Boston.com / Business / The war of the razors The war of the razors Gillette-Schick fight over patent shows the cutthroat world of consumer products By Naomi Aoki, Globe Staff, 8/31/2003 David VerNooy is happy to talk about almost any detail of Schick-Wilkinson Sword's new Quattro, the world's first four-blade razor. Any detail, that is, except the positioning of the blades themselves. ADVERTISEMENT VerNooy, a mechanical engineer who led Quattro's design team, will tell you about giving the handle a certain heft -- akin to a weighty knife or fork that feels good in the hand-- to convey a sense of quality. He'll tell you about attaching electrical nodes to mens' wrists to determine the most ergonomically sound handle. He'll even tell you about a design feature he calls "synchronized dynamic blade pack," which distributes pressure across the blades, ensuring they move in unison to avoid nicks and cuts. But he remains mum on the position of the blades. "With the litigation going on, I can't talk about that part of it," VerNooy said.

"I can't go down that road." That's because this month Gillette Co. of Boston, maker of the three-blade Mach3, the world's best selling razor, sued Schick's parent, Energizer Holdings Inc. of St. Louis, claiming the Quattro infringes on a patent critical to its Mach3 and Venus razor blades. In a motion filed Friday in federal court in Boston, Gillette sought a preliminary injunction to stop Quattro's introduction next month. At issue is what Gillette calls its patented "progressive blade geometry," in which each blade gets closer to the skin than the last one, giving what Gillette says is "the closest, most comfortable shave in a single stroke." The suit is the latest round in an increasingly acrimonious rivalry between the two companies. Gillette filed its patent suit on the same day Schick formally announced the Quattro -- less than six weeks before its scheduled rollout. At first glance, the lawsuit may seem like a publicity stunt to foil the launch of a competing product. But patent attorneys say the legal battle offers a glimpse into the cutthroat world of consumer products.

Though companies battle more frequently over advertising claims and trademark rights than patents, consumer product giants like Gillette and Procter & Gamble Co. aggressively patent seemingly small advances to gain a competitive edge. "Small improvements often result in enforceable patents," said Gary Hecker, chairman of Hecker Law Group, a Los Angeles firm specializing in patent litigation. "The examples are endless -- toothbrushes, sunglasses, waterbeds, toys, knives, headphones." P&G and Kimberly-Clark Corp. fought for years in court over dueling patents for diaper leg cuffs meant to stop leaks. Nike sued L.A. Gear in the early 1990s, claiming L.A. Gear's Catapult sneakers infringed on a Nike patent on a heel wedge designed to act like a spring and another on covering how the shoes are laced. Razors are among the most heavily patented consumer products, with more than 1,000 patents covering everything from lubricating strips to cartridge-loading systems. Gillette has more than 50 patents covering its Mach3 franchise. Schick holds eight patents protecting the Quattro and has other applications pending at the US Patent and Trademark Office but won't say how many or whether any address blade geometry.

The patent volume in part reflects the competitive nature of the business. Around the world, people last year bought $7.5 billion of razors and blades, and Gillette and Schick are the two main players. Capitalizing on a history of innovation, Gillette dominates the market, with 72 percent of sales. Schick's 18 percent share is a distant second. With Quattro, however, Schick could pull off a rare feat of technological one-upmanship. Schick isn't backing down. The company denies infringing on the patent and says it will go ahead with Quattro's introduction as planned. "This will be the only four-bladed razor on market," VerNooy said. "It's different from everything." Gillette went to work on a three-blade razor in the early 1970s -- not long after introducing the world's first twin blade. But early prototypes developed in its research labs in Reading, England, had a fatal flaw: They irritated the skin. Gillette turned to other technologies, including the pivoting Atra and the Sensor, which had blades mounted on a spring.

In the early 1990s, the company finally developed a prototype of a three-blade razor that in internal shaving tests beat the Sensor. Code named Manx (because one of the engineers hailed from the Isle of Man, where the inhabitants are known as Manxmen) the razor used a new blade alignment that positioned the blades progressively closer to the skin, each one cutting closer than the last. In 1998, after more than $750 million of research and testing, Gillette introduced Mach3, the world's first triple-blade razor. It spent $300 million in the first year to promote it. One ad showed a fighter jet breaking through the sound barrier -- Mach 1 -- and starting to disintegrate after passing Mach 2. As the jet broke through Mach 3, the pilot morphed into a man in a bathroom, where a razor flew into his hand. "Adding more blades will give you a closer shave," said Gillette spokesman Eric Kraus. "But that's not the magic. The more blades, the more drag you have and the more chance of irritation.

We know from years and years of testing that progressive blade geometry is critical." Schick declined to say exactly how long or how much it spent developing Quattro, but the company said the project consumed years and thousands of engineering hours. This summer, Schick began distributing samples of its new razor to retailers in preparation for the launch. Schick told them the Quattro had outperformed Mach3 in numerous tests involving hundreds of people. Even before filing suit, Gillette called those claims "highly subjective." But earlier this summer, Gillette got hold of 10 of the sample cartridges. Kraus declined to say how. Company engineers dismantled the Quattro blades, examining their design and studying the positioning of the blades. They measured the exposed blade edges using a special microscope. After thorough testing, Kraus said, Gillette determined the Quattro infringed on its patented progressive blade geometry by using its design and simply adding another blade. Filed in 1994, patent No. 6,212,777 describes the technology in exacting detail. The patent covers a group of three blades with parallel sharpened edges located between a plastic cap at the top of the cartridge and a guard at the bottom.

