An Assignment of Marketing Communication Strategy of Gillette

Every organization produces goods and services selling these to the prospective customers and
generates profit. The main target of an organization is to fulfill the demand of the customer and
satisfy them through which organization can able to make a sustainable growth. For this reason,
organization requires to establish a unique marketing communication strategy that helps the
organization to achieve the targets and dominate over the rivals. The nature of market is changed
dramatically past few years. Today, organizations face fierce competition and established and
brand organization also facing huge threats from rival organizations either small in size or big.
So that, in this perfect competitive market, the success of an organization greatly depends on
adopting and properly implementing the most effective and creative marketing communication
strategies. Marketing communication is a part of promotional mix which is a subset of marketing
mix such as price, place, promotion and product (Greene, 2015). Establishing and implementing
effective marketing communication strategies are the main challenge for every organization like
Gillette. The focusing issues of this write up are concept of segmentation, targeting and
positioning the target market of Gillette and assess the current communication strategy of
Gillette. In addition, this report will discuss the role of branding of Gillette products and at the
report will end with recommending some alternative promotional campaign that Gillette can be
used along with present strategies.

Background of The Gillette Company, Inc

The Gillette Company Inc. manufactures and sells shaving system for men which was founded
by King C. Gillette in 1901 in Boston and manufactured its first razor in 1903. By 1905, the
company started its international operations by starting companies in Paris and London. In 1936
and 1938, the company introduced its first saving cream and electric razor respectively.
Currently the company offer to its customers various products such as disposable razors,
replacement blades, refillable razors, beard trimmers; pre and post shave products such as gels,
shaving foams and creams, aftershave products, face washes, moisturizes creams, deodorants and
body washes. The company operates as a subsidiary of Proctor and Gamble since October, 2005
and approximately 28,700 employees are working all over the world (Bloomberg.com, 2015).
 Illustration: Various products of Gillette
Source: www.gillette.com

Understanding marketing communication strategies, segmentation and

targeting, positioning

Marketing communication refers a way that an organization chooses to communicate with its
potential customers. According to Egan (2007, p.116) Marketing communication strategies may
include sub-strategies based on the marketing communications tools (e.g. advertisement
strategies, public relations strategies, etc.) or cross discipline (e.g. media strategy, creative
strategy). There are two main objectives of marketing communications; one is to develop and
sustain preference and demand for the product and other is minimizes sales cycle. Marketing
communication strategies are created by an organization considering market segmentation, target
market and market positioning within a specific period of time. It is to be noted that, the main
focusing part of marketing communication should be customer oriented rather than media
oriented. Organization develops its marketing communication strategies considering the types of

products, rivals strategies, branding, consumers buying behavior, demographics of target

customers, perceptions, attitudes, lifestyle etc. Kotler and Keller (2012) said that marketing
communication are the tools through which organizations attempt to inform, peruse and remind
customers indirectly or directly about the products and brands that the company sell. Various
techniques are used in marketing communication, for instance, advertisement, events and
experiences, direct marketing, sales promotion, personal selling, interactive marketing etc.

Segmenting the market is one of core issue in marketing communication process. An

organization manufactures many products for their customers but the types of products and users
are different. Segmentation is the processes of determining homogeneous group of buyers those
have similar needs, benefits and wants from a certain category of product (Suttle, 2015). Market
segmentation and targeting are very important for an organization because in this process
company find out the best matching customers for the business. For example, Gillette
manufactures products for male at various aged and it has different product for different aged
customers. So, the company should be considered these issues in its marketing communication
strategies. In segmentation, organization considers various issues such as demographic
descriptions (e.g. age, gender, occupation, social class, religion, income level of buyers etc.),
psychographic descriptions (e.g. perception, attitude, purchasing habit etc.), and geographic
descriptions such as urban or rural. After determining market segmentation, it is an important
part for an organization determining the target market. A single strategy does not suit for all
customer groups so that it is very necessary targeting the market for developing suitable
marketing communication strategies. Hanlon (2013) claimed that organization can determine
target market based on market size, substitute products, various benefits and accessibility of
products to customers. The marketing communication strategies are developed based on these
key issues that attract various target customers.

Positioning means creating a product and brand image in the mind of customers that improving
the perception of customers for purchasing the product (Russel, 2010). Market positioning helps
organization to control the perception of customer towards the product and brand. For example,
advertisement is a tool by which organization tries to create market positioning. Effective
positioning involves proper analyzing of competing products, identifying a differential advantage
which delivers the expected benefits to the market successfully against the competitors product.
Organization uses different ways in positioning such as positioning in advertisements,
positioning in sales locations, positioning through price, positioning through brand image,
positioning by slogan etc. Effective positioning influences over the mind of potential customers
by enabling recall the brand image in the minds of target customer groups.

