Yes, when you hear this posting title on TV, you might automatically link this to a known brand. But wait, is not this supposed to be addressed to men ??? Surely it is. This is the famous Gillette business line for its men shaving blades line but what about women chunk of this line?
Gillette has been in the women shaving blades business long time ago, since they launched the first Sensor for Women which is still produced until today but moved into the Venus line with a wider range and a new business line which until today it did not make the same effect of the men’s one.
I have seen and heard the women ads rarely on our national TV channels and i have seen many promotion in supermarkets but never managed to have it by heart, keeping in mind that usually men are attracted more to women ads, would it be on TV or printed, because of the beautiful women appearing in those ads.
What’s Gillette position about their priority between the men and women line?
Definitely the men line is the on the top of their list and is bringing more profit to the company but i am sure if they spent or will spend more on the women line, it will generate even more as women are very keen about their daily appearance and well-being. For women, spending money is much easier than men, not because men don’t like to spend it, but because when it comes to the external or body look between men versus women, the difference is so big.
Surely Gillette people have their plans and strategies for the women line, but as a small example, summer is almost over and have not seen any TV ads or billboard campaign for Gillette Venus in Lebanon and can not remember seeing any during my business trip elsewhere.
Gillette Venus line is as large as the men line, going from the system blades to the disposable ones with an accompanying line of gels.
Gillette Corporation was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 2005, making this the largest acquisition in its history for the price of $57 billion.
Key Dates:
1901: American Safety Razor is founded by King C. Gillette.
1904: King Gillette’s safety razor is patented.
1918: Gillette manufacturers razors and blades for soldiers during World War I.
1942: The Cavalcade of Sports program is formed to oversee the company’s various advertising and promotional activities in athletics.
1967: Braun AG is acquired.
1971: Company is organized into four domestic divisions: the Safety Razor Division; the Toiletries Division (featuring Right Guard antiperspirant); the Personal Care Division; and the Paper Mate division.
1991: Gillette ranks 20th among the Fortune 500.
1996: The company acquires battery manufacturer Duracell.
2005: The company was acquired by Procter & Gamble
Book To Read
Cutting Edge: Gillette’s Journey to Global Leadership
Ever since a forward-thinking bottle-cap salesman named King Camp Gillette first grew tired of shaving with a dull razor more than 100 years ago, the company he then founded has prospered impressively–despite ongoing threats of hostile takeovers and downsizing–by continuing to explore new geographic markets and introduce fresh consumer products. Cutting Edge: Gillette’s Journey to Global Leadership, by long-time business journalist Gordon McKibben, is a scrupulous, behind-the-scenes examination of the firm’s history with an emphasis on the modern period that began around 1975 and solidified Gillette’s deserved reputation as a worldwide powerhouse.
Procter & Gamble (PG) Stock Chart
The Albert brand was founded in Central Europe in 1991. Today Ahold operates 280 stores in the Czech Republic and 25 stores in Slovakia, where it is among the best-known brands in food retail.
The company, which also operates more than 21 gas stations in the Czech Republic and seven in Slovakia, employs 15,000 people in both countries and provides service to over 200 million Czech and Slovak customers every year.
The essential elements of the new Albert brand are great choice, a wide assortment of food with focus on the fresh, friendly staff – and always a good price. A key component of strengthening the brand is an increasing emphasis on private label products. The company also continues to develop and expand its private label ranges. Stores are also being improved and tailored to meet their different needs.
The company is committed to being a leader in food retail industry in the markets it serves, whether that is by setting the highest standard for product quality and customer service it stores or by pursing programs aimed at improving the health of consumers and well-being of the communities it serves.
Albert will continue to reposition, rebrand and remodel its stores in 2009 to further improve its offering to customers and to improve its sustainable long-term profitability.
“We are creating a sustainable future for our company in this highly competitive market by delighting our customers, by investing in price and value, and by cutting costs,” says Johan Boeijenga, CEO Albert / Hypernova.
Each week up until June 1 the company will open five new stores rebranded from the Hypernova banner to company’s reinvigorated Albert banner. The company first announced a year ago that it would carry out the rebranding.
With the store conversions, the current retail brands Albert and Hypernova will be united under a single brand with a new visual identity, Albert. This includes the transformation of 56 Hypernova and HYPER Albert stores, which will be rebranded Albert hypermarkets by the mid-2009.
Official Website (in Czech language)
Wherever you go, the name of the game is known in the cola world, Coke vs Pepsi.