The blade closest to the cap must stick out no more than .2 mm. The last blade, closest to the guard, must be recessed into the cartridge at least .2 mm. The middle blade must fall in between. Positioned accordingly, the first blade is designed to lift the hair, the second to cut it and the third to cut it even closer. And though the patent refers to three blades, Kraus said it applies to any three blades similarly aligned, regardless of whether they are part of a four-, five- or 20-blade razor. In this regard, patent attorneys say, Gillette is likely on firm ground. But little else is certain. Schick has not responded in court yet to Gillette's suit, and Schick declined to go into detail on how it will defend itself. Patent lawyers say Schick could argue that it doesn't infringe on the patent because it has found a way to design around the patents claims. Failing that, it could also argue that the patent is invalid because the technology wasn't really new, or because it would have been obvious to someone schooled in razor blade design.

"Every word in each of the patent's claims needs to be defined," said Andrew Beckerman-Rodeau, a professor at Suffolk University Law School. "It's not always so clear what a patent covers. And it's not going to be clear until they start litigating the case." Patent cases can take years and millions of dollars to litigate. If, at the end of the day, Schick is found to be infringing on Gillette's patent, it could be forced to stop selling the Quattro, turn over all its profits from Quattro sales to Gillette, and destroy any remaining Quattro inventory. In addition, it would also likely be ordered to refund to consumers the cost of a Quattro razor they can no longer use. That's what happened to Eastman Kodak Co. In 1990, 14 years into a bitter patent fight, a federal judge ordered the company to pay Polaroid Corp. $909.5 million for infringing on its instant photography patents. An earlier decision in the case forced Kodak to withdraw its instant cameras from the market, destroy its inventory and give refunds to people who had bought the cameras.

Tallying all the expenses, patent attorneys said, the case cost Kodak about $3 billion. "That's the strategic decision a company has to make," said Constance E. Bagley, an associate professor at Harvard Business School. "If you lose the fight, everything you've made literally goes into a landfill. It's high-stakes litigation, and it's a gamble." Naomi Aoki can be reached at naoki@globe.com. © Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company. Gillette Triple Blade Razor Gillette Triple Blade Razor view description Gillette MACH3 Refill CartridgesFan Favorite Gillette Disposable Razor Refill Cartridges 10 ct.Its 3 blades are positioned progressively to extend gradually closer. For every stroke you take, it takes three. And fewer strokes mean less irritation. Blades coated in Patented DLC (Diamond Like Coating) for strong, sharp blades that cut close. Open architecture system makes blades easy to rinse Lubrastrip to provide a smooth glide Soft, protective microfins gently smooth skin Precision balanced handle for incredible grip and control Ergonomically-designed elastomer handle for an extremely comfortable hold view description Get Satin Soft Skin Fed up with razor burns, ingrown hairs, redness and bumps?

Bid goodbye to all these problems with Schick ST3 Slim Triple Sensitive for Her Disposable Razor 8 ct. You can get a smooth, close shave with this disposable razor. It doesn't cause razor bumps or redness. It is simply perfect when you are traveling. Silky smooth feel on your skin Does not cause razor rash or redness Perfect when traveling The blade lasts longer than other disposable razor. Schick ST3 Slim Triple Sensitive for Her Disposable Razor 8 ct leaves a silky smooth feel on your skin.Just for you: Women with all skin typesA Closer Look: For that soft satin smooth feel on your skin, use Schick ST3 Slim Triple Sensitive for Her Disposable Razor 8 ct. It comes with three blades and includes Aloe and Vitamin E strips. view description Silk Effects@ Plus puts a great shave at your fingertips. The flexible head conforms to the unique contours of your body. Exclusive microfine safety wires help protect you from nicks, cuts and uncomfortable razor burn, making it the perfect razor for teens that are just learning to shave! The Ultra Glide@ strip with aloe allows the pivoting blade to glide easily over your skin.

Our unique suction-cup hanger holds the razor and stores refill blades so you'll have them right where you need them, ensuring a silky smooth shave every time. The contoured rubber handle has a no-slip grip that is specially designed to help ensure slip-proof shaving for total control. view description Gillette Venus Spa Breeze Razor + 2 CartridgesWith Venus Spa Breeze simply add water for a skin-lovinglight lather and a smooth shave - there's no need for separate shave cream. Even better, the shave gel bars are infused with the fresh scent of white tea to soothe your senses.Each package contains: 1 Venus Spa Breeze Razor 2 Refill Cartridges 1 Shaving Compact Built-in Shave Gel Bars with white tea scent eliminate the need for additional shave gel or soap 3-blade cartridge and shave gel bars flex for incredible closeness around every curve Interchangeable Blade Refill Cartridges Shaving Compact conveniently stores your razor and up to 2 refills in the shower Soft Grip handle for no-slip control 2 Blade Razor Cartridges 2 Blade Razor Cartridges view description Gillette Fusion ProGlide Power Razor Replacement CartridgeGillette's best shave, even if you shave every day.

Fusion ProGlide's breakthrough blade technology helps deliver Gillette's most comfortable shave ever in manual and battery powered. Its thinner, finer blades provide significantly less tug and pull and effortless glide. It is Gillette's most advanced Shaving System.Gillette's best shave reengineered thinner blades effortless glide. Less tug & pull. Microcomb helps guide hair to blades streamlined comfort guard new channels clear away excess prep.Now consumers can experience incredible comfort, even if they shave every day. view description Hydrating Gel Reservoir Features five Ultra Glide Blades with skin guards to smooth your skin and reduce irritation, making shaving less irritating Flip Trimmer is easy to use: Engage the Trimmer with your thumb and use on hard to reach areas for precise trimming Premium finishes with high-gloss colored chrome. Soft touch rubber for gripping ease. Easy cartridge loading system. view description Gillette Venus Spa Breeze Razor + 2 CartridgesWith Venus Spa Breeze simply add water for a skin-lovinglight lather and a smooth shave - there's no need for separate shave cream.

Even better, the shave gel bars are infused with the fresh scent of white tea to soothe your senses.Each package contains: 1 Venus Spa Breeze Razor 2 Refill Cartridges 1 Shaving Compact Built-in Shave Gel Bars with white tea scent eliminate the need for additional shave gel or soap 3-blade cartridge and shave gel bars flex for incredible closeness around every curve Interchangeable Blade Refill Cartridges Shaving Compact conveniently stores your razor and up to 2 refills in the shower Soft Grip handle for no-slip control view description Schick Hydro 5 Disposable Razors are the only razors that hydrates your skin during shaving and reduces irritation. Water-activated Gel Reservoir hydrates your skin throughout each shave to help reduce friction during repeat strokes. Each blade doubles the points of contact to smooth out your skin as you shave and reduce irritation. With a simple flip of the thumb, the Schick Hydro hydrating reservoir flips back so all five blades help to trim view description Hydro 5 groomer sensitive razor is a true integrated all-in-one tool with a groomer on one end and razor on the other.

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They�re here to delight you! So come try us today. You will be glad you did. Soap.com: Get stuff. Done. An Analysis of the Finance, Development and Marketing of the Gillette Mach III in the United States | Kibin Get ideas from this essay and see how your work stacks up 2 Pages An Analysis of the Finance, Development and Marketing of the Gillette Mach III in the United States Sign Up & Access Essays Already a member? Login here Pages: 2 This preview is partially blurred. Sign up to view the full document. Sign Up & Access Essays Already a member? Login here End of preview Upgrade to view the full document This is an unformatted preview.

Sign up to view the full document End of preview Upgrade to view the full document Gillette is leading worldwide home applicants such as razor battery electronic and manual toothbrush manufacturing company On April 14 1998 the company introduced the worlds first triple blades razor and begun to sell July 1 1998 in the United States and September in the Western Europe Since Gillette launched new razor in 1998 the company expected high returns in short-term however the result of the new product has been defined yetThe areas of the internal factors are Finance Management Manufacturing Market position Personnel and Research Development All these factors can be defined as either strengths or weakness or both First of all the company as a whole gained net sales amount of 101 billion dollars and net income of 14 billion dollars for the 1997 due to acquire leading battery company Duracel in 1996 and grow of Sensor Excel razor As a result company could spend 1 billion dollars to invent Mach 3 which is triple blades razor Even though Gillette had sufficient fund to invent the new product the company took high risk of financial side that if the new products sale does not reach to companys expectation the company will face shortage of capital resources and can be lead

 to bankruptcy But if Mach3 turn out to be a New Coke or McDonalds Arch Deluxe much-hyped new products that were mostly duds and fizzle- the gloom will be heavy from Gillettes corporate headquarters in Bostons Back Bay to the South Boston factory that Gillette has overhauled to produce 600 million Mach3 blade cartridges per year or about half of Gillettes annual target of 12 billion Mach3 blades Boston Globe 41598Since Gillette introduced Mach3 in April the company changed its manufacturing tools to produce Mach3 South Bostons factory Gillette already spent 300 million dollars for advertising and promotion worldwide for the year that company introduced new product The amount is twice as much as the company put for advertising Sensor Excel in @Kibin is a lifesaver for my essay right now!!

- Sandra Slivka, student @ UC Berkeley Wow, this is the best essay help I've ever received! - Camvu Pham, student @ U of M If I'd known about @Kibin in college, I would have gotten much more sleep - Jen Soust, alumni @ UCLA Gillette Mach3 Review What I don’t like Nothing. An excellent razor. Highly recommended. Detailed Gillette Mach 3 Review The Mach 3 is a triple-blade razor was introduced in 1998 to great hype and fanfare. In a short time, it was flying off of store shelves. And it’s no wonder, as it is an excellent razor. A razor is only as good as it’s blade, and the Mach 3 blades are excellent. They’re extremely sharp and durable; I get more shaves out of a Mach 3 blade than any other blade I’ve used. In front of the blades, ‘micro-fins’ are intended to help your hair stand up straight. Behind the blades, a ‘comfort strip’ is intended to soothe the skin. They seem to do their jobs, as the irritation level is pretty low. The blades have an interesting ‘open’ design that makes them easy to clean.

