Why so little marketing for DE blades/razors?

Why is there almost no mass marketing for DE blades or DE razors?

I can understand why Gillette don't advertise the fact they make DE razor blades - if you look at the Gillette website there is nothing about the DE blades that are produced with their name on them - it would surely turn people away from their more expensive products, and most likely on to products not produced by gillette. I guess in advertising parlance they would say that a gillette DE blade or DE razor has no "unique selling point" and the keen buyer could easily turn elsewhere for their DE needs.

But how about those DE razor/blade producers who don't manufacture multi-blade cartridges? If they could establish themselves, through mass advertising, as THE WAY to DE shave they could capture a sizeable market, and maybe hold onto that market. I wonder why that hasn't happened in recent years.

As you may have inferred by what I have said so far I know next to nothing about marketing. Ha ha. So maybe one of you guys can tell me why DE products aren't mass-marketed in the UK (and the USA so I believe).

Gillette has 2/3 of entire market for shaving stuff. As much as we all love DE shaving, it is a very small, niche market and too much of an uphill battle to mass market this when cart shaving with canned goo is so much faster. Kind of like trying to mass market horses to compete with cars. Not a perfect comparison, but the best I can do on short notice!

Also, very hard to get shelf space in chain retailers and drug stores and an ad budget to get attention would be prohibitive.

What DE blade makers do not offer cartridges, or at least disposables? I think most of them make one or the other, or both. Store-brand cartridges are often made by ASR/Personna or Dorco. ASR is now owned by Energizer, which also owns Schick and Wilkinson and I believe both of those brands also make cartridges or disposables or both. In Japan, Feather and KAI have their own systems. BIC makes disposables. In the middle east, Derby and Lord both make disposables or cartridges or both. Who did I miss?

Dovo/Merkur are an interesting case: they make their own cartridge handles for Gillette systems, and they make (or rebrand?) DE blades. The DE blades get a tiny bit of marketing, I suppose: no World Cup ads, but non-zero. Also P&G apparently distributes some very expensive Gillette DE blades in the USA through The Art of Shaving stores (P&G owns both brands). They probably have a tiny marketing budget too, but no Super Bowl ads.

Most shops in the USA offer either no DE blades at all, or only one brand. As PMBSAGuy wrote, shops prefer to devote their limited shelf space to higher-margin products. In this situation product-specific marketing makes little sense, because consumers lack any choice between brands. I think that is mostly true in the UK also, except that some Boots shops have store-brand and Wilks.

Many of the blades we buy through mail-order and discuss on this forum are not even made to be sold to us. Some are not meant for consumer use: Personna Lab for example. Or they are not meant for export to our countries: Russian, Indian, and Chinese blades; probably KAI and Feather too - certainly the cheaper Feathers that have been re-exported from Thailand. All those blades probably get some marketing in their intended areas, but not in the UK or USA.

Advertising ain't cheap, especially on the level required to take on the cart and can market.

The companies that hold the overwhelming market share in shaving have everything to lose by touting the effectiveness of DE razors. These companies, like any other, are out to make money. The profit margins on the cartridges are massive and every time they come up with a "better" way of shaving, they sell a ton of razors all over again. For them to say "here is one razor that will last your entire lifetime and only uses inexpensive blades," would be horrible business for them.

The companies that have the most to gain from a mass resurgence of DE razors are all relatively small companies. They do not have the additional funds that would be necessary to make the "risk" of a failed TV ad justifiable.

If EJ, Merkur, and the like paid for a TV spot and it didn't connect with the market, the hit from that money not coming back would seriously affect their operations. If Gillette puts out a TV spot that fails, it's no big woop. They'll just try again on the next commercial. But as mentioned above, Gillette (as a smart business) does not want a return to DE Razors.

The companies that produce most of the blades and razors are producing for the European, Mid East and Asian Market. I suppose their advertising is for representatives to get their products into the hands of local retailers. They have millions of captive customers with a lot less disposable income, much the same as when Gillette was marketing their new blades 90 years ago.

I don't think companies making DE products can take on Gillette or any other large companies with cartridge razors in the market, but they could probably see some revenue increases from advertising. Commercials don't have to be in a prime time TV spot either. YouTube plays commercials before videos and there's social media. Even if the manufacturers themselves don't advertise, I think an advertising agreement with a vendor is a viable option that would benefit both parties with less expense from each company (manufacturer and vendor splitting the cost).

It's a niche market, but niches can expand. How many men suffer through painful or irritating shaves every day, or deal with undesirable results from overpriced cartridge razors? Millions in the U.S. and UK alone. And they have no idea that there is a better way that is cheaper, more enjoyable, and actually refreshing. Just switching from canned gel to soap and a brush has given me a much better shave experience already and I haven't even attempted to use a safety razor yet. We may never again see store shelves stocked with brushes, soaps, and safety razors but a little advertising could expand a company's direct to consumer customer base.

Screech8710 said:

I don't think companies making DE products can take on Gillette or any other large companies with cartridge razors in the market, but they could probably see some revenue increases from advertising. Commercials don't have to be in a prime time TV spot either. YouTube plays commercials before videos and there's social media. Even if the manufacturers themselves don't advertise, I think an advertising agreement with a vendor is a viable option that would benefit both parties with less expense from each company (manufacturer and vendor splitting the cost).

It's a niche market, but niches can expand. How many men suffer through painful or irritating shaves every day, or deal with undesirable results from overpriced cartridge razors? Millions in the U.S. and UK alone. And they have no idea that there is a better way that is cheaper, more enjoyable, and actually refreshing. Just switching from canned gel to soap and a brush has given me a much better shave experience already and I haven't even attempted to use a safety razor yet. We may never again see store shelves stocked with brushes, soaps, and safety razors but a little advertising could expand a company's direct to consumer customer base.

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Well said. I focused on TV when I heard "mass marketing," but these days you can reach many many people through the internet at a comparatively inexpensive rate. A DE advertisement stuck to the right youtube channel could make a huge impact. Couple that with the right pitch and it could significantly raise awareness.

Follow the money.

The reason cartridges were invented in the first place was that Gillette lost a patent case in the '60s. Gillette held a patent for blades made from stainless steel, but they intentionally didn't produce them because the older carbon blades didn't last as long; Gillette was accused to abusing the patent, and ended up losing it in court. (I may have missed some of the finer legal points, but that's the general idea.) Other manufacturers (I think Wilkinson Sword was the first) started selling much higher quality stainless blades at a fraction of the cost, and really started eating Gillette's lunch. After all, Gillette literally invented the razor and blades business model. (Also known as the Gillette model.) Problem was, Gillette had been lax for such a long time milking their cash cow, they were unprepared for a battle. They quickly crapped out the Techmatic, which I've never used, but have read was positively awful. Wilkinson Sword invented a (single blade) cartridge, which also, I've never used, but I've read was pretty darn good. Gillette, against the ropes, basically copied the design, except with two blades (because two is one more than one, right?) and thus was born the Trac II.


The Trac II wasn't really better than single-edge shaving but it wasn't awful, and Gillette managed secure a legal patent, so they threw an insane amount of marketing money behind it and convinced Americans (and eventually the world) that it was a better razor. It totally worked, almost overnight. Since then, that's been their entire marketing strategy. Obtain a patent for a slightly different razor design, then convince everyone that it's better than the old, crappy razor they've been dragging across their face. Trac II, Atra, Sensor, Mach3 and Fusion all pretty much followed the same formula that we have today.

So... considering that history, there is absolutely no place in their market strategy to bring back DE blades. Gillette can't patent them, and there is very little profit margin. They don't fit into their marketing narrative that the additional blade they added to their newest 4-axis pivoting-head razor with a lubricating strip will make your face feel better. Gillette would love for DE blades to just go away, but that's a tricky proposition. People in emerging markets won't pay $5 for a cartridge, so they need to string them along slowly just like they did the American market. If they just pull the rug out under their DE blade business, they'll lose the markets entirely.

