Application Assignment

. 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? a. Premium to competition b. The Best a Man can Get” – not the most appropriate or cheap at all, but the most value added products, building on the popularity of sensor. c. Differentiated on functional attributes through innovation d. Price premium at an index of 110 to 120. There are many other positioning possibilities for a Brand.
Gillette can position the various products it has separately, or treat Gillette as a master Brand. If Gillett is one Brand, then the positioning should be the same as for the other series of men’s grooming products. However if it breaks it into categories, then there is a shaving line, and then a deodorant line, and it can get into an aftershave line as well, unless it wishes to keep it aligned with the shaving category. In this scenario there can be 3 distinct positioning that Gillette can take up in the consumers’ minds. 2.
Is Gillette making the best use of the brand equity that has been created with Sensor? Given that Gillett is attempting to make a name for itself and that Sensor has been its biggest success, it makes sense to use the impetus of that to tie into the rest of its line. The tagline of the best a man can get is a solid enough vague claim to make, and own. Since the equity was established for the ‘the best a man can get’ and not just Sensor, Gillette is making good use of this, since the Sensor can be seen as a product from Gillette, and one that works very well, at least as per consumer response.

Also, given that for men’s grooming, shaving is tied into the process very intricately, it is a logical next step to build onwards from shaving razor blade. However, releasing so many different product types into the market is not the right way to do so. 3 What strategies do you propose to Gillette? Address the entire marketing mix. Perhaps a more staggered approach would work better, from releasing the gels and after shaves, and then moving onto deodorant, since you do not want to put too many different variants out there.
It takes time to build a powerful reason to believe in a product for a consumer, and diluting the equity of sensor with too many different product types would be a disaster. A better strategy would be to first gauge not just consumer reaction to product quality, but to gauge consumer understanding of the brand Gillette. If the Brand is best known for a smooth comfortable shaving razor, then it would be advisable to first build on that equity further and introduce more razors, and add in a shaving gel.
Hence the products need to be staggered out. Secondly, to build on the Price, they have one premium product in the form of razors. However there is still room to build a pyramid within Gillette’s razors and add in a further premium variant, as well as a discounted variant as well. The Gels and Deodorants, when they come in should follow a similar strategy come in at a similar premium of 110-120 and then build variants surrounding it. For example the Cool Wave series can be positioned at a 130 premium to competition.
A further more niche variant can come in at a 150 index, and then a more standard variant series at a 100 index as the discounted variant series. Ownership of the category in the market is extremely important. The worst thing to do is to not take advantage of proper Placement. Globally companies such as Procter and Gamble as well as L’oreal have taken a space in the mind of the shopper through ownerships of shelves in store. It is important for Gillett series to be placed in a premium place, next to perhaps associated categories, and at eye level to most male consumers in the relevant age group.
Shop shelf decoration is also important to announce the premium position. Finally, the promotional angle must not be discounted. It is the single biggest reason after the Product itself, and is the right call for the consumers to initially think of trial. To achieve this trial, the communication must incorporate the same tagline of Gillette sensor, i. e the Best a man can get, and build on the equity that was created by Sensor. In this manner using all the tools to cater further success.