The handle is different than most cartridge razors. It changes the way pressure is applied to the blade when shaving, and in my opinion makes it easier to shave without applying too much force to the blade. This helps to reduce the chance of cuts, and reduces overall irritation. The handle is also easy to grip. Since the Mach 3 was originally released, Gillette has released various updates to the product, including the Mach 3 Turbo and the M3Power . The updated versions cost more than the original Mach 3, but in my opinion they don’t add enough to be worth the extra money. I’ll take the original Mach 3 over the ‘improved’ versions any day of the week. Overall, the Gillette Mach 3 is a reliable razor that produces excellent shaves with a minimum of irritation. I highly recommend it. Related Links An Overview of Gillette: A Household Brand in the United States | Kibin An Overview of Gillette: A Household Brand in the United States Sign Up & Access Essays Already a member? Login here Pages: 2 This preview is partially blurred. Sign up to view the full document. Sign Up & Access Essays Already a member?

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Sign up to view the full document End of preview Upgrade to view the full document Gillette is leading worldwide home applicants such as razor battery electronic and manual toothbrush manufacturing company On April 14 1998 the company introduced the world s first triple blades razor and begun to sell July 1 1998 in the United States and September in the Western Europe Since Gillette launched new razor in 1998 the company expected high returns in short-term however the result of the new product has been defined yetSWOT ANALYSIS - Key LearningThe areas of the internal factors are Finance Management Manufacturing Market position Personnel and Research Development All these factors can be defined as either strengths or weakness or both First of all the company as a whole gained net sales amount of 101 billion dollars and net income of 14 billion dollars for the 1997 due to acquire leading battery company Duracel in 1996 and grow of Sensor Excel razor As a result company could spend 1 billion dollars to invent Mach 3 which is triple blades razor Even though Gillette had sufficient fund to invent the new product the company took high risk of financial side that if the new product s sale does not reach to company s expectation the company will

 face shortage of capital resources and can be lead to bankruptcy But if Mach3 turn out to be a New Coke or McDonald s Arch Deluxe much-hyped new products that were mostly duds and fizzle- the gloom will be heavy from Gillette s corporate headquarters in Boston s Back Bay to the South Boston factory that Gillette has overhauled to produce 600 million Mach3 blade cartridges per year or about half of Gillette s annual target of 12 billion Mach3 blades Boston Globe 41598Since Gillette introduced Mach3 in April the company changed its manufacturing tools to produce Mach3 South Bostons factory Gillette already spent 300 million dollars for advertising and promotion worldwide for the year that company introduced new product The amount is twice @Kibin is a lifesaver for my essay right now!!

- Sandra Slivka, student @ UC Berkeley Wow, this is the best essay help I've ever received! - Camvu Pham, student @ U of M If I'd known about @Kibin in college, I would have gotten much more sleep - Jen Soust, alumni @ UCLA FREE Essay on Product Analysis on Gillettes's Razors Product Analysis on Gillettes's Razors 5 Pages 1360 Words Gillette is leading worldwide home applicants, such as razor, battery, electronic and manual toothbrush, manufacturing company. On April 14, 1998, the company introduced the world's first triple blades razor and begun to sell July 1, 1998 in the United States and September in the Western Europe. Since Gillette launched new razor in 1998, the company expected high returns in short-term; however, the result of the new product has been defined yet. SWOT ANALYSIS - Key Learning. The areas of the internal factors are Finance, Management, Manufacturing, Market position, Personnel, and Research & Development. All these factors can be defined as either strengths or weakness or both.

First of all, the company as a whole gained net sales amount of 10.1 billion dollars and net income of 1.4 billion dollars for the 1997 due to acquire leading battery company "Duracel” in 1996 and grow of "Sensor Excel” razor. As a result, company could spend 1 billion dollars to invent "Mach 3” which is triple blades razor. Even though Gillette had sufficient fund to invent the new product, the company took high risk of financial side that if the new product's sale does not reach to company's expectation, the company will face shortage of capital resources and can be lead to bankruptcy. . But if Mach3 turn out to be a New Coke or McDonald's Arch Deluxe - much-hyped new products that were mostly duds and fizzle- the gloom will be heavy from Gillette's corporate headquarters in Boston's Back Bay to the South Boston factory that Gillette has overhauled to produce 600 million Mach3 blade cartridges per year, or about half of Gillette's annual target of 1.2 billion Mach3 blades. (Boston Globe, 4/15/98).

Since Gillette introduced "Mach3" in April, the company changed its manufacturing tools to produce Mach3 South Boston's factory. . Gillette already spent 300 million dollars for advertising and promotion worldwide for the year that company introduced new product. MACH 3: Anatomy of Gillette's Latest Global Launch Marketing, Media & Sales MACH 3: Anatomy of Gillette's Latest Global Launch Can a consumer product be launched globally in a short time? It can if sufficient resources and time are allocated to planning the effort. In May 1994, months before the Gillette Company first shipped its hugely successful Sensor Excel razor in the United States, marketing plans were already under way for the product that would succeed the Sensor Excel. That month, four Gillette marketing executives met with B.B.D.O., the firm's advertising agency, to set the marketing agenda for a new razor that would render Sensor Excel all but obsolete. That new razor, which would later be named Mach 3, was introduced with all the attendant fanfare in the summer of 1998. At Gillette, there is no such concept as getting ahead of oneself.

New products go on the drawing board as much as a decade before they are introduced, and it is a safe bet that even as Mach 3 was hitting retail store shelves, Mach 4 or Mach Excel or whatever the company calls its next breakthrough razor was well along in its development cycle. When it comes to blades and razors, Gillette is not content with merely having an innovative product. The company has also turned marketing into a quantitative science, pouring time and resources into marketing plans that are almost military in their precision and implementation. The Mach 3 shaving system, a blend of leading-edge technology and relentless consumer testing, took seven years and $750 million to develop. The first industrial design of the sleek new razor existed in 1993. The product was named two full years before it was first shipped, and the efforts were so secretive that the directors, including billionaire and major shareholder Warren E. Buffett, were not allowed to see the product until nine months before its launch. Gillette has poured another $300 million into marketing the new product -making Mach 3 the world's only billion-dollar razor -and the results are already off the chart.

Sales of the Mach 3 have far surpassed Sensor and Sensor Excel, which both dominated the market in their day and have exceeded even Gillette's lofty expectations. Despite the skepticism of some in the financial press, who felt the new razor was gimmicky and too expensive, in just six months Mach 3 has become the top-selling razor and blade in North America and Europe. If success can be choreographed, Gillette has done it. No other company takes shaving as seriously as Gillette. The $10.1 billion Boston-based consumer products giant also sells Duracell batteries, Braun appliances and Parker pens. But blades and razors are the bedrock of Gillette's indomitable global brand. Like other great marketers, Gillette simply knows its customers better than its competitors do. It tests, measures and rates products and preferences ceaselessly around the world. When an Italian man or an Australian woman performs his or her morning ablutions, Gillette has a pretty good idea of what razor will be used and why. The company has parlayed its laserlike focus on its marketplace, and its unmatched ability to forecast what men and women will buy, into a 72 percent market share in both the United States and Europe.

This dominance is born from a relentless pursuit of better shaving technologies, a willingness to invest whatever is needed to manufacture its products effectively, and a formulaic, integrated marketing strategy that works everywhere. The Shaving Legacy Ever since 1901, when King Camp Gillette invented the safety razor, Gillette has built a corporate culture around finding better, more lucrative ways to remove unwanted hair from human beings. For much of this century, Gillette was as much a part of the American lifestyle as Campbell Soup and Coca-Cola. The first televised baseball game in 1939 featured ads for Gillette razors. In 1971, Gillette shook up the shaving marketplace when it introduced Trac II, the first twin-blade razor with two parallel blade edges housed in a single cartridge. With Atra in 1977, Gillette increased performance and pressed its "comfort and closeness" mantra with an innovative pivoting head. And in the same time period, Gillette, mired in a new battle of disposable razors with the likes of Bic, unveiled the Good News, the first twin-bladed disposable.

By the mid-1980's, with disposable razors taking up a whopping 50 percent of the market, Gillette executives decided to break out of what they saw as a dead-end strategy. With disposables, the razor had become a commodity, and the buying decision was based solely on price and convenience. For a company like Gillette, this was a debilitating situation. Gillette needed a differentiator, a product upon which the brand could be elevated and market share substantially increased. So rather than compete on the existing playing field, Gillette simply created a new category, the shaving system, and took control of it while at the same time eroding the market share of the disposables category. In 1990, after 10 years of research and development, Gillette introduced its Sensor twin-bladed shaving system. As with Trac II and Atra, the blade cartridges were disposable. But there was more. With blades mounted on springs that allowed the razor to adjust to a man's face as he shaved, Sensor raised the shaving bar to new heights. The shave really was better -significantly better.

The design not only produced markedly closer shaves but also brought Gillette out of the disposables morass and back into an indisputable leadership position. But Gillette never rests on its laurels. If two blades could produce a close shave, what might three blades do? For much of this decade, scientists at Gillette's research lab in Reading, England, studied metallurgy, skin and hair and came up with new blade edges -the first since the 1960's -designed to allow men to shave with less force and feel less irritation. In order to insure that consumers would not simply scoff at three blades as a marketing gimmick, the shave had to be demonstrably better. "What you need when you go to the board and ask for $750 million in development money is a product that can't fail," said William J. Flynn, the business director of blades and razors at Gillette. "It has to be preferable to what the customer is currently using." Like other great marketing companies, Gillette acknowledges that product quality is the core value proposition around which everything else swirls. "If you have a significantly and demonstrably superior product or service, it really is quite meaningful," said Benson P.

