INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

BANGALORE

PGP– Term V (2019-2021)

PRODUCT STRATEGY & MANAGEMENT

By Prof. Ramesh Venkateswaran

GILLETTE
GROWING BEARD TRENDS IN
INDIA

Group 10 Date of Submission:

Akshay Saraogi 1911061 20 December 2020

Aneri Shah 1911138
Chirag Mittal 1911193
Amrit Satsangi 1911286
Abhishek Anand 1911377
Daashrathy Srikanth 1911435
Table of Contents
1.0 PROBLEM STATEMENT.......................................................................................................................................3
1.1 OBJECTIVE.......................................................................................................................................................3
1.2 SCOPE.............................................................................................................................................................3
1.3 APPROACH......................................................................................................................................................3
1.4 RELEVANCE TO COURSE..................................................................................................................................4
2.0 ANALYZING THE GILLETTE COMPANY.................................................................................................................4
2.1 GILLETTE AS A GLOBAL BRAND.......................................................................................................................4
2.2 GILLETTE'S ENTRY IN INDIA.............................................................................................................................5
3.0 ANALYZING THE GROOMING INDUSTRY.............................................................................................................5
3.1 EVOLUTION OF MEN'S GROOMING INDUSTRY IN INDIA................................................................................5
3.2 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE..............................................................................................................................6
3.2.1 ENTRY OF START-UPS...............................................................................................................................6
3.3 FACTORS FOR THE TREND SHIFTING TOWARDS BEARD.................................................................................7
3.3.1 "ROLE MODELS" DO NOT SHAVE ANYMORE............................................................................................7
3.3.2 SOCIAL MEDIA.........................................................................................................................................7
3.3.3 INFLUENCED BY THE WEST......................................................................................................................7
3.4 MEN BECOMING CONSCIOUS ABOUT THEIR APPEARANCE............................................................................8
3.4.1 INCREASE IN DISPOSABLE INCOMES........................................................................................................8
3.4.2 ACCEPTABILITY OF BEARD IN WORKPLACE..............................................................................................8
4.0 ANALYZING THE CURRENT SITUATION...............................................................................................................9
4.1 PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE AND BCG MATRIX.......................................................................................................10
4.2 COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF GILLETTE......................................................................................................10
4.3 GILLETTE ADVERTISING.................................................................................................................................11
5.0 ANALYZING THE STRATEGY AHEAD..................................................................................................................12
5.1 BRAND EXTENSION.......................................................................................................................................13
5.2 INFERENCES AND IMPLICATIONS..................................................................................................................14
6.0 WAY AHEAD......................................................................................................................................................15
APPENDIX...............................................................................................................................................................17
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................................................22
1.0 PROBLEM STATEMENT
The Indian razor market showed a staggering retail value growth rate of 12% in the early half
of the past decade, but now the growth stands at a measly 5.7% i. The growing beard trends in
India have hurt the growth of razors. Gillette, the market leader in India's shaving segment,
owns over 50% of the market share. Simultaneously, body shavers and personal care
appliances have grown at a double-digit growth rate in the last three years [Exhibit 1].

Given the sea change in beard trends and the men's grooming segment, what should Gillette
do? Should Gillette diversify its product offerings to include other grooming products? Should it
shift its focus to women's grooming? Or should it stick to its core offering and try to counter the
trend by changing the consumer perceptions?

1.1 OBJECTIVE
The paper aims to critically analyze the shift from shaving to beard grooming in India over the
past decade. We analyze the effects of this trend on Gillette India and its response to the
same.

The paper aims to understand the current situation of the industry and Gillette's position in the
same. Further, the report evaluates Gillette's marketing campaigns to study its response to the
trend. Finally, we make recommendations for Gillette to counter the trend-setting in the
grooming segment.

1.2 SCOPE
 While Gillette is a global brand, we focus on the Indian market while occasionally taking
cues from the US (United States) market.
 The report contains data for the past decade and is restricted to trends that emerged
during the last decade.
 The report aims to explore only the current strategies and response to the trend.
 Although Gillette's comes under the P&G umbrella, all analyses here are for Gillette as
a standalone brand only.

