to send its products
everywhere in the world. That’s the reason why no matter where you go, you will probably find Gillette
products in every grocery store or super shop.
 Another form of distribution is online selling. Gillette sells its mid-premium products in their website with free
shipping on some items. Gillette also has its official distribution chain system with Amazon.com with is the
largest online marketplace.
 Gillette identifies its target market for different products and sends those products through its massive
distribution chain. It saves costs and increases efficiency.

Promotion
Gillette does it’s most promotional activities through advertising it’s product.

To lead the market for over 100 years, a company needs to be adopted to the different promotional trends of different
period of time. In 90’s the main promotional method was posters. By its innovating and catchy poster designs, Gillette
used to attract consumer’s attention and approach them to use its products.
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With the flow of time Gillette has changed its advertising methods. Internet has the most impact on consumers. Gillette
makes their advertisements with their brand ambassadors who influences a big portion of the market and promotes on
the internet and television media. Also Gillette promotes its products by sponsorship with blockbuster movies.
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The tagline of Gillette, “the best men can be” was first introduced in 2019.before that Gillette’s tagline was, “The best
a man can get”. Gillette believes they make the best quality grooming products for men. This confidence reflected on
their previous tagline. But then, the wanted to spread this confidence to every users, thus they changed their tagline to
“the best men can be”, which means using the best thing can build up confidence of a man and can motivate him to
give the best that he can.

CONCLUSION

Gillette has seen the evolution of markets for over a hundred years. Many companies cannot sustain in this ever
changing marketing environment. Sometimes, Competitors arise like fire, burning everything ahead. Gillette has seen
all these. Now, being a massive company of more than 30,000 employees and millions of stakeholders over the world,
Gillette knows well how to deal with every situation. Also under the umbrella of a universal giant like P&G, it is no
wonder that opportunities are unlimited for Gillette.
Global population is always increasing, and the products that Gillette offers are necessity for everyone’s life. If Gillette
keeps innovating new ideas to attract new customers and manage to be the market leader in the future, like now, the
companies’ revenue may increase as fast as thunder, all it needs to be patient and monitor the market constantly to
adopt every uncertain situations and to take benefits from every little opportunities.
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REFERENCES

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bhasin, H. (2020). Marketing mix of Gillette – Gillette marketing mix. Retrieved from
https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-of-gillette/
Devis, H. (2018). Gillette Marketing Mix Strategy 7Ps Analysis. Retrieved from https://www.essay48.com/term-
paper/13758-Gillette-Marketing-Mix

Gillette. (n.d.). Gillette. Retrieved from https://gillette.com/

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Gillette. Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillette