Marketing strategy of Gilette

1. MARKETING PLAN
Gillette Marketing Plan
[Student’s Name]
[Institution Affiliation]
[Date]

2. MARKETING PLAN
Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................2
Market & Situation Analysis......................................................................................................3
Economic Environment..........................................................................................................4
Social Environment................................................................................................................4
Technological Environment...................................................................................................5
SWOT Analysis......................................................................................................................5
Strengths.............................................................................................................................5
Weaknesses.........................................................................................................................6
Opportunities......................................................................................................................6
Threats................................................................................................................................7
Industry Analysis....................................................................................................................7
Competition............................................................................................................................8
MARKET STRATEGY AND TACTICS...................................................................................9
Target Market.........................................................................................................................9
Market Segmentation...........................................................................................................10
Geographic segmentation.................................................................................................10
Demographic segmentation..............................................................................................10
Psychographic segmentation............................................................................................11
Strategies..............................................................................................................................11

3. MARKETING PLAN
Product strategy................................................................................................................11
Price strategy....................................................................................................................12
Place.................................................................................................................................12
Promotion strategy...........................................................................................................13
Implementation....................................................................................................................14
References................................................................................................................................15

4. MARKETING PLAN 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Gillette brand of products has been in existence for over 100 years now. Although
initially owned by The Gillette Company, it is currently owned by Proctor and Gamble
(P&G). The take-over process was completed in 2005. The main products being offered
under the brand include razors, blades and other shaving products like after-shaves. However,
Proctor and Gamble produces other products such as alkaline batteries, oral products and
toiletries.
Gillette has largely dominated the market for shaving products in the past. However,
new entrants have led to increased competition, especially in online-based sales. These new
firms have engaged in aggressive marketing campaigns and strategies aimed at eating into
Gillette’s market share. It is, therefore, important that the company comes up with an
effective plan on how to, not only maintain its market leadership position, but also to increase
its customer base.
This market plan analyses the current market situation and provides strategies to be
implemented so as to fend off the increased competition from new market entrants such as
Dollar Shave Club, Harry’s and King of Shaves among others. The primary is to maintain the
product quality and innovation and enhance customer satisfaction.

5. MARKETING PLAN 2
INTRODUCTION
In 1901, King C. Gillette founded a safety razor manufacturing firm, named The
Gillette Company. The company embarked on a journey guided by innovation and came up
with high-quality razor products and quickly established itself as a top brand in its category.
In 2005, The Gillette Company merged with Proctor & Gamble, with Gillette now being part
of the P&G family under the personal grooming division[Gil16].
Gillette is undoubtedly a world leader in male grooming products. The core products
produced under the brand name are razors, blades and other shaving products like creams.

6. MARKETING PLAN 3
Over time, the company has also developed grooming products targeting women. Gillette
Venus was established as a group of razor products that were specifically used by women.
Apart from shaving products under the Gillette brand, Proctor and Gamble also produces
other products[For16]. Some of the top performing ones include oral care products under the
Oral-B brand name, batteries produced under the Duracell brand, which is a leading alkaline
battery product in the world and others.
The Gillette has a wide reach of over 200 countries worldwide, with its manufacturing
operations distributed over 23 countries where it has established about 57 manufacturing
plants. The brand boasts of a high level of innovation that constantly enables it to develop
superior quality products for the market. For instance, its latest shaving product developed in
2015, Gillette Fusion ProShield, provides lubrication before and after the blades to reduce
irritation while still maintaining contact for a perfect shave[Gil16]. As a result of this level of
innovation and constant product improvement, the brand has developed into one of the
strongest in the world, ranked as the 28th
most valuable brand in 2016 by Forbes. The brand is
valued at approximately $20.2 billion and controls about 65% of the razors market[For16].
Market & Situation Analysis
The Gillette brand is one of the best performing brands and income generating
divisions for Proctor & Gamble. The grooming division of the company, under which the
Gillette brand is placed, contributed to about 17% of the company’s total earnings in 2014,
representing a 10% of the total company sales for the financial year. This proves that the
personal grooming business is a key part of the business. The Gillette brand of razors still
accounts for the largest amount of sales in the razor market, while Forbes estimates that the
brand controls about 65% of the global market.

