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IMC CASE: Gillette: Dry Idea (A)File

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Section A
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Group 14
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Abhishek Singh (PGP/23/127)

Paruchuri Sesha Sai Maneesha (PGP/23/157)

Prashant Gautam (PGP/23/160)

Arpit Agrawal (PGP/23/256)

Gunjan Kishor (PGP/23/267)

Naveen Kumar (PGP/23/278)

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 1. Analyze Deo market and Dry Idea's Place in it. What drives the
category from the consumer behaviour point of view?

The first commercially under-armed product was sold in 1888, which was based on cream. By 1983,
the U.S. demand for underarm products had risen to 506 million units, accounting for over $1 billion
in manufacturing revenue. Two types of products in this category:

1. Deodorants (25% of sales) – gave only anti-odour safety

2. Antiperspirants (75 per cent of sales) – provided effective deodorants and protection against
wetness due to sweating.

The key component of the product was its active ingredient, which had an odour or wetness control
feature. Active ingredients have been formulated in final goods by adding them to the carrier system
– water, oils, etc. The products were available in four main types in 1983:
1. Aerosols
2. Sticks
3. Solids

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4. Roll-ons

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Dry idea:

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 It was a roll-on antiperspirant introduced in 1970 in scented and unscented fragrances.

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 Benefits of the product included:
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1. Enhanced protection against dryness
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2. Application for a dry feeling
3. Formulation of silicone suspension instead of water-based
 Premium prices – supported by the promotion of trade and national ads.
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 Packaged in individual roll-on plastic containers.

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Trends in demand for consumers:

 Cream in the 1950s was the main carrier system, and women were the predominant
consumers.
 The introduction of the Gillette’s Right Guard an aerosol-based product in the 1960s resulted
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in a marked rise in male use. By the mid-1970s, aerosol-based goods accounted for 79% of
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volume.
 1977, U.S. federal policy on environmentalists claimed that aerosol products damage the
ozone layer, which resulted in a consumer backlash, and there was a significant move to
direct application products – mainly roll-ons.
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 Roll-ons were the king of the group in 1983, and 93% of American females and 87% of
American males used items of this category. But there was a shift towards sticks and solids.
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 Main purchasing considerations were – effectiveness of the commodity, aesthetics and

choice of form (was the dominant factor).
 Purchases were made in food stores, drugstores, and general merchandise stores.

Competitive Environment:

• Dominated by Six Manufacturers

1. Proctor and Gamble (Secret and Sure brands)
2. Mennen (Mennen, Lady Speed Stick)
3. Carter Wallace (Arrid)
4. Shulton (Old Spice, Lady’s choice)
5. Gillette (Right Guard, Dry Idea, Soft & Dri)

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 6. Bristol-Myers (ban)

• Key success factors for these companies included

1. Product line expansion into non-aerosol forms
2. Distinctive brand positioning
3. Promotion support of existing brands
4. Strong Advertising

2. Understand the Brand management (client-Gillette) and Account

management (agency-BBDO) organization based on the case
data, read and follow the interactions (scenes 31-32, 62-44 in
video transcripts) and analyze/ compare the client and agency
perspectives on the Gillette marketing and advertising issues
faced during the period.

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Key Issues:

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 Low recall & impact of the commercials leading to customer’s inability to relate to the brand
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 Higher advertising budget of the competitors (about three times more)
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 Decline in the roll-on market size
 Lack of brand personality
 Instability in the positioning of the brand, pertaining to the change in the themes of the
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commercials
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Gillette’s perspective (Client):

 Imbalance between efficacy and aesthetics

 Keeping “Spokesperson” as an interim solution until the new solution
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 Optimal use of the budget of the marketing campaign was a concern

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 “Start Drier – Finish Drier” was considered a less creative ad

 They even questioned BBDO’s efficacy and thought of bringing new company for a fresh
perspective
 Need for coming up with a new creative in the next 4-5 months
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BBDO’s perspective (Agency):

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 Less impactful and less creative ads

 Decline in the roll-on subset
 High growth of solids
 Less expenditure on advertising, about one-third than that of competitors
 Inconsistent message from the ads, confusing customer
 Lack of brand personality
 An executional variable free strategic test is needed to select the best strategy (going with or
against solids and communication of efficacy or aesthetics)
 From a strategic point of view “Start Drier – Finish Drier” is the better interim creative
 No water positioning is attribute oriented and not benefit oriented
 It has short term orientation which is also non-ideal from strategic viewpoint

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 3. What really is the problem? What alternatives Carol has and what
should she do?

Problems:
 Strategic issues: Dry idea is not sure how they should position the product. They were betting
most of their odds on the Strategic testing results but when even the new ads were unable to
improve the brand recall and persuasion. Hence, there is a lack of clarity about the direction they
should move in.
 Urgency: For five years, Dry idea had been dwelling on the creating a communication strategy to
find an appropriate ad that supports their short-term goals without sacrificing the term strategic
positioning of the brand. So, it’s about high time, that they need to deliver on these fronts to
avoid losing the market.
 Financial issues: The 5-year struggle had taken a financial toll on Dry Idea and now they have left
with one last shot to deal with the situation

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Alternative available for Carol

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Alternatives
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Effectiveness Complexity Time and Cost
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Hiring new Agency New problems and Learning curve, urgency  Time: highest (5-7
solution can be in development of ad months)
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discovered which was campaign,  Cost: Med

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neglected earlier
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Fresh Copy Great knowledge base to Previous biases, lack of  Time: Medium (3-5
development with start a new copy promise, lack of clarity months)
BBDO development, no in direction for new  Cost: Low
problems in coordination copy development
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Collaboration with  Problems - BBDO Issues in coordination,  Time: Short (2-4

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BBDO and new  Solution -New agency friction between two months)
agency With effective agencies, risk of losing  Cost: High
coordination, solution can ownership about the
be developed in a short problem
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time, Competitive
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motivation

What Should Carol do:

Carol should go with the third option, because this is the last window for Dry Idea to roll out an
impactful ad campaign to communicate their value proposition. First two alternatives are avoided
because if they again fail in their efforts, Dry Idea may lose all the market to other players.

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 Suggestions:

From the Dry Idea test results,

1. Efficacy: Focusing on application process. To improve believability about efficacy the ads can be
structured as showing a before and after effect.

Ad events Features

1. Subject seems irritated because of the complexity Aesthetics

in application of roll on (stickiness)
2. Then Dry Idea flashes on the screen with “No Demonstration
water” demonstration
3. User is shown applying Dry Idea with ease hence Utilitarian benefit, effectiveness
satisfied with application
4. After applying, the user feels fresh and confident Emotional benefit

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and is well received by his/her peer groups

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2. Recall: Communicating one single user- story in ad campaign to improve relevance. It is
important to not confuse the viewer in order to increase brand recall with character association.

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The ad situation should be routine life situation that a normal person faces
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3. Product Imagery: Placing brand clues on the ad such as tagline like goes on dry, giving audio
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clues while displaying the tagline
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