1.3 APPROACH
We followed the following approach to carry out our analysis:

 Extensive literature review of men's shaving and grooming industry in India

  Studied the evolution of grooming and changing trends from shaving to styling
 Surveyed customers to learn factors affecting their purchase decisions w.r.t grooming
products (insights in Exhibit 15)
 Comparative analysis of Gillette and other competitors
 Analysed Gillette's positioning and response to changing beard trends
 Based on situation analysis of Gillette, identified challenges and made
recommendations

For the analyses, we primarily relied on secondary sources like research papers, annual
reports, news articles, and YT videos.

1.4 RELEVANCE TO COURSE

Throughout the course, we have studied how many products are now commoditized and how
effective product strategy and marketing can help drive differentiation. The chosen problem
statement presents a classic commoditized product (shaving) and the shaving industry's
disruption due to new emerging trends (Beard styling). In this term paper analysis, we analyze
Gillette's offering from a product strategy perspective and the impact of the trend on their
business. We explore Gillette's challenges, their response to the challenges, and implications
from a strategic and marketing standpoint.

2.0 ANALYZING THE GILLETTE COMPANY

2.1 GILLETTE AS A GLOBAL BRAND
Gillette is the market leader in men's grooming product category and certain women's
grooming category. The global men's grooming products market was valued at US$ 51.35
billion for the year 2019. ii Men's grooming has evolved over time, and the major categories in
this segment include men's shaving, toiletries, and fragrances. More than 750 million men use
Gillette's razors in over 200 countries iii , and the brand continues to have a 60% share in the
global blades and razors. Gillette's legacy of precision began with King C. Gillette, who came
up with the razors and disposable blades in the early 19 th century. The company has been at
the heart of men's grooming for over a century.

The Gillette line of shaving razors and personal care became part of P&G when Procter &
Gamble bought Gillette in its largest-ever acquisition in 2005. The company's focus on
developing new innovative products and supporting those products through heavy marketing
has helped Gillette maintain a dominant market position over the years. It also featured on the
Forbes Business Survey 2020 (Rank 42) as one of the world's most valuable brands. iv

2.2 GILLETTE'S ENTRY IN INDIA

Gillette India as a company was incorporated in 1984 with collaboration between House of
Poddar Enterprises (HOPE) and Gillette Company, USA. The company was engaged in
manufacturing and selling stainless-steel razor blades. With the advancement of time, the
company started operating primarily in two segments: Personal Grooming and Oral Care. In
2005, Procter & Gamble Company USA acquired the Gillette Company USA, and Gillette India
began running as a separate legal identity under P&G's Global Business Unit (GBU) Market
Development Organization (MDO) organization structure.

Although Gillette entered India in 1984, however sales remained flat for a long time. The main
reason for this was the behavior of Indian men who did not consider shaving a significant
activity and hence were not ready to pay the premium incorporated in Gillette products and
preferred traditional double-edged razor. Gillette realized that their traditional global strategy of
building a superior product and promoting its features to command premium would not work in
India.

The turnaround happened for Gillette in the mid-2000s with the launch of Mach-3. Gillette,
before launching the Mach-3, undertook massive consumer research and identified the critical
pain points of Indian men related to shaving: it was time-consuming, caused skin-irritation, and
was generally unpleasant. Identifying this, Gillette launched Mach-3, which promised: "the
closest shave ever in fewer strokes – with less irritation." Gillette undertook various marketing
campaigns to change consumer's attitudes towards shaving and recruited famous personalities
from Bollywood and Cricket to support their campaigns.

3.0 ANALYZING THE GROOMING INDUSTRY

3.1 EVOLUTION OF MEN'S GROOMING INDUSTRY IN INDIA
In the US, the blades and razors market has shrunk from $2.4Bn to $2.2Bn from 2015 to
2018v. In 2019, P&G reported an impairment charge of $8 bn on Gillette. Jon Moeller, P&G's
CFO, said that lower shaving frequency had reduced the size of the developed blades and
razor's marketvi. While the market in India has not shrunk, the industry growth rate has taken a
significant hit. In the first half of the 2010s, the razors market showed a staggering retail value
growth rate of 12%, but this rate fell to 5.7% in 2019.

Changing lifestyle habits, increasing disposable incomes, wider availability, a rise in e-

commerce, more choices, media exposure, etc., have all contributed to increasing attention to
personal grooming amongst men. According to an ASSOCHAM report, the Indian men's
grooming segment showed a staggering growth of over 45% after 2013 vii. In the year 2019
alone, more than 177 new male grooming products were launched by FMCG giants. Major
products included beard oils, beard comb, deodorants, perfumes, colognes, etc.
Psychologically, people search for and buy solutions. (and not products) The trend suggests
that grooming and beard styling were the new emerging solutions. Companies built products to
offer these solutions, which were eventually bought by the consumers. In this section, we
explore the primary reasons that have led to this shift in trend. Subsequently, we analyze the
new players in the grooming segment and why they have bolstered their rise in recent years.

3.2 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

The Indian male toiletries market consisting of retail sales of men's disposable razors and
blades, men's post-shave cosmetics, men's pre-shave cosmetics, aftershaves, and colognes,
had total revenues of $544.9m in 2019. Men's disposable razor and blades accounted for the
highest value with a complete sale of $345.4m, close to 64% of the overall market value.

P&G, with a market share of close to 39%, was the leading player in the market with Super
Max World and Malhotra Shaving Products Ltd at the second and third position respectively in
2019. Gillette, owned by P&G, is the most popular product in the market, followed by Super-
Max (owned by Super Max World) and Topaz (owned by Malhotra Shaving products). Gillette
accounted for value shares of 54.4%, 47.6%, 39.6%, and 23.2% in aftershaves and colognes,
post-shave cosmetics, men's disposable razor, and blades and pre-shave cosmetics in 2019.
Super Max World accounted for 10.6% of the male toiletries market, with a 16.8% share in the
men's disposable razors and blades segment. Indian based Malhotra Shaving Products
accounted for 6.9% of the overall market value with a value share of 10.9% in the men's
disposable razors and blades segment in 2019. viii
3.2.1 ENTRY OF START-UPS

Taking a cue from these tailwinds, a slew of start-ups has entered the men's grooming space
that is disrupting the industry. Peer comparison is given in Exhibit 2. These start-ups are not
just restricted to shaving products but also provide a range of grooming products.
Diversification is the critical moat of these start-ups. All these start-ups started as online-only
brands, and a few are now omnichannel. Online-first has helped these start-ups to cater to
men in Tier II and Tier III cities as well.

3.3 FACTORS FOR THE TREND SHIFTING TOWARDS BEARD

3.3.1 "ROLE MODELS" DO NOT SHAVE ANYMORE
An Indian man is often influenced by many factors when it comes to fashion choices. Indian
men often find their role models in cricketers, celebrities, rockstars, or even politicians.
Surprisingly, ditching the clean-shaven look for a stylish beard is a trend that has been a
common theme for them all. [Exhibit 3]

Be it Indian cricket captain Kohli or the Bollywood celebrity Ranveer Singh, sporting a beard is
in fashion nowix. They are all key influencers (especially for millennials) who are also viewed as
significant style icons. Kohli is also a brand ambassador for Phillips' male grooming products.
Even other Indian cricket team members have emulated their sharp bearded captain, a big
contrast from the team's fashion trend about a decade ago.

3.3.2 SOCIAL MEDIA

The other side of the coin of influencers is the rise in prominence of social media influencers.
Based on a report, the number of Instagram posts with a #ad, signifying a brand partnership,
almost rose by 50% in the year 2019 itself x. Of all the industries that leverage social media
influencers, the fashion industry comes out on top, both for men and women. The majority of
the influencers are between the age of 25 to 34, a perfect age to influence most millennials
who are fashion enthusiasts [Exhibit 4]. Another trend that caught the attention of most men
was the emergence of hashtags like #NoShaveNovember. While it started as a charitable
cause (Men donate the money they save by not shaving to patients ailing with cancer), now
the youth has come to accept it as a fashion trend than what it originally stood for. When
influencers and role models post such hashtags on their social media handles, the trend is
hard to ignore.
3.3.3 INFLUENCED BY THE WEST
From clothing to personal care, India has always been influenced by the West; and the men's
grooming industry is no exception. Indian men embraced a clean-shaven look following the
West (companies like Gillette tailor-made razors for the common Indian man) and are now
influenced by the changing trend in the developed world of sporting a beard. The 2008
financial crisis is touted to be the start of this turning point in US history, with men going
unshaven for days as blades/re-usable razors became unaffordable in the aftermath of the
crisis. A clean-shaven look on Wall Street meant success, and these abandoned people (laid
off by the big banks) started growing a beard as a sign of protest. Known as the grooming
rebellion, rather than being a one-off instance, sporting a beard started gaining momentum.

