Some men do it at night while others choose the morning. For some it is a daily chore, but for others it’s a weekly ritual. Regardless of what time they choose or how often they do it, whether it’s Schick, a Bic or Gillette, nearly 1.3 billion men shave their faces with a razor.
With so many men using razors to shave their faces you would assume there is a close competition between each brand. However, the truth is Gillette rules the industry. Each year they command nearly 80% of the market share for disposable razors and their top product, Gillette Fusion, only needed two years to eclipse the $1 billion threshold. With results like these every brand should be asking what Gillette is doing right.
First and foremost, their products are disposable and need to be replaced. They have their customers and they are making sure they keep coming back. Second, they are heavy spenders on advertising. It is estimated that each year Gillette spends $145 million on advertising in the U.S. alone. For their commercials they hire famous celebrities such as tennis star Roger Federer and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Kate Upton. The third and final reason Gillette is successful, is that their marketing targets their customers just as much as it targets their competitors customers.
Below are two commercials from Gillette’s campaign called the “ProGlide Challenge.” In the first spot they challenge a consumer who uses disposable razors to try their Fusion ProGlide razor.
In the second spot they challenge a consumer who uses Gillette’s own Mach 3 blades.
It is an interesting tactic to target your own customers, but in reality it makes the most sense for Gillette. With an already incredible market share, Gillette didn’t need new customers to raise their profits. All they needed to do was convert their current customers to a new and improved, albeit more expensive, razor blade.
Which brand of razor do you use? Are you a Gillette consumer who has been converted from Mach3 to Fusion?