Shapiro, a marketing consultant in Concord, Mass. "Procter & Gamble has traded on this for years. When they introduce a new and improved product, it really is new and improved. It really solves a personal problem. What Gillette has done is develop a new technology that worked. The tougher task is getting people to try it." Indeed, many superior technologies have slipped away, unnoticed and unrewarded, in the history of consumer products. At Gillette, gaining consumers' share of mind is an art form. Getting them to try a new product and offering a "reason to believe" has never been better orchestrated than with Mach 3. The first and most important step is creating a clear value proposition for the consumer. For the Mach 3, the value proposition had to be compelling, succinct and easily understood by a vast consumer base around the world. Like everything else in the development process, it was a painstaking endeavor. Indeed, the value statement took two full years, countless meetings and innumerable focus groups to write. The value had to be there for a wide cross section of shavers, from the serious system user to the disposables user.

It had to work for the blue-collar worker in Des Moines as well as the executive in Milan. Having tested the product with thousands of men, Gillette knew what mattered. Shaving evokes certain key reactions in men: It is time-consuming, irritating and often unpleasant. Not surprisingly, men around the world crave the same thing: a close, clean, comfortable shave without nicks and cuts. Most men, Mr. Flynn said, take between 100 and 500 strokes when they shave, often going over the same area again and again. So a bridge was needed to get from the idea of a close shave to a less irritating shave. Add to that mix the disposables user, who values the quickness of a shave, and the value proposition emerged: The Mach 3 offers "the closest shave ever in fewer strokes -with less irritation." What sounds so simple and obvious was a "Eureka" revelation inside Gillette. With this statement, all marketing efforts would have a common foundation upon which to build. Gillette could not only woo its own Sensor Excel customers to move up, but also grab market share among disposables users.

"If you don't put it into language that gives a promise of something better, people won't try it," Mr. Flynn said. "But if you can create an appeal that gets them to try the product, the product will sell itself." Going Global Gillette's vaunted marketing machine is actually the sum of many parts, all tied inextricably together by time-honored traditions within the company. The Horizon Committee, for example, is chartered to capture the future, looking five to 20 years ahead for what the hair removal experience is likely to be. Even today, Gillette is looking beyond wet shaving to lasers and other forms of technology for potential products. The Mach 3 group, code-named the 225 Task Force, worked for five full years in concert with R&D to produce and orchestrate the introduction of the new product. They concentrated as much on creating a great new brand as developing a great new product. The five years were characterized by ceaseless product improvement, constant consumer testing around the world and, eventually, creation of a marketing strategy to not only press the new value proposition but also substantiate the claims. To Gillette's chief executive, Alfred M.

Zeien, the company looks at the world "as one nation," and global product positioning is de rigueur. By mid-1996, under John Darman, vice president of business management for male shaving, the task force began to pull together specific plans for a global introduction. With Mach 3, Gillette had a distinct advantage; the company had essentially been there before. The company's experience with both the Sensor and the Sensor Excel had created a template for the manufacturing and global marketing and promotion of a shaving system. Sensor had been so successful that it had turned the company's earnings around and set off a string of 32 straight profitable quarters at Gillette. The lessons were clear: Because the product would probably take off immediately, manufacturing had to insure that it had enough capacity to avoid shortages at the outset. To facilitate a smooth global introduction, all packaging, point of sale and other promotional and support material had to be the same, simply translated into 30 languages for other geographies. In the same vein, all marketing and advertising was based on a single campaign that was released in every market, again with minor local adjustments and translations.

Pricing needed a built-in elasticity, but by carefully testing the concept with consumers, Gillette fixed a profitable price point based on the expected number of blades per user per year. The plans needed to be thorough, coordinated and highly secretive. Early on, Mr. Darman brought executives from Gillette's satellite offices around the world together with B.B.D.O. executives. B.B.D.O., the company's agency since 1988, had come up with the signature descriptor "Gillette: the Best a Man Can Get" in the late 1980's and had been an integral part of the development team on Sensor and Mach 3. Like a military strike, a global introduction had to be carefully planned and orchestrated to be successful. Gillette had introduced Sensor in all of its markets in just 18 months. But Mach 3 would be completely introduced around the planet in under one year. The new product would be introduced in North America in July 1998, in Europe and Russia on Sept. 1, in Japan in February 1999 and in the rest of Asia, Latin America and Australia by mid-year. "We want to accelerate sales and profit growth," Mr. Flynn said.

"A global launch is the means to do that." The faster the product is in the market globally, the faster existing Gillette customers will trade up to the new product and the faster new users will be drawn from competitors. Such quick-strike thinking not only leads to better financial results, adds Mr. Shapiro, a former Harvard Business School marketing professor, but prevents competitors from thwarting Gillette's efforts in remote markets before the product is shipped. The naming process began in July 1995, three years before the rollout. B.B.D.O.'s computers yielded such suggestions as Vector, Synchro and Triad. But the eventual name had to work as well in Germany and Latin America as it did in North America. Thousands of one-on-one interviews around the world with consumers confirmed that the name Mach 3 would fly. Keeping it a secret became a C.I.A.-like operation, with all executives required to sign confidentiality agreements -telling spouses was strictly verboten -and no one was exempt. By 1996, specific plans started to come together. The task force drew up advertising budgets, capital costs, sampling costs and formulas for achieving more profit per user per year.