3.4 MEN BECOMING CONSCIOUS ABOUT THEIR APPEARANCE

A recent report by Mintel, a market research agency, says that the average Indian man spends
42 minutes a day grooming himself (16 minutes on grooming his body, 14 minutes on his hair,
and 12 minutes on his face) xi. Further, the report highlights how urban Indian men spend more
time (1 hour each day) on grooming compared to men overall. Their research shows that 2/3 rd
of Indian men are concerned about some aspect of their appearance. This new wave of
grooming is in stark contrast to the men of the 20 th century who were essentially shamed for
being conscious of how they look. When facials/spas were strictly for women, today, salons
have started becoming unisex, where the menu/service catalogue for men's grooming services
runs in 4-5 pages.

3.4.1 INCREASE IN DISPOSABLE INCOMES

Rapid urbanization, rising disposable incomes (India's total disposable income is given in
Exhibit 5) are helping Indian men splurge on themselves. There was a time when masculinity
was codified into black and white; now, Indian men are more open to experimentation, and this
is helping the Indian men's grooming industry to come of age. The scale that the new-age
start-ups have achieved is a testimony to the importance that Indian men attribute to grooming.
Further, Indian conglomerates are also cashing in on this trend. A recent report by Nielsen
highlighted that FMCG companies put out an estimated 177 new male grooming brands and
variants.xii
3.4.2 ACCEPTABILITY OF BEARD IN WORKPLACE
There was a time when keeping a beard was a strict no-no and was considered
unprofessional. Most of the companies' HR guidelines mandated a clean-shaven look.
Corporate India has come a long way from there. India Inc. now has two camps, with one
being part of the earlier brigade and a new camp which beliefs in letting their employees
choose their style of fashion, with the belief that fashion is a personal choice and sporting a
beard is a personal preference. Mr. Kavindra Mishra, Managing Director, India, Pepe Jeans
London mentioned to The Economic Times, "A lot of guys in our sales teams and at the head
office have the trendy beard, and we are absolutely fine with it. Fashion is a personal choice,
and we respect that,".xiii Recognizing this, Gillette's product brand manager, Jared Regan, had
stated, "There is certainly a growing trend towards facial hair styling, and it's becoming
increasingly acceptable to sport your style in the workplace too."xiv

4.0 ANALYZING THE CURRENT SITUATION

The average Gillette razor concept statement reads as follows: The razor blade concept
statement is centered around solving the grooming needs of men and women who do not want
facial and body hair, which is gradually shifting. For this section, we shall focus on the male
part of the audience since Gillette has a different brand catering to females (more on that
later).

The consumption of razors depends on shaving frequency and the trends in bread growth in a
region. Gillette's revenues in the razors and blades segment are constrained by the number of
existing users (which vary which facial hair trends) and the frequency of consumption, which is
a factor of age - young people grow hair faster and hence shave more. The Indian population
is relatively young (average age of 26.4 and 35.8% of the population under 20 xv), which means
that shaving people's frequency will be relatively high.

However, as discussed, beards and mustaches are en vogue. With celebrities sporting beards,
facial hair trends have gained much momentum over the last five years. This trend can be
seen all over the world. In the UK, the proportion of men sporting facial hair had increased
from 37% in 2011 to 42% in 2016. Of the men having facial hair, 44% had full beards than 29%
five years earlier (2012)xvi. This trend also follows from the lower disapproval of facial hair by
women. Having facial hair is increasingly becoming a trend in the younger generation, and this
also has a significant potential to unsettle the shaving industry. The story of Gillette in the US
foretells what the Indian market may look like soon.