Gillettes current target market strategy

Product description

Gillettes produced various shaving and skin products especially for male. The target customers
of these products are ranged 18 to 40 plus. The choices of different aged customers are different.
For example, 18-25 aged target customers are looking power trimmer whereas 26-40 aged
customers are neutral for this product and 40 plus aged customers prefers manual razors. But,
price of the products are important concern to all customers. Gillette introduced its shaving
products through various research and development process. The main concern of Gillette is to
manufacture quality and high performance products for the customers. Gillette surveys the
market and analyzes the needs of customers and manufacture high quality products that satisfy
their target customers. The company is very much prominent for their razors. At present, the
company is producing and marketing 2 several series of razors, MACH3 series and the Fusion.
In addition, the company is leading in shaving gels and foams market. Gillette sensitive skin
shaving gel is highly technologically advance personal care products for sensitive skin of men.
Gillette is also manufacturing after shave balm, body wash, deodorants and antiperspirants,
refills blade for razor. Currently, Gillette is manufacturing and selling 23 different razors, 24
shaving creams, foams and gels, 10 razor blades, 13 deodorant, 10 after shaves and 8 body
washes. Gillette razor blade refills are dominated the worldwide shaving products market and
blades and razor category is highly competitive in terms of new technologies, product
performance, pricing and promotional strategies (Lopez, 2012).

Target market
Gillettes main target customers belong to 18 to 35 years old. Men are always seriously about
skin grooming and Gillette is the first choice to them. It is hardly possible to find out a man
unfamiliar with Gillette products. The company is selected its target market considering
demographics, psychographic conditions of customers. In demographic criteria, the company
mostly focused on 18 to 35 years aged customers because these customers are very much
conscious about grooming their face and wants to be attractive to others. Gillettes products are
high in price because the products are manufactured by advance technology and helpful for skin.
The customer those are willing to pay premium price for quality and high performance products.
The company segmented its target market into two ranges, 18-35 and 36 plus. The first group is
basically college educated students and entry level employee and their average income around
$22,500 per year and the company offer them refills blade razor which is reasonable price and
the company offer premium price product those average income more than $ 25,000 per year.
The main target customers for body wash, deodorants products are 18-35 years old customers.

In psychographic criteria, the companys target customers are who typically single or bachelor,
innovation seekers (customer who always search new technology based product and embrace
them), heterosexual (men who are seeking female companion), beauty conscious people, men
who are actively engaged in sports. Gillette manufactures its products for people who seek
comfortable shaving and less concern about price.

Gillette MACH3 series are comparatively low price than Fusion series. MACH3 series offers to
18-35 years aged people who have moderate disposable income. On the other hand, Fusion series
offers to premium users who have high disposable income such as sports players, top executives,
models etc. People buy the products of Gillette because of durability and comfortable shaving.

Gillette has a very successful positing in the razor and shaving items market. The main strength
of the company is superior quality of its products. To establish strong positioning, the company
creates strong brand image through introducing advance technology based shaving equipments,
sponsoring in various sports, make renown sports man as its brand ambassadors. The positioning
is so high that the company was launched five bladed Fusion line with a 40% premium price
over MACH3 and despite high price both lines made significant profits (Ritson, 2009). Over two
decades, the company has been dominated and leading in the male grooming section and
established a brand that become a synonymous with shaving. Gillette has managed and
controlled customers choices towards the products of the company very successfully that give
the company a strong position in this competitive market.

Communication strategy of Gillette

References

Greene, F. (2015) What Is Marketing Communication Strategy?. [Online]. Available at:

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/marketing-communication-strategy-3442.html [Accessed: 21
July 2015].

Ritson, M. (2009) 5 Reasons Gillette Is The Best A Brand Can Get. [Online]. Available at:
http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2009/06/5-reasons-gillette-is-the-best-a-brand-can-
get.html#.VbAfrKRViko [Accessed: 22 July 2015].
Lopez, B. (2012) Strategic Message Plan for The Gillette Fusion ProGlide Power Razor.
[Online]. Available at: https://portfolios.journalism.ku.edu/bryenn-lopez-
bierwirth/2012/12/16/strategic-message-plan-for-the-gillette-fusion-proglide-power-razor/
[Accessed: 22 July 2015].

Russell, E. (2010) The Fundamentals of Marketing. Lausanne: AVA Publishing SA.

Hanlon, A. (2013) How to use Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) to develop
marketing strategies. [Online]. Available at: http://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-
strategy/customer-segmentation-targeting/segmentation-targeting-and-positioning/ [Accessed: 21
July 2015].

Suttle, R. (2015) Define Market Segmentation & Targeting. [Online]. Available at:
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/define-market-segmentation-targeting-3253.html [Accessed: 21
July 2015].

Bloomberg.com (2015) Company Overview of the Gillette Company, Inc. [Online]. Available at:
http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=29004 [Accessed:
21 July 2015].

Kotler, P. and Keller, K. (2012) Marketing Management. 13th Edition. New York: Pearson
Education Inc.

Egan, J. (2007) Marketing Communications. London: Cengage Learning EMEA.

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