I was reading this article on the new Gillette Guard.
To summarize it simply:
Put it all together and you have... the shavepocalypse. As someone who has had quite a bit of experience in the Third World, this whole thing makes a lot of sense to me. I've spent a bit of time in India, where they are releasing it, and I think it will appeal to them.
Obviously, we can prepare for this pretty easily. A lifetime supply of top-quality blades costs a few hundred bucks (which is why Gillette wants to end this situation) and can fit in a shoe box. Or we can try straight edge.
What do you think?
Here's their press release:
I've seen that (the underlined bit) many times, and also sidewalk barbers armed with straight edges in India, Cambodia, etc. I even got a straight edge shave from one of them (a terrible shave, my hair is a lot thicker than theirs). They also love things that are modern and American, and so this will be a hit for them.
These things will cost about $0.11, which is within reach of mid-income consumers there, but it's twice as much as their current DE blades. Gillette's purpose is to get Indians into the idea of using cartridges (Gillette ctgs in particular). Then, later, they'll try to get them to move up to double blades.
To summarize it simply:
- The develooped world (US mainly) has abandoned DE shaving for "system" shaving, in other words, patented cartridges like Fusion
- DE blades are not patented, and are very low-profit (how much money can you make on a $0.10 blade? not much)
- Shaving "systems" are highly profitable, as anyone who has ever bought a pack of Fusion cartridges would realize
- Most of the developing world shaves with either DE blades, or cheap disposable razors, and some even still use straight razors (often with disposable blades)
- Gillette wants to get all those hundreds of millions of developing world shavers onto high-profit catridges
- To do this, they have bought up many / most of the major manufacturers of DE blades around the world, and are introducing their new Guard catridge, which will be cheap enough for the developing world but a lot more than a DE blade
Put it all together and you have... the shavepocalypse. As someone who has had quite a bit of experience in the Third World, this whole thing makes a lot of sense to me. I've spent a bit of time in India, where they are releasing it, and I think it will appeal to them.
Obviously, we can prepare for this pretty easily. A lifetime supply of top-quality blades costs a few hundred bucks (which is why Gillette wants to end this situation) and can fit in a shoe box. Or we can try straight edge.
What do you think?
Here's their press release:
About three years ago, we set out to make a difference in the lives of these men. A multifunctional team – and I mean every member of this team – travelled to India to experience the consumer’s world, watch him shave, and hear him discuss his needs. For every member of the team, this experience was eye-opening. They watched these men shave with a double-edge razor without running water, sometimes outdoors, while balancing a hand held mirror – an experience laden with nicks, cuts and frustration. The team also learned that the typical drivers of our razor development process are different for these men. Our "developed market" mindset of "closeness and comfort" was less important to these consumers. What they valued most were safety, ease of use and affordability.
I've seen that (the underlined bit) many times, and also sidewalk barbers armed with straight edges in India, Cambodia, etc. I even got a straight edge shave from one of them (a terrible shave, my hair is a lot thicker than theirs). They also love things that are modern and American, and so this will be a hit for them.
These things will cost about $0.11, which is within reach of mid-income consumers there, but it's twice as much as their current DE blades. Gillette's purpose is to get Indians into the idea of using cartridges (Gillette ctgs in particular). Then, later, they'll try to get them to move up to double blades.
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