In a shrinking US market, Gillette's share in the razors and blades segment had reduced from
70% in 2010 to 52.8% in 2018xvii. The company enjoyed little to no competition from its
inception in 1903 till around 2011 when Dollar Shave Club entered the shaving business. More
companies followed suit and, based on differentiated products catering to niche segments
(better-looking razor vs. single blade safety razor vs. a subscription service model), were able
to steal market share away from Gillette. Following this, Gillette had to drop its prices of
replacement blades and other products by an average of 12% to remain competitive xviii.

Intense competition and growing beard trends led P&G to write down its Gillette brand value by
$8 billion in 2019xix. The launch of companies like Beardo and Bombay Shaving Company in
India and a shift in the market from standard men's shaving products has caused Gillette's
market share in the Men's Grooming segment to decline.

Malhotra Shaving Products catering to the lower market segment and primarily involved in
disposable blades manufacturing, has maintained its small market share over the same period
[Exhibit 6]. Brand-wise shares are mentioned in Exhibit 7.

Judging from the US market experience, Gillette seems to be at risk of losing its foothold in the
Indian market.

4.1 PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE AND BCG MATRIX

Post-COVID men's grooming is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.4% from 2019-24, while the
Razors and Blades segments are expected to contract (CAGR of -0.1%) xx. The shaving
industry is expected to grow at a much lower rate compared to the overall grooming industry.

The graph in Exhibit 8 shows the quarterly sales and Gross Profit Margins of Gillette India xxi.

Based on Gillette's sales, we can see that the company has reached a mature stage in the
industry life cycle. Following the latest industry trends, we can say that the overall industry will
grow at a low rate.

Since Gillette is the largest player in the Men's razor and blades category, its portfolio of
shaving products is currently shifting from a Star product to a Cash Cow due to lowering
market growth as seen in the BCG matrix [Exhibit 9]. The segmental contribution of Blades
and Razors has been steadily decreasing over the last few years, as shown in Exhibit 10xxii:

Since Blades and Razors contribute to 76% of company turnover and remains the most
dominant product associated with the Gillette brand, the company must revise its strategy in
response to current market trends.

4.2 COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF GILLETTE

Gillette has been a brand synonymous with razors and shaving. Since its inception in 1903,
hundreds of products have been launched catering to men's grooming in general and shaving
– razors in particular. The company entered the Indian market in 1984 and started selling
Gillette Shaving Products in 1993. Since then, it has launched products like the Mach 3 (three-
blade razor) and the Vector Plus, which together held 22% of the market in 2019 xxiii.

The company has been responsible for changing the attitude of men towards shaving by
launching the "Shave India Movement 2009," which created a debate around shaving. Women
Against Lazy Stubble (WALS) association was also created, in which women encouraged men
to shave. Leveraging celebrities like Arjun Rampal and Neha Dhupia, the campaign launched
Gillette into a high growth trajectory through which sales and market share grew by 38% and
35%, respectivelyxxiv.

Though most of India's products were cheaper-end US developed razors catering to the middle
and upper urban class population, Gillette soon realized the potential for growth in the low-
income segment. It launched Gillette Guard at Rs. 15 per razor, catered specifically to the
Indian consumer who valued safety and ease of use.

Gillette's success in India was driven by its capacity to innovate. It has gained a strong foothold
in India through creative marketing and reverses innovated products targeting the lower market
range. However, Gillette is primarily recognized for its range of razors and saw a muted
response to its trimmer launched in 2014. This is highlighted by the fact that Gillette razors
make it to the top 10 in every razor ranking in India, while the trimmers are overshadowed by
the likes of Philips, Panasonic, and Braun.

Due to rising beard trends and lower consumption of razors, Gillette has fallen down from the
28th position (2016) to the 42nd position (2020) in the Forbes Most Valuable Brands list xxv.
4.3 GILLETTE ADVERTISING
Gillette has always focussed on the value offered to the customer in its advertisements.
Highlighting the innovative blade technology, ads stress how the product either saves time (3/5
blade technology), reduces irritation on the skin (Skin Guard), or provides the experience of a
premium brand at a low price (Guard).