7. MARKETING PLAN 4
However, current market shifts and changes in the external environment may be
influencing the company’s profitability, both negatively and positively. For instance, P&G’s
grooming division sales dropped 3.1% to about $8 billion dollars in 2013. This represented
the business’ first decline in sales in 5 years until then. Changes in the economic, political,
social and technological environment play a critical part in the health of the business. These
factors have been summarised below.
Economic Environment
For the past decade or so, there have been changes in the economic environment,
which directly impacts the consumers and, hence, the sales of its products. An uncertain
economic climate has been experienced especially during the 2008 financial crisis with its
effects being felt even after the end of the crisis.
Nevertheless, the economic environment has since stabilised, with recovery signs
being observed. This has led to improved purchasing power to the consumer. Also, falling
commodity prices experienced in the recent times have led to lower inflation rates and
lowered the overall cost of living. This has resulted in more disposable income for customers,
who can now spend more on their personal grooming, with shaving products being an
important part of male grooming.
Social Environment
Similarly, the changes in the social environment have impacted on the grooming
business. First, there is a general increase in the level of interest in personal grooming all over
the world. This is brought about by the increased awareness of the need of maintaining high-
quality personal hygiene. As a result, more men and women are turning to razor products like
Gillette.

8. MARKETING PLAN 5
Rapid urbanisation being experienced globally also increases the market potential for
Gillette shaving products since more people. There is a general increase in the use of shaving
products in all the regions in the world, resulting in more sales. In emerging markets,
characterised by more traditional attitudes towards male grooming, change is also being
observed. This results from the younger members of these regions being exposed to western
lifestyles and also due to improved standards of living. Middle East, Africa, Latin America
and Eastern Europe constitute these regions.
Technological Environment
In the technological environment, improved technological advancements have
resulted in more advanced products being produced. This has enabled Gillette to establish
itself as a superior brand. Additionally, there is a general shift in trend towards more
advanced and multi-functional products among the population, favouring Gillette razors.
SWOT Analysis
The SWOT analysis discusses Gillette’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats in more detail. It presents an overview of the areas that the brand is performing well,
while also in pointing some of the areas of weakness and improvements.
Strengths
Gillette’s biggest strength is its strong brand image which is globally recognised.
Forbes ranks the brand at 28th
among the most valuable brands in the world as at May
2016[For16]. This helps the company to drive sales and weather competition. Gillette is an
established market leader in the personal grooming industry targeting both men and women.
This gives it an edge over other products. Another strength is the size of the company. Proctor
& Gamble is a well-established company with its operations spread all around the world, to

9. MARKETING PLAN 6
over 200 countries. This is a big advantage to the business as it enjoys a larger market for its
personal grooming products.
High product quality and innovation also constitute one of the strengths of the brand.
Gillette prides itself in constant research and development to enable it to develop high-quality
shaving products. The emphasis on high quality and product differentiation contributes to
higher sales and customer loyalty.
Weaknesses
The high costs incurred for each product development and long development
lifecycles are a weakness for the Gillette brand. Due to its emphasis on high quality and
innovation in product development, Gillette is forced to incur a lot in terms of time and
money when developing its razors and other shaving products. For instance, it is estimated
that development of each razor line costs the company about $750 million. This high cost
means that Gillette will have to sell at a higher price and quantity to break even. The long
development lifecycle also limits the number of products released to the market[Pic15].
The high costs of Gillette razors and shavers is also a weakness. Most of its products
are priced at a premium rate and thus prevent most of the people who are willing to use it
from buying. The static market growth of the grooming industry is another weakness.
Opportunities
Despite the weaknesses, Gillette has several opportunities that it could exploit to
improve its market reach and profitability. One of these opportunities is the increased demand
for high-quality products. More and more people are interested in consuming high-quality
products, especially considering that the standard of living is constantly improving. Gillette
could exploit this further by ensuring that its products are of the highest quality compared to
its competitors.

10. MARKETING PLAN 7
Consumer brand preference is also an important opportunity for the brand. Many
people like to identify themselves with a particular product brand. Proctor & Gamble could
tap into this and developed strategies to improve customer loyalty and further develop its
Gillette brand into a more formidable one. Another opportunity is presented by the changes in
lifestyle. The increased modernization and globalisation has brought with it a change in
consumer lifestyles where more people are now incorporating high-quality personal
grooming into their schedules. This has seen more women turning to body hair removal
products.
Threats
The external environment primarily contributes threats to Gillette's business.
Increased competition from other products is one of the major threats being faced by Gillette.
Apart from Schick-Wilkinson, which has provided stiff competition to Gillette razor
products, other aggressive companies are developing e-commerce driven products which
provide additional competition in the market. Dollar Shave Club, King of Shaves and Harry’s
are such firms.
Industry Analysis
Gillette’s razors and aftershave products are mainly targeted to the male population
and fall under the grooming business segment. Men's grooming has seen some considerable
growth in the past, with more and more men using shaving products. Aside from the
economic turmoil that was experienced during the financial crisis period, when grooming
business dropped by 5% in 2008, the other years have seen a constant growth. 2012 saw a
rebound in the men’s grooming industry, with growth estimated at 7% which was more than
had been experienced in the five years before that[Eur13].

