Class: BBA 8th

Topic: Case Study Gillette

Submitted to: Mam Zoya Khan

Submitted by : Zulkernain Mukhtar

 1. How is the Gillette Series being positioned with respect to (a) competitors, (b) the
target market, (c) the product class, (d) price and quality? What other positioning
possibilities are there?

Answer: (a) Competitors:

The first thing which positioned Gillette series among their major competitors is that they are
focusing on Technology. As it is mentioned in case study that a company spent 300 million
dollar to develop a technology that can significantly improves 3 major attributes of shaving

 Closeness
 Comfort
 Safety

They also provide innovative ideas like introducing a razor with independently moving twin
blades. The company also spent a good amount in advertising as it is mentioned in this case
study that they spent 110 million dollars in the first year to advertise Sensor which help them to
reduce the market percentage of disposables from 80% to 42%

The company also shows that the customers always comes first for them as it is mentioned the
introduction of a new product line was cancelled by the Gillette’s CEO, Alfred Zeien. He
insisted that the line not be launched until consumer tests showed that each of the 14 products
was preferred to the best- performing brand in its category. So these are few main reasons due to
which Gillette is able to be positioned among their competitors.

(b) Target Market:

The company produces blades and toiletries accessories and wanted to capture the big market of
it as the company’s CEO, Zeien says, “we’re already the worldwide leader in blades, Will we be
the world leader in other (toiletries) or not? That’s our goal.” As it is mentioned in this case
study that the company’s goal is to become a number one leading company in toiletries market.
Gillette mostly target men around the world. But not in the start of the company as it is shown in
this case study that Gillette’s success, Right Guard Deodorant was a market leader in the 1960’s.
Right Guard was one of the first Aerosols, and it became a family product which was used both
by men and women.

(c) Product class:

Product class means group or range of products that may serve as substitutes for one another.
Gillette introduces a wide range of new toiletries product which is based on quality and they try
to convince the customers to switch brands and pay the higher prices. They produce Sensor
razors for shaving which can be used in the place of disposable razors. Sensor razors gives much
better shave then disposable razors. Sensor razors are quite expensive then disposable razors but
they give much better shave then disposable razors so if the men want a good smooth shave then
he must go for sensor razor. Similar to sensor razors Gillette many products like deodorants,
after shave gels, after shave lotions etc can be used as substitute of the products made by other
companies.

(d) Price and Quality:

Gillette always focuses on quality. Gillette main agenda is to convince the customers to switch
the brand on the basis of quality not price. They spent a lot of investment in producing quality
products that can give better performance like sensor razors which gives much better shave then
the other razors although it is little bit expensive but it ensured quality shave. Similarly they
spent nearly 75 million dollar in producing other quality products like shaving creams, shaving
gels, after shaving gels, after shaving lotions etc which prices are 10- 20 % higher than the prices
of major competing items. They target the quality oriented customers more then price oriented.
And I think this is not a bad idea.

(e) Other Positioning Possibilities for Gillette:

Other positioning possibilities for Gillette is advertising and marketing. They spent about 60
million dollar in advertising their new product line with sensor. They come up with a different
and very impressing tag line which is “The Best a man can get”. Now-a-days they are focusing
more in marketing field as they select world’s best athletes and celebrities like Tiger Woods,
Roger Federer, Thierry Henry, Micheal Clark as their brand ambassador.
 2. Is Gillette making the best use of the brand equity that has been created with
Sensor?

Answer: yes because Gillette is using its most recent success, the sensor razor, as a springboard
for its new toiletries which is not a bad idea. The Sensor story provides the background
necessary to understand the marketing of the Gillette Series, and also offers some insight into
Gillette’s marketing abilities. So they decided to use sensor as a springboard for other new
product. The other toiletries products comes in silver and blue packages like the Sensor, and the
black lines on the packages match the grooved sides of the Sensor Razor handle as well. The
company also decided to spend $ 60 million on a joint advertising campaign with Sensor. Initial
TV commercials were one minute in length. They started with 15 seconds on shaving gels, and
cream, followed by 30 seconds on Sensor and 15 seconds on aftershaves. This is a good idea
because it psychologically affects the mind of the customers. A normal person can think that
these stuffs are related to each other if you can buy a Gillette’s sensor razor then you have to buy
Gillette’s shaving gel and aftershave as well.

3. What strategies do you propose to Gillette? Address the entire marketing mix.

Answer: Marketing mix consists of 4p’s. But there are some other P’s as well which is also
considering being the important aspect of marketing. Gillette has to focus on all these 7p’s of
marketing in order to get advantage over their competitors. These 7p’s are discuss below

(1) Product
Gillette is worldwide leader in blades they have to focus on other toiletries products for
that purpose they introduce new product line deodorants, shaving cream, aftershave etc.
They should focus on quality of the product as it is clear from this case study that Gillette
normally target quality oriented customers. They should also introduce new products like
sports watches, sports shoes, clothing, sports accessories etc as I think this can benefit a
company a lot.
(2) Price
Gillette normally target quality oriented people and their main target is to convince the
customer to switch the brand on the basis of quality not price. But pricing strategy is very
important in marketing. I think they should focus on penetration pricing strategy. It is
used as a loyalty-building or market-entry tool. The penetration pricing strategy offers a
high-quality product at a much lower than expected price. This combination helps the
business enter a new market even when strong competitors exist, and it builds loyalty
with new customers from the beginning. And I think this strategy suits Gillette because
their main focus is quality and they want to ensure the customers that their products are
of good quality and their prices are not very high.

(3) Place
Gillette is usually using indirect distributing channels i-e their products normally found
on general shops or stores. I think they also have to focus on direct distribution method as
well like opening outlets which contains only Gillette products. This can also help them
to improve their company’s revenue.

(4) Promotion
Promotion is considered to be the most important marketing mix among all. Promotion
contains advertising which is very important aspect of marketing. The company has done
well enough in this department for example recently in Pakistan they make famous pop
music band STRINGS as their brand ambassador. By investing more money and by
putting more effort the company can improve their promotion strategies.

(5) People
Gillette has to make sure to the people that their product is made only to comfort them.
The company must ensure their customer that people always comes first for them. This
can help Gillette to increase the number of loyal customer. If the customer is satisfied
with Gillette’s this strategy then he or she can easily shift the brand without caring about
price.
(6) Process
The process of product and service delivery is crucial as it ensures that the same standard
of service is repeatedly delivered to the customers. Gillette has to make sure that they
provide best process of products or services delivery. They have to make strategies to
make sure that their product is easily available to the people or customer.

(7) Physical Appearance

It is also consider being the important part of marketing mix. Physical appearance is the
first distinction of a product. Gillette has to make sure that their customer easily
recognized their product form its physical appearance. They have done quit well in this
field if we see their products like Mach Series, Fusion, sensor excel razors etc. they are
all came in very stylish look. This helps them to attract the customer.