In this manner, the strategic business plans for 1997 and eventually 1998 were written. Gillette has always carefully tracked blade usage. With the Atra razor, men used an average of 30 to 32 blades a year. The number dropped to the high 20's with Sensor, and, because of its superior performance, the number is expected to drop even more for Mach 3. Based on these estimates, the company set out pricing strategies. Because of the success of Sensor, which had been priced at a 25 percent premium over the previous offering, Gillette was extremely aggressive in its pricing for Mach 3. Mach 3 was priced 35 percent higher than Sensor Excel -at $6.49 to $6.99 for the razor and a similar increase for blades -and again, consumers did not blink. "In our consumer-use test study, we asked questions about what they'd pay," Mr. Flynn said. "As we increased the price, their preference actually improved. That was the first time we'd ever seen that happen." To orchestrate the product unveiling successfully, Gillette followed strict guidelines about all advertising, marketing and promotion.

Everything from packaging to point-of-sale displays to retail sales guidelines was created with a single audience in mind rather than individual geographies. Thus, all packaging, point-of-sale displays and support material are the same around the world. The color scheme, an aqua green, and all typefaces and design elements are also the same. Mach 3 packages from Spain, Germany, Britain and Italy are identical except for the language on the package. The company purposely keeps the number of words on the front of the package to a minimum to avoid the need for design alterations to the packaging. Gillette also knows its markets intimately. For countries like Italy and Spain, where many stores are small, Gillette created a special display for the Mach 3. More than 100,000 of these displays were sold in the first six months after the premiere. Even the television and radio advertising is the same. A single Mach 3 television commercial is being used in all countries. Though some local production had to be done in certain markets, the commercial is essentially the same everywhere -male models have to have faces that are "acceptable" in all regions.

By creating a single look and feel to the entire global campaign, the Mach 3 achieved a branded look almost instantaneously. A believer in big-budget advertising, Gillette seeks to surround the consumer with its message, embracing every medium, from television to billboards to the Internet. It stepped up its public relations efforts for Mach 3 and received 10 times as many mentions in the media, called share of voice, for the product rollout as it had for Sensor. Gillette tracks the media as closely as it tracks its customers. Mr. Flynn described a visit to Spain shortly after the Mach 3 inauguration. He was walking in Madrid where Mach 3 billboard ads dominated the sidewalk. He walked into a drugstore and was met immediately with the Mach 3 display, which mirrored the sidewalk advertising. And almost as if on cue, a radio commercial for the razor came on over the store's speakers. "It really told me why the brand is doing so well in all markets," he said. Mr. Flynn points out that the Mach 3 will be "advertising driven" for its first two years and then, as the product becomes entrenched in the marketplace, advertising efforts will slow while a sampling campaign commences.

He points out that 75 percent of Mach 3 sales go to Sensor Excel users who are moving up to the new product. To win over disposable users, sampling is crucial. "Sampling is extremely effective," Mr. Flynn said. "I was the marketing manager for Sensor Excel, and I went to a focus group in New Jersey. One guy admitted that he was a system user, but he had been a hardcore disposable user until he got a Sensor in the mail. We'd have never gotten that user otherwise." Another Winner By early 1999, Gillette could safely declare victory. Mach 3 simply blew away the skeptics and became the type of whirlwind success that product developers and marketers dream about. The Mach 3 has easily supplanted the Sensor Excel as the No. 1 brand on the market. In fact, said Mr. Flynn, it took Sensor two years to reach the sales level that Mach 3 achieved in six months. In the United States alone, Mach 3 razors have outsold Sensor four to one compared with Sensor's first six months on the market and outsold Sensor blades three to one.

Mach 3 razors brought in $60 million in the first six months, compared with $15 million in Sensor sales during its first six months. Mach 3 blades generated $68 million in sales in its first six months; Sensor blades brought in just $20 million in its first six months. Mach 3 razors already have a 15 percent market share in the United States and as much as 17 percent in Italy. (See Exhibit I.) It took Sensor two full years to reach that market share. Gillette is happy but hardly satisfied. The company expects a 20 percent to 30 percent market share for Mach 3 razors and blades over the next two years as it sells more than a billion blades annually around the world. And though it is closemouthed about future products, there is little doubt that Gillette sees an opportunity to move Mach 3 into the women's market, much as it did with Sensor. If and when Gillette introduces a women's Mach 3, it will undoubtedly be with a blitzkrieg approach. In a competitive global economy, Mr.

Shapiro said, Gillette understands that every consumer it can get to try a new product sooner is one less customer who is likely to get away. The European Campaign Gillette's ability to introduce its new products globally is built upon best practices gleaned from decades of experience, particularly with its highly successful Sensor razor products. From Sensor to the new Mach 3, Gillette has initiated rollouts with remarkable success. But despite the almost military precision with which Gillette attacks the global marketplace, there are issues specific to certain geographies that require careful planning. William J. Flynn, business director of blades and razors for Gillette, talked with Glenn Rifkin about unveiling Mach 3 in Europe. S&B: You actually launched the Sensor Excel, Mach 3's predecessor, in Europe before North America. And then you did just the opposite with the Mach 3 launch. Why? William Flynn: We went into Europe with Sensor Excel first because Europe is a bigger market than the U.S. It's about 20 percent bigger, in fact.