Except the USA market, the market share difference is amazingly spacious in most of the world markets where the major 2 players are present.
For example, in Lebanon, Pepsi dominates 75% of the market while Coca-Cola barely manage to get the leftover of 25%, without forgetting about the many players that entered and left the market and with no extra harassment to the big guys, left without making much noises, while some others are still there and gaining market shares in remote locations where brands does not mean anything to the consumer.
2 side players made it to the Lebanese market. Virgin Cola was there in 2003/2004, I still remember the big dreams of the importer while meeting him over a job interview, he wanted to beat both big brothers and be #1 in no time, unfortunately, without knowing any specific reason, the whole brand evaporated from the Lebanese market.
Another player came back in 2008 after exiting the market for so many years, its RC-Cola (check my previous 2 postings about this : http://tr.im/rLFB and http://tr.im/rLFX), but contrary to Virgin guys, RC-Cola is distributed thru the correct channels along with other drink products, mainly juices.
Now back to the bigger part the game, unlimited number of companies and retailers tried to launch their Cola brands but no one really was to reach close to the global volumes of Coca-Cola and Pepsi. (wikipedia list of cola brands worldwide)
And while all these small players were trying their luck in this hard to compete industry, the big boys never stopped being so creative on their packaging (Pepsi new logo launched in October 2008 and the non-stop attractive Coca-Cola cans).
Then came the Red Bull Cola which i will call the Cola-Bull, exactly like the stock market, it will take the cola market to new heights while riding the bull.
Red Bull Simply Cola also has slightly more caffeine, at 45 milligrams per 355ml (12-ounce) can, than Coca-Cola (34 mg) or Pepsi-Cola (37.5 mg), but less than Diet Coke (47 mg) or Pepsi One (54 mg) or Mountain Dew (54 mg). The cola contains significantly less caffeine than Red Bull’s eponymous energy drink (80 mg per 8.2 ounces). It also lacks the artificial flavors, colors, and phosphoric acid commonly used in commercial colas. Red Bull Cola is packed in 250 ml (8.4 fl. oz.) and 355 ml (12 fl. oz.) cans.
As of 2008, Red Bull Simply Cola is available in Austria, Czech Republic, Egypt, Switzerland, Spain, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Belgium, Italy, United Kingdom, Ireland, Thailand, Romania, Hungary, Russia, Canada and the United States.
Why do I believe that Red Bull Cola will make it?
Red Bull when first launched its energy drink, proved to the whole world that a company can make it simply by having one simple product with full focus and dedication, and it positioned itself in both retail and horeca (hotels-restaurants-catering) sectors, and without any hesitation it went beyond all expectations on shelves and in night-life mode without giving a slight chance for both Burn and AMP, the energy drinks respectively coming from Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Today Red Bull is everywhere, and has its own displays in every single retail outlet and night club across the globe, they give away thousands of fridges every year, let their branded cars run all day long on the streets, they throw millions of free cans in schools, sponsor extreme sport events and do whatever it takes to be number one.
Of course, like the Cola war, thousands of energy drink brands saw the light, some of them made it thru tiny channels some of them just died the next morning.
Having said the above, it is not gonna be hard for Red Bull to position its new Cola with an excellent visibility when it comes to retail stores, and the same technique will be applied to night clubs, where they own their fridges. An easy game for them, while the big guys will be thinking how to stop this invasion of Red Bull in the cola world and maybe even going beyond that and try to hit hard on the energy drink side in order to make them lose focus.
Some book recommendations:
Competition is fierce, even in a small market like Macedonia. No matter the market size, you will always find someone trying to get you out of his way and grab all your market shares and score more.
We are present on the Macedonian market, but not with our premium brand Siblou, instead with our lovely and fresh brand Adriana, you might be wondering why this brand and not the other, but that is a long story, will tell it another time.
And suddenly a new player is in town, it is Frikom, a Serbian company, not only competing with us, but in other categories also, all frozen, seafood, vegetables and of course ice-cream. Spending lots of money to get shelf space, placing unlimited number of freezers in prime locations and other activities such as gondola head rentals, catalog insertions and on-pack promotions.
Basically I am not afraid of their presence, because we are 100% focused on frozen seafood and we know this business by heart, of course, we will not let them touch our market share and we have new plans to get some more.
For those few unfortunate souls who might ask about our next move, well, keep on reading this blog and you might discover.