Every iconic Gillette advertisement has involved a male who uses the Gillette razor to shave.
These three attributes have shaped brand perception and association. `Gillette is associated
with clean shaved men' is the central theme conveyed. The razor segment's marketing is so
good that over 95% of our survey respondents said they associated Gillette with razors but not
trimmers. However, there are certain areas of disconnect concerning the marketing strategy of
the company.

The company has only one trimmer in its entire range of shaving products. The All-Purpose
Gillette Styler was brought into the Indian market after being designed and developed for the
US. Lack of advertising and marketing of the product led to a muted response in the trimmer
segment. Gillette is still perceived as a razor company and not one that caters to all aspects of
men's grooming. This image once again conflicts with various articles published on the Gillette
website, which advise on growing and maintaining beards xxvi.

The company should either look to reposition itself - through directed marketing - as a holistic
provider of men's grooming products or should stick to its guns of being a razor company.

Gillette also faced criticism recently over its short film "The Best a Man Can Be." The message
was in response to the #MeToo movement and was directed towards the harmful behaviors
that have been coded as "masculine." Though the message was to hold each other
accountable and set an example for the next generation, it faced severe backlash from men's
rights activist groups. The advertisement was disliked 1.6 million times on YouTube xxvii with a
like to dislike ratio of 0.5. Since the primary target segment for Gillette is men, the
advertisement could have provided the message more positively to avoid upsetting its core
customer base.

5.0 ANALYZING THE STRATEGY AHEAD

In the preceding sections, we discussed the current situation of the men's grooming industry,
the company's performance globally and in India, the competitive landscape, changing trends
in this segment leading to threats and opportunities, and the competitive advantage of Gillette
for their brand. The vision of Gillette is to retain the market leader position in the shaving
segment in India and to counter the threat posed by the trend shift to keeping beards. In the
following section, we would analyze various strategies that Gillette can adopt to reach the final
goal, keeping the current scenario in the picture.

As discussed, the shaving industry is stagnating, and the companies competing in this industry
need to innovate to compete in the future. New start-ups are emerging in the men's grooming
industry, and the threat is looming over the shaving industry due to the changing preferences
of customers, moving from a clean shave look to keeping a beard look. Gillette, on the other
hand, is also seeing increased sales but is currently in the maturity stage as analyzed by the
PLC approach.

5.1 BRAND EXTENSION

In this section, the analysis will be done on the Gillette brand and the products it has launched.
It would also help to analyze the strategies that Gillette can use for future endeavors. A brand
is an asset for the company, and it should stand for something that company believes in.
Gillette has launched more of its products in the razor category for men. As a brand extension,
it launched razors for women. Since it was a very different segment and there were fears that
there won't be a fit between the original brand of Gillette with women's razors since Gillette is
known as a Men's brand with taglines like "The best a man can get." To avoid the clash with
the existing brand, Gillette launched the new product line of women razor with the name of
Venus, with different websites, advertisements, and in no association with the men's razor.
This augurs well for both the new product and also the existing brand and product portfolio.
According to the unit sales of the leading razor brands in the US, Gillette Venus was sold 3.7
unit million sales, the 3rd highest among top brandsxxviii, further proof that launching a different
brand for women razor was the correct one. [Exhibit 11]. Also, Gillette focused on the brand
name and the logo of the new brand. Venus resembles feminism, hence the name, and in the
logo, the V of Venus has been designed to represent female body shape as opposed to the
sharper lines in ‘Gillette’. The Gillette name is in a smaller font than Venus font size, thus
highlighting the brand Venus and not associating it with Gillette.

Similarly, Gillette, a razor company, also introduced a trimmer in its portfolio by the name
Gillette "All-purpose Fusion ProGlide styler." Though this product also has an attachment of
razor, Gillette still tried to venture into the trimmer segment acknowledging the trend shifting to
beard among men. This time the Gillette didn't introduce a new brand and launched it within
the Gillette brand, which though fits within the grooming segment for men but deviates slightly
from the complete shaving and razor segment. Though this product has not been successful in
this segment, the question arises whether the failure is due to the non-association of the brand
Gillette with trimmers or the poor performance of the product strategy itself. The launch of a
trimmer product portfolio within the brand of Gillette will confuse the customers, as for more
than two decades, Gillette is associated with razors and shaving, and the launch of trimmers
can potentially dilute the brand of Gillette.