11. MARKETING PLAN 8
It is projected that the male grooming market will continue growing in future. At an
estimated $21.4 billion market size in 2016, the market for Gillette’s shaving products looks
bright and could offer more opportunities in future. The chart below shows the projected
market size in coming years.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
17.3
18.3
19.3
20.3
21.4
22.6
23.9
25.2
26.6
1
Size of Global Male Grooming Market
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Year
Market Size in Billion Dollars
[Sta13]
Competition
Gillette quickly established its leadership position in the shaving products industry
after its conception. By 1905, Gillette was the leading brand in the industry, selling around
100,000 razors and 125,000 razors annually and also expanded into viable European markets.
For a long time now, its closest competitor in the razor and blades industry has been Schick
brand, owned by Edgewell Personal Care. Together, the two brands control around 80% of
the market share, although Gillette holds a larger portion of this share[Jul10].
However, in recent years, more start-ups have come on board, especially driving on e-
commerce platforms to venture into the market. Some of these brands include Harry’s, King
of Shaves, Dollar Shave Club and Bevel. These additional brands have engaged in aggressive

12. MARKETING PLAN 9
promotion and advertisement campaigns and threaten to eat into Gillette’s market share. It is
for this reason that there is need to maintain its status as the market leader.
MARKET STRATEGY AND TACTICS
The key to having a successful marketing program and the campaign is to understand
the customers carefully and come up with the right strategies to meet their expectations. It is
vital that Gillette can analyse the customer needs, preferences and expectations so as to know
which measures to put in place in a bid to maintain the brand’s strength and even improve the
market reach in future.
There is no doubt that, while Gillette products still maintain a huge chunk of the
market share, this has been reducing over in recent years. The waning impact, especially on
the online market, is attributed to new start-ups that produce cheaper products and engage the
customers in aggressive online and personalised advertisements. Much needs to be done to
ensure that Gillette remains a force to reckon with in the market for shaving products and
other personal grooming products.
Target Market
Young adults between 18 and 35 years of age constitute the main target group for
Gillette products. These young people are mostly aware of the need to maintain high hygiene
and personal grooming standards. However, given the increased competition in the market,
the company will focus on improving the product penetration across all market segments.
This will help in reducing reliance on a particular market segment and also improve the brand
awareness.
The different market segment being targeted by the product are further discussed in
more details.

13. MARKETING PLAN 10
Market Segmentation
Market segmentation is very important for any business organisation. It enables a
business to focus on a particular segment of the market and reduce wastages that could be
directed to other less profitable segments[Wei13]. Gillette’s target market is segmented into
three categories based on demographics, geographic, and psychographic factors.
Geographic segmentation
Under this category, Gillette’s main target are people living in urban areas as opposed
to those in the rural areas. This is because there is a higher rate of usage of shaving and
grooming products in the urban areas than the rural areas. Additionally, the company aims at
improving its product reach into other geographical regions, especially in the emerging
markets. An improvement in living standards and purchasing power of middle-class
individuals living in these emerging markets offer a good market for the brand[Kni15]. These
regions include the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and others.
Increased focus on the geographical location of potential customers will directly lead
to improved sales for Proctor & Gamble.
Demographic segmentation
This category is based on the target market characteristics such as the age, gender and
occupation. The primary target under this segmentation has always been the male population.
Shaving products have for a long time been used by men for facial hair removal. However,
the brand will seek to broaden its market by engaging in more promotional activities to target
women, who are increasingly adopting these products to manage body hair.
Gillette already has a product line, Gillette Venus, targeted to the female population.
Therefore, marketing activities will only seek to build on that. Regarding age classification,

14. MARKETING PLAN 11
the main target for the innovative products will be the relatively younger individuals, between
18 and 35 years of age.
Psychographic segmentation
People who are conscious of having high personal grooming standards are mainly
targeted under this category. These are those people who, for instance, will always make sure
that they are clean shaven before going to work. There is a large portion of people who can
identify themselves with this kind of lifestyle.
Also, people belonging to the middle class and the rich offer a good market segment
for Gillette. This is important because the brand is usually priced highly in return for
exceptionally high-quality products. It is therefore intended to serve those who earn and have
disposable income. Formally employed individuals will mostly constitute this category.
Strategies
An effective marketing strategy is one that covers all the vital sections or areas of the
brand to satisfy the target market. The strategies used will be grouped into product, price,
promotion and place categories, commonly known as the four Ps[Cha11]. These strategies
will be selected and blended for optimal results.
Product strategy
Gillette’s razors and other products have always been of high quality and incorporate
the best technologies. The aim is to maintain a very high-quality product line where the
quality is not compromised at all, whatever the competitive pressures being felt by the
company. More investments will be made in research and development to increase the
capacity to develop better products.

