Gillette Case Study
Greg Runco
Gillette Case Study, “I never knew my Fusion had a Precision Trimmer on the back” – 11.5.2012
It has been empirically proven that having too many options makes decision-making harder. In fact, some studies show that having to make too many decisions can leave people tired, mentally drained and more dissatisfied with their purchases. If you look at the major development milestones of Gillette, they occurred in 1903 // 1971 (68 years later) // 1990 (19 years later) // 1995 (5 years later) // 1998 (3 years later) // 2002 (4 years later) // 2004 (2 years later) // 2006 (2 years later with 2 key development milestones).
1) The major development milestones are occurring closer and closer together, requiring consumers to learn and adapt to product enhancements more rapidly 2) While at the same time, the product enhancements are becoming increasingly complex 3) And the marketplace has more options than ever before
Rapid product innovation resulting in superior quality is desirable, however educating the consumer on those innovations must move to the forefront of marketing priorities. Otherwise the innovations can actually confuse the consumer and you miss an opportunity to capitalize on having created a better product.
Furthermore, many consumers view price as an indicator of quality. If you convey a product as being superior in quality, the pricing should reflect that. The M3Power is of lesser quality than the Fusion Power, yet the Fusion Power was priced the same. The M3Power was introduced to the market at $14.99 for a razor, 2 cartridges & a battery. The price was later dropped to $11.99 and included 1 instead of 2 razors. To speed the adoption, the Fusion Power was introduced as a superior product, but priced at $11.99 (the exact same as the M3Power) for the same shaving materials. In fact, it was first introduced to the market $3 lower than a product of lesser quality. This pricing strategy was unlike that of the MACH3, in
Gillette Case Study, “I never knew my Fusion had a Precision Trimmer on the back” – 11.5.2012
It has been empirically proven that having too many options makes decision-making harder. In fact, some studies show that having to make too many decisions can leave people tired, mentally drained and more dissatisfied with their purchases. If you look at the major development milestones of Gillette, they occurred in 1903 // 1971 (68 years later) // 1990 (19 years later) // 1995 (5 years later) // 1998 (3 years later) // 2002 (4 years later) // 2004 (2 years later) // 2006 (2 years later with 2 key development milestones).
1) The major development milestones are occurring closer and closer together, requiring consumers to learn and adapt to product enhancements more rapidly 2) While at the same time, the product enhancements are becoming increasingly complex 3) And the marketplace has more options than ever before
Rapid product innovation resulting in superior quality is desirable, however educating the consumer on those innovations must move to the forefront of marketing priorities. Otherwise the innovations can actually confuse the consumer and you miss an opportunity to capitalize on having created a better product.
Furthermore, many consumers view price as an indicator of quality. If you convey a product as being superior in quality, the pricing should reflect that. The M3Power is of lesser quality than the Fusion Power, yet the Fusion Power was priced the same. The M3Power was introduced to the market at $14.99 for a razor, 2 cartridges & a battery. The price was later dropped to $11.99 and included 1 instead of 2 razors. To speed the adoption, the Fusion Power was introduced as a superior product, but priced at $11.99 (the exact same as the M3Power) for the same shaving materials. In fact, it was first introduced to the market $3 lower than a product of lesser quality. This pricing strategy was unlike that of the MACH3, in