5.2 INFERENCES AND IMPLICATIONS

From the Ansoff matrix, Gillette can identify opportunities to grow in areas concerning the
Market and Product. As seen from Exhibit 12, there are four options with Gillette where it can
either launch a new product in the new or existing market or try to launch the existing old
product in the new market, or look to penetrate the old product into a current market.

With the information that we have analyzed, the strategy to focus on the existing products, i.e.,
different types of razors, and either penetrating the current market or launching into a new
market has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that it allows
Gillette to leverage its high brand image and focus on marketing techniques to counter the
threat of the booming beard trend. There will be a need to capture the new customers of young
age who are moving to other products because of less inclination towards clean shave look.
Gillette has used several marketing strategies in the past, like women love clean shave look,
associating it with a perfect man desirable by women, and heroism. For a new product, Gillette
has the option of launching into the trimmer segment and the complete men's grooming
products, e.g., beard oil, beard cream, beard face wash, etc., acknowledging the upgrowth in
the beard segment. The advantage of launching a new product line will be to capture the
unique opportunity of growing beard trend and capture the market that is being created by the
new start-ups in the men's grooming industry. This strategy would allow Gillette to focus on
both men's shaving and beard requirements, thus being a complete solution for men's
grooming needs. The disadvantage of this strategy would be a possible dilution of the Gillette
brand as it can confuse the customers about what Gillette stands for.
Thus, after reviewing all the possible strategies and their advantages and disadvantages
based on the current scenario, the strategy Gillette should focus on is to continue with their
shaving products and to counter and exploit the new threat, turning it into an opportunity by
launching a new product line for complete men's grooming needs, i.e., trimmer, beard oil,
beard facewash, beard cream, and moisturizer, and beard styling equipment. This product line
should be launched with a different Brand name and not as a brand extension so as not to
dilute the Gillette brand, focusing this on the premium segment.

Analysis of the existing companies on the Fidelity-convenience graph [Exhibit 13] analyzes
the different brands in the men's grooming segment. Currently, the Gillette brand is focused on
the masses, while the other companies are focusing both on convenience and high fidelity,
resulting in a Fidelity mirage. Gillette's strategy should be to introduce a new brand for the
premium segment, dealing entirely with the Beard segment and the beard product portfolio,
which will keep Gillette as a shaving company and the new brand associating itself with the
latest trend requirement.

6.0 WAY AHEAD

The strategy decided after analyzing the current scenarios and keeping in mind the vision of
Gillette is to launch a new product line for the younger generation who are shifting to keeping a
beard. This reasoning is consistent with our findings in the Value Analysis of razors vs
trimmers [Exhibit 16] which shows that people prefer trimmers over razors for their grooming
needs. The decisions that need to be taken for the new product development include the
designing of the product (kinesthetic, aesthetic, functional), features and types of the product
(through value and utility map), and deciding the exceptional and performance characteristics
for the product leading to high customer value (Kano model). These inputs would allow the
company to narrow down on the customer preferences and how Gillette can innovate in the
new product, and these customer needs will be the inputs to the House of Quality model for
generating the engineering inputs. Due to the lack of quantitative data, it would be difficult to
tackle each of the previously mentioned problems, but qualitatively, we would try to provide the
recommendations. Finally, conjoint analysis can be done at the later stage of product
development to assess how much people value the different features, to decide on features to
maximize the utility for the customers.
After analyzing the current products available in the market for beard maintenance, and putting
customer hat on and surveying the customers, some of the features that Gillette should include
in their new product portfolio consists of the following:

