Gillette's Branding Strategies

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Q1 Gillette has successfully convinced the world that " more is better" in terms of number of blades and other razor features. Why has that worked in the past? What's next?

Gillette has continuously focused on product innovations by improving the features and adding on more blades with the company being more creative and moving beyond shaving launching products such as Fusion ProGlyde Styler which is a 3-in-1 battery operated razor which works as both shaver and styler and such innovations has led the company to be a leader with a commanding 60% market share (McDougall, 2013: Aug. 12). But besides product innovation, marketing communications has also worked very well for the brand as Gillette is having 18th rank on Forbes Most Powerful brands list but having 14th rank on consumer perception (Forbes, 2014: n.d). This means that the brand has been able to connect very well with the consumers. The marketing campaigns have worked very well for the brand and the company has engaged the consumers connecting with them with its influential campaign 'The Best a man can get' (Kotler & Keller, 2012). The company has used emotionally appeal in its advertising communication with the consumers which was very effective (Kotler & Keller, 2012). The company has connected with sports personalities such as baseball star Derek Jeter, tennis star Roger Federer and soccer fame Thierry Henry to connect with these major sports loving audiences (Kotler & Keller, 2012). The company has also established associations with musicians, video games and movies and the company has used embed marketing in which in one of the movies of James Bond - Goldfinger, there was a Gillette razor which contained a homing device (Kotler & Keller, 2012). Therefore the company has connected with the target audience i.e male segment through various communication media. Gillette has continuously attempted to provide a customer value proposition through sales promotion offers such as sweepstakes to get a chance to win NFL game tickets (Kotler & Keller, 2012). The company has also gone for sponsorship of sports events like National Football League and Gillette stadium, home of New England patriots for gaining visibility (Kotler & Keller, 2012). In future, the company faces a major challenge of innovation as although the company is a leader and innovates continuously, there will be a strong competition faced by ...