IIM Kozhikode

IMC Case Submission

The Gillette Company: Dry Idea Advertizing

Group 8

Anubhuti Gupta 15/72

Dwip Sengupta 15/86

Riyas Moosa 15/45

Sanish Machyan 15/110

Shiladitya Sengupta 15/114

Q1. Analyze Deo market and Dry Idea’s Place in it. What drive the category from the

consumer behaviour point of view?

Ans:

Industry Overview:

By 1983, the US market for underarm products had grown to 506 million units,

representing over $1 Billion in manufacture’s sales

Category: two types: Deodorants (25% of sales), Antiperspirants (75%)

In 1983: underarm products were available in 4 major application forms:

- Aerosols

- Roll-ons

- Sticks

- Solids

Efficacy rate is defined as the product’s ability to reduce thermally induced perspiration

versus untreated control measures. 25%-40% for aerosols, 25%-45% for solids and from

40%-55% for roll-ons

Table A in the case shows a growth of 6 % for sticks, 21 % for Solid, 3 % decrease in the

sales of Aerosol and Roll-ons and 14 % decrease for other products in 1983 compared to

the figures of 1982. Clearly showing an increasing trend towards solid form of

Deodorants/AP.

The U.S. Deodorant/Antiperspirant industry was dominated by six manufacturers:

Sl. No. Manufacturer Brands Market share

in terms of

units

1. Procter & Gamble Secret and Sure Brands 21.8

2 Gillette Right Guard,Soft &Dri,

Dry Idea

17.1

3 Carter-Wallace Arrid 11.4

4 Mennen Mennen, Lady Speed

Stick

9.9

5 Bristol Myers Ban 9.1

6 Shulton ChoiceOld Spice, Lady’s 6.2

Market Segmented as Males, Females and Unisex

In 1983 deodorant/Antiperspirant advertisers spent a total of $ 121 million on media;

13% increase over 1982

From Exhibit 3:

- Of the total users of Deodorants/Antiperspirants: 48% are males and 52 %

females

- Of the 48% males and 52 % females: Dry Idea users are 17 % and 83 %

respectively

- Among the roll-on users 30% are males and 70% are females

- The 55+ age group has highest users of Deodorant/AP and lowest is in the 12-17

Age group

- The age group of 25-34 have maximum Dry Idea users, minimum in the 55+ age

group

- Highest Roll-on users in the 55+ age group and lowest in 12-17 age group

- The highest users of Deodorant/AP among the PCD category is in the eastern

region and lowest in South Central

- Among the Deodorant/Ap users in different regions, Dry Idea users are highest in

North Central and lowest in Western Region

Gillette

Gillettes’s worldwide sales in 1983: over $2 Billion with before-Tax profits of almost

$239 million

Company’s US operation: contributed about $157 million in operating profits on sales of

approx $ 906 million

Four major product lines:

- Blades and razor

- Toiletries & Cosmetics

- Writing instruments

- Electric shavers and small appliances

Divided into three product-focused units:

- The safety Razor division

- The paper mate division

- The personal care division

PCD: products in the deodorant/anti-persipirant, hair care and skin care : accounted for

approximately 20% of Gillette’s total U.S sales

Dry Idea:

Two consumer benefits:

1) Improved dryness protection

2) A dry-feeling application

Dry Idea had a silicon suspension formulation compared to the industry norm of water

based formulations

Two fragrances: scented and unscented

Two sizes: 1.5 oz and 2.5 oz

Adopted premium pricing strategy

As per exhibit 4:

Dry idea share in the total Deodorant/Antiperspirant market increased from .7% in

1978 to 4.8% in 1981, then it came down to 4.5% in 1982 and 4.2% in 1983

Dry Idea’s market share in the roll-on category increased from 1.4% in 1978 to

14.6% in 1982, then it decreased to 14% in 1983

The decline in the market share can be attributed to

Market shift away from Roll-ons

Low Brand awareness

Inferior media spending

Increasing price differential

Increased competition in the roll-on category

From the Consumer Behavior point of view, the key success factors In the industry:

Distinctive Brand Positioning

Strong advertising and promotion support for established brands

Product line expansion into non-aerosol forms

High efficacy rate of a product

Dry feeling with Body odor protection

2. Understand the Brand management (client-gillette) and Account management (agency-

BBDO) organization based on the case data, read and follow the interactions (scenes 31-32,

62-44 in video transcripts) and analyze/ compare the client and agency perspectives on the

Gillette marketing and advertising issues faced during the period.

Issues:

The commercials are not impactful. It had low recall. Customers were not able to relate it.

The advertizing budgets of competitors are around three times that of Gillette.

The roll-on market size is declining.

No identifiable brand personality.

They keep changing the themes of the commercials so there is no proper positioning in

the minds of the customers.

Client – Gillette’s perspective:

Launching a strategic test, free of exceptional variables.

o Figure or what drives the business – efficacy, aesthetics, or both.

o If they need to go into solids?

They should run the “Start to Finish” campaign as it

o successfully communicates the balanced efficacy and aesthetics story

o is in consistency with the “Challenge” campaign

o offers long-term viability. There is a brand personality to it and they can extend it

Put “Start to Finish” at least for the next six to twelve months

“Spokesperson” no-water

o Attribute oriented not benefit-oriented

o Is a short term-benefit

Agency – BBDO’s perspective:

“Spokesperson” should be on air till we develop a stronger commercial

o Communicates the brand heritage

o Mentions the no-water

o Strongly positioned among women

o Has a high recall rate

3. What really is the problem? What alternative Carol has and what should she do?

Problem:

Gillette had tested two commercials for the Dry Idea- “New start to finish” and “All you feel is

dry”.

After spending $500,000 on the advertizing, when they ended up with average advertizing, they

felt frustrated. The recall rate among the females for “New Start to Finish was” 13% and for “All

You Feel is Dry” was 16%. While for men it was 9% and 13% respectively. These figures were

less than the already existing “Spokesman” campaign.

Gillette also was not happy with the effort of BBDO. They felt that they were not getting the

creative attention they deserved.

So, to increase the sales, they needed to advertize more and now they had to select which

commercial to go for.

Alternatives:

Choose one of the two commercials – New Start to Finish or All You Feel is Dry

Continue with the existing “Spokesman” campaign

Develop a new commercial o Continue alliance with BBDO o Contract a new agency

Recommendations:

Short Run:

Continue with the “Spokesman”. The new commercials developed have lower recall

rate. Unless something more interesting is developed, changing it might confuse the

customer of lose all his attention.

Continue with BBDO: The firm should continue with BBDO as it has a long term

relationship and they are already committed to other product lines of Gillette. But

however, they should negotiate with the agency to allocate them a better creative team

and insist on putting in more efforts in it.

Long Run:

Declining sales in the roll-on industry has seen the customers migrating away from the

product. So market research should be done to analyze the cause of this problem and the

customer needs. And thus new improved product variants should be launched to suit the

customer.

Gillette needs to position the product properly. Its twin benefits need to be understood

and appreciated by the customer.

Gillette needs to build relationship with other agency and move the product brand to

some other agency if they continue receiving less fulfilling efforts from BBDO.