15. MARKETING PLAN 12
Also, among the weaknesses being faced by the band are high development costs and
long product development life-cycle. These prevent the company from launching more
products in a given period. To curb this, the development process will be optimised to
incorporate better cost and time management techniques. This is aimed at cutting improving
the rate at which new products are launched into the market, thus, maintaining relevance and
also meeting customer requirements quickly.
Product differentiation will be enhanced by maintaining high packaging quality for
attractiveness.
Price strategy
Product prices are very key in customers’ decision making. The options available for
the brand are pricing above, the same or below the existing market prices. Maintaining a
slightly higher retail price for Gillette products would be the best alternative. This would
enable the company to recoup the high development costs easily and promptly and by driving
sales volumes. The customers will get a good value for their money given the high and
innovative products which competitors might not be able to offer.
Additionally, the well-established brand image gives room for a higher price since
customers already know of the products and the quality. As a result, there is no need to match
the lower prices being offered by new entrants into the market due to the amount of
investment directed to research and development for quality shaving products. Psychological
pricing may be used to attract more customers e.g. by having $29.98 instead of $30 as the
price tag.
Place
These are mainly strategies to improve the distribution and availability of the product.
The primary strategy is indirect distribution where reliable and reputable distributors will be

16. MARKETING PLAN 13
used to access the market. More retailers will be used to ensure there is a high availability of
the product, especially in less developed countries. The company will also improve its online
footprint to reach more customers and also prevent online based start-ups from eating into its
market share.
A monthly delivery program will also be introduced to cover all Gillette’s products.
This will result in more competitive strength and also increased customer loyalty since more
customers can be retained. Many people are interested in convenient delivery plans that will
save them from constantly having to shop for the product in the stores. Other competitors like
Dollar Shaving Club have undertaken this successfully. However, it will result in additional
information storage and management costs.
Promotion strategy
Promotion and advertisement will primarily be online based. Gillette has had
successful advertisements on other platforms with celebrity endorsements, sports advertising
and TV commercials.
Online based advertising through social media ads and promotions, Search Engine
optimisation (SEO) and other paid advertisements. This will complement the other
promotional activities undertaken by the company and also take advantage of the increased
internet usage even in under-developed regions like Africa. Peer-to-peer marketing can be
achieved through online platforms since most of the conversations today take place through
social media. Kick-starting these conversations will be easier.
Public relation strategies will also be put in place as and when required to counter
negative sentiments about the brand quickly and effectively. It is vital to maintain a good
reputation in the market for easier brand enhancement [Fra12]. This may involve working
with established and successful public relations firms when required.

17. MARKETING PLAN 14
Implementation
Implementation of this marketing plan is key to ensuring that the future of the brand
in the increasingly competitive industry is successful. First, the marketing team will establish
relevant schedules or timelines for the planning purposes. These will be important in guiding
the team through the implementation process.
The next step is to think through the process and identify possible problems that could
be faced during the implementation. This will ensure that the company is proactive rather
than being reactive to emerging issues. Research studies will then be conducted to provide
important information that will aid in the actual realisation of the intended goals.
Finally, constant evaluations will be carried out to analyse the effectiveness of each
step. Corrective action will then be taken promptly to adjust any deviations from the expected
results.
References

18. MARKETING PLAN 15
Euromonitor. (2013). It’s a Man’s World: Men’s Grooming Continues Robust Performance.
Euromonitor International. Retrieved from http://www.euromonitor.com/its-a-mans-
world-mens-grooming-continues-robust-performance/report
Forbes. (2016, May). The World's Most Valuable Brands. Retrieved from Forbes Web site:
http://www.forbes.com/companies/gillette/
Gillette. (2016). About Gillette. Retrieved from Gillette Web site: http://gillette.com/en-
us/about-gillette
Knight, G. (2015). Emerging Markets. The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity
& Nationalism. doi:10.1002/9781118663202.wberen139
Lamb, C. W., Hair, J. F., & McDaniel, C. (2011). Essentials of Marketing. Cengage Learning.
Picardo, E. (2015, July 7). Is Gillette's Market Edge Becoming Razor-Thin? Retrieved from
Investopedia: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/070715/gillettes-
market-edge-becoming-razorthin.asp
Seitel, F. P., & Doorley, J. (2012). Rethinking Reputation: How PR Trumps Marketing and
Advertising in the New Media World. St. Martin's Press.
Statista. (2013, December 15). Male grooming market size worldwide 2012-2020. Retrieved
from The Statistics Portal: http://www.statista.com/statistics/287643/global-male-
grooming-market-size/
Weinstein, A. (2013). Handbook of Market Segmentation: Strategic Targeting for Business
and Technology Firms (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Willett, J. A. (2010). The American Beauty Industry Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO.

19. MARKETING PLAN 16