I don't mean to make the Gillette company sound like the villain from a Bond movie. Corporations, by definition, exist to make money. Gillette may have done some pretty scummy things in the company history, but that tradition pretty much started with King Camp Gillette himself. The whole early history of the company was wrought with patent fights, and in my head, I imagine that Mr. Gillette was probably not a terribly pleasant man. (Heresy, I know...) However, it's also one of the quintessential stories of American marketing success. There are volumes and volumes written about the success of Gillette's business practices.

abrowncrayon said:

I guess in advertising parlance they would say that a gillette DE blade or DE razor has no "unique selling point" and the keen buyer could easily turn elsewhere for their DE needs.

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This is practically a text book definition of a commodity market. In a commodity market the only significant differentiator is price, and sometimes service. But they're not in the service business. So that leaves only price. As we're all saying, it's about money. Gillette is not in business to make razors or blades. They're in business to make money. THere's a bit of DE money on the table, and they go for it in a big way if you look at their products. But that's the pennies on the table. They're spending the advertising dollars on the silver coins that are available.

chamm said:

They quickly crapped out the Techmatic, which I've never used, but have read was positively awful.

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The Techmatic was far worse than you've heard. Far worse.

DE shaving is a thing of the past...

Personally I can only hope that the marketing types continue to ignore us. There seems to be plenty of alternative sales models around these days that work very well indeed. And they don't (yet) bring the rubbish trailing behind them that mass marketing does.

DoctorShavegood said:

And then there's Rick Harrison and his commercial. His simple little ad has made an impact. At what level, I do not know. When I first saw the ad, which it think was during Pawn Stars, it really made me proud. It also got me thinking about how it would make, if any, an increase in DE shaving numbers.

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It would be reasonable to assume that there were numerous individuals that stumbled on to this forum because of that ad campaign. Maybe they only lurked and changed their minds, or they are DE shavers now. For me personally, that's what got me looking into safety razors again.

Of course, people could have also gotten one of those razors, had no idea what they were doing, and then mangled their faces with bad blades.

brucisidro92288 said:

Well said. I focused on TV when I heard "mass marketing," but these days you can reach many many people through the internet at a comparatively inexpensive rate. A DE advertisement stuck to the right youtube channel could make a huge impact. Couple that with the right pitch and it could significantly raise awareness.

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Right. And they wouldn't have to get fancy or go overboard with it either. A simple, short ad that catches attention and suggests an improved shaving experience.

The bottom line is, the majority of shavers don't use DEs, and if they tried DEs, wouldn't stick with them. The advantage of the cart systems is that they are virtually foolproof; stick razor to face, scrape, done. No technique or time needed. For most people, this is a positive thing.

I know some people in here have some sort of dream of DEs returning to the mainstream, but it just won't happen.

Advertising costs money. The DE market is so tiny that advertising would eat away profits.

And I'm fairly sure Gillette doesn't own the DE blades. More than likely they just license the Gillette name.

Stubbl E said:

Personally I can only hope that the marketing types continue to ignore us. There seems to be plenty of alternative sales models around these days that work very well indeed. And they don't (yet) bring the rubbish trailing behind them that mass marketing does.

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Agreed! You also have to factor in that if for some reason the blade DE razor companies decided to mount a huge marketing campaign, they wouldn't be footing the bill... we would be...

One of the biggest reasons I see for them not to dump money in to ad campaigns in the US is because they know that the vast majority of people want everything to be quick. consumers could care less that you'll get a far superior shave for less money. All they'll care about is that you may spend another 10 minutes in the bathroom. In the world we live in today, that simply won't do. (for most people)

Yeah, companies like Merkur, Edwin Jagger, Personna, Feather, Astra are all too small to spend lots of money on advertising.

Seems to be the type of market that you are drawn to, not so much of a try it once and you are done type of thing since it takes more time and there are so many things to learn/try.