 Solution – Complete grooming kit with a high precision trimmer, high battery backup,
smooth on the skin, protection for risk-free of cuts, water-resistant, quick trim possible
with higher cut speed (>250 glides per second)
o Design – holding grip, non-corrosion body & attachments, premium finish, easy to
add and remove attachments
o Exceptional characteristics – Battery indicator, beep when low battery, hair
collector while use, Easy to clean, a small light for extra clarity, a case for
keeping attachments
 Access – Mostly, Gillette products are sold on the shelf in retail stores, focus on online
retail channels
 Value – High fidelity product, customers will pay a higher price for the Gillette brand and
best product in the market
 Education – Focusing on the segment who likes to keep a beard, educating them on
how to grow and maintain a beard, tutorials for styling

It would be difficult to launch a product with all the features mentioned above. The strategies
described above would help to narrow down on the features which provide the maximum utility
to the customers and which will help Gillette to differentiate and gain a competitive advantage
and establish itself as the most desirable brand even for beard products. During the new
product development, it is crucial for Gillette to not fall into the trap of "featuritis" and launch a
product with the most features, instead launch a product with features that maximize the value
for customers.

The argument presented by our group can be validated by the new product line launched by
Gillette US. They launched a premium product line on Gillette's founder name, King.C.
Gillettexxix, providing products catering to the entire men's grooming needs [Exhibit 14]. The
product includes soft beard balm, beard oil, shaving gel, an electric trimmer, and the
resurrection of the double-edge safety razor. It falls in line with our recommendation, with the
product line should be customized based on Indian customer needs using the various
strategies mentioned previously. The main pointers from the new brand launch by Gillette are
the different brand name, premium offering, catering to complete men's grooming, targeting the
youth and young users recognizing their changing preferences to honing a beard.

APPENDIX
Exhibit 1: The growth in personal care and body shavers in the last three years

Exhibit 2: Peer comparison of start-ups in grooming space

Exhibit 3: Beard trends taking over the country

Virat Kohli (Cricketer) Ranveer Singh (Bollywood Celebrity) Narendra Modi (PM of India)
Exhibit 4: Beard influencer on a social media platform (Instagram)

Exhibit 5: India's total disposable income

 Trends in Men's Grooming in India
20 Gillette Malhotra Shaving Products Sales of Men's Razors and Blades 45
18 40
16 35

Sales in INR Billion

14 30
Market Share %

12 25
10 20
8 15
6 10
4 5
2 0
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Exhibit 6: Trends in Men's grooming

Exhibit 7: Brand-wise market shares

Exhibit 8: Quarterly sales and Gross Profit Margins of Gillette India and a PLC graph
Exhibit 9: BCG Matrix 90.00%
80.00%
81.00% 79.39% 78.00%
70.00%
75.00% 76.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
21.00% 20.61% 22.00% 24.00%
19.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Blades and Razors Oral Care

Exhibit 10: Segmental contribution of Blades and Razors

Exhibit 11: Unit sales of the leading razor brands in the United States in 2019 (in millions)
Exhibit 14: Gillette new product line launched in the USA for entire men's grooming needs

Exhibit 12: Strategies available Exhibit 13: Fidelity-convenience matrix

according to Ansoff Matrix for Men’s grooming products in India
Fidelity

Convenience

Exhibit 15: Survey Highlights

Women:

1. Prefer men with stubble

2. Associate beards with manliness

Men:

1. Over 60% of men preferred stubble or full-grown beard to a clean-shaven look

2. Most respondents said they prefer trimmers over razor because it offers more control
3. Over 75% of respondents said they prefer self-care for facial hair over visiting a salon
 4. For people who do visit salons, the most popular reason is to style beards, which is
difficult to do on your own
5. In razors, Gillette is the most preferred brand, followed by The Man Company and
Bombay Shaving Company
6. Over 95% of respondents associate Gillette with razors and not trimmers.
7. Over 80% of respondents have never heard of the Gillette Pro Glide Styler.
8. Phillips is the most popular trimmer brand, followed by Braun and Panasonic.
9. Over 60% of respondents said that they started keeping beards after 2015

Exhibit 16: Value Analysis for Razor vs Trimmer

Price Factors Importance Razor Trimmer Score (wrt Trimmer)

1 Price 40% 9 7 0.53
2 Longevity 40% 6 9 0.28
Cost of Addons - Cream,
3 20% 5 6 0.17
Aftershave
Market Perceived Price Ratio 0.97

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