Gillette's Launch of Sensor Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

Situation Analysis:

SWOT Analysis:

Strengths:Gillette caters to an estimated 60% of the US market of personal care and safety razors, which are more than both of its major competitors, both competitors combined have a less market share compared to Gillette. Gillette has a vast product line under its name that reduces it dependency on blades only. Gillette enjoys a huge market share as it has created a strong brand name in the industry. Gillette has come a long way from selling 51 razors and 163 blades in the first year and now it is the market leader in the market with the help of its quality products and aggressive advertising.

Weaknesses:Gillette continuously has to invest heavy portions of its capital into R&D for experiments for finding out better ways for men to shave safely and conveniently. Gillette heavily depends upon the retailers, which diverts the dominance towards the street outlets. Gillette is a renowned name in the blades industry and it pays the price for it by expensive brand maintenance. Gillette majorly focuses on products for men and advertises accordingly leaving a fairly big segment of women personal care products untapped.

Opportunities:Over the period of time people have been willing to pay higher price for better quality.In the past, people did not prefer high prices for a blade, which opened doors for Gillette to cater to a better quality demanding segment. As it has been the leader in the market it is easier for Gillette to discover new ways for better shaving experience and they can invest a comparatively larger amount in the R&D department. As Gillette uses aggressive advertising for communicating with its consumers, Gillette can make itself a preference amongst its competitors using efficient marketing campaigns.

Threats:The strategies that are created and implemented by Gillette are immediately imitated by responsive competitors who force Gillette to continuously tailor new and much more efficient strategies. Safety blades and personal care industry is not a highly capital intensive industry, which acts as open doors for new competitors to enter the market. Its competitors have added electronic shaving machines to their product line which increases threat of substitutes for Gillette.

PEST Analysis:

Political Factors:As Gillette manufactures blades, it has to first make sure if the government would allow the launch of new plants in the territories. Gillette has to consider several factors into account before launching a plant in a different geographical location like labor law, tax policies imposed by the governments, environmental laws and trade restrictions. Gillette enjoys the position of being a market leader therefore;it has good connections with several governments, which reduces the level of complexities of political factors.

Economic Factors:While expanding its operations, Gillette has to deal with economic factors like economic growth and interest rates. These factors can heavily affectthe sales and the exchange rate of a specific product in a new economy when launching a new product line or launching a new unit.

Social Factors:Social norms can drastically effect Gillette’s growth and sales. As Gillette operates globally, therefore it has to carefully evaluate the social factors that should be brought into account and design their marketing strategies accordingly. Otherwise Gillette would be forced to change its strategy. Gillette will have to re-evaluate and tailor its marketing campaigns again, which would be time consuming and expensive, thus leaving a gap for competitors to capitalize on.

Technological Factors:Nowadays, consumers are knowledgeable and aware about the technological advancements and the amount of investment made by the company in its R&D department. This affects the costs and the quality standards of the product as people are aware of the advancements it technology. These factors force Gillette to enter international market with premium quality as people are more aware.

Gillette’s Launch of Sensor Case Solution

Alternatives:

Focus on R&D:Gillette is the market leader when it comes to safety blades and its profit margins are immense. This gives Gillette the opportunity to take the lead by coming up with new technologies for shaving, as a result this would give Gillette a huge lead over its customers.

Enhancing Product Line:Gillette has left the electronic shaving appliances un-touched, as a result it ignored it’s potential of growth. This would increase its product line and would be catering to whole new segment of the consumers who find shaving with blades time consuming. The market for electronic shaving appliances has huge potential for growth and would result in an increase in sales.

First-Class Pricing:Gillette is known for manufacturing top of the quality and technologically advanced products in the category of personal care and safety blades. Gillette can set a premium price for Gillette Sensor to reserve its high-end image to be associated with Gillette as a brand. This is because supplying at lower costs would negatively affect its image and it might end up losing the prestige image............................

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