At that point in time, 1991, we looked at the economy in Europe, which was lagging and not as bullish as the U.S., and felt the market there needed a shot in the arm. We needed to get some energy going and thought launching there first would do that while at the same time demonstrate that we are an international company. With Mach 3, we wanted to launch in July 1998, but realized that August is not the greatest time to advertise in Europe. Everyone is out at their summer homes. In truth, the time factor was not that significant. We launched in Europe two months later. S&B: How do you evaluate each individual market? William Flynn: We look with great detail at each market. We know that the primary growth driver is the media, so we have to make sure we are spending our money wisely. Where is the greatest opportunity for profit growth? What does the competitive environment look like? We create a media spending model that is predicated on things such as profit by country, share of voice, trade-up potential, incremental profit above the competition. We do this in 17 markets in Europe.

When we launched Sensor, we created the Sensor Derivation Model, which was essentially how much money we spent and what share of voice we achieved. So with Mach 3, if we replicated the Sensor launch, what would it look like? How would it play out? S&B: What did that model tell you with the Mach 3 launch? How do you build share of voice? William Flynn: For example, we knew that we spent more in Italy than Germany. The Italian market is much more devoted to disposable razors, so we had to concentrate more media in Italy. All this helps create the final plan. And we had to lay on top of that new elements for the Mach 3 program. With Sensor, it was basically a television plan, heavy television advertising. With Mach 3, we had print, outdoor, radio and the Internet. It was more of a multifaceted media effort. We had to factor all this into the Sensor Derivation Model. S&B: What does the model help you achieve? William Flynn: It is the foundation for our media spending plan. We needed to go to all the geographies and put together a rationale for what we were recommending per market.

We base our plans on gross rating points, or G.R.P.'s, which equate to the number of spots you have on television. It gives some perspective to the weight of the advertising you do. And we have figured out a way to [equate] everything to a G.R.P., so we can take all media and come up with an assumption that equates to a 30-second television commercial. So we might say we'll need 3,500 G.R.P.'s in Germany, but only 3,000 in Spain because the cost of media is not as high in Spain. It's a model and a baseline to work from. S&B: So you leave little to chance. William Flynn: That's right. We have advertising tracking studies, TV versus radio versus print. We learn from history which medium is most effective. Our primary thrust is to surround the consumer with all media. Television may be more impactful than radio, but if you do both, it's even better. And that has to be scrutinized in terms of the overall objective of the plan. The plan is to make Mach 3 part of the landscape -get it everywhere. Make it part of people's vocabulary.

S&B: Is your ability to achieve that different from country to country? William Flynn: Yes. From a competitive point of view, we're stronger in Germany, the U.K. and France. We're not as strong in Italy. There is a big difference in terms of systems like the Sensor and Mach 3 and disposables. Germany is a very big systems market. Only 20 percent of that market is disposables. Italy and Spain are both 50 percent disposables. S&B: What do you do about that? William Flynn: Media has always worked well in Italy. That is why when we went out with Sensor, we spent more on media in Italy than any other country. And it worked. One of the big success stories with Sensor was in Italy. The local Gillette folks did a fabulous job. They built the systems business back in 1991 better than anyone else. They did it with media, merchandising and a good story to the trade. Before Sensor, the market was 60 to 40 in favor of disposables. They shifted 10 percent of users to systems. S&B: How do you get even more men to shift to Mach 3?

William Flynn: We're still focused on heavy media spending, doing a lot of the fundamentals. It really comes down to a lot of blocking and tackling. You need to sell the program to the retail trade and get their full support. With Mach 3, the display activity has been tremendous. If you go into any store in Italy and look for Mach 3, you won't have trouble finding it. There are big displays everywhere with tremendous visibility. It's a bit like looking for Coca-Cola. You see it everywhere. S&B: Are you seeing a payoff from this already? William Flynn: Major league. We've already achieved a 16 percent blade value or dollar share in Italy, which is the highest blade share of all Gillette's North Atlantic markets. And it's harder to get distribution in Italy, which makes this even more impressive. We've achieved with Mach 3 in Europe in three months what we achieved with Sensor in 18 months. S&B: What other factors contributed to this early acceptance? William Flynn: There are a lot of things that make it happen with each individual market. In Italy, the amount of work that was happening a full year before the launch was amazing.

They go back to the Sensor launch and they say: "This is what you achieved for Sensor. We're going to achieve volumes that meet or exceed that, and we don't want to be out of stock." So manufacturing has to be on target with its forecasts. We want the product cut in at the point of sale, and we want to be able to meet demand. So the team works with individual accounts, and well before the official launch, they'll go in and reset the aisle. Before they had started to ship, either the Gillette sales force or outside contractors went in and reset the blade and razor section of the retailers to leave space for Mach 3. There were signs saying, "This is where Mach 3 will be." When the Procter &amp; Gamble folks saw this in the stores, they were amazed -the way space was set for the product; the coordination in getting displays up when the advertising broke. There was a lot of preplanning to make sure that Mach 3 was in a leadership position from the outset and make sure that out-of-stocks were minimized. S&B: How do you get the retailers to buy into this so intensely? William Flynn: By making sure that things are coordinated.

It's the blocking and tackling. And when you have public relations that creates the buzz, it is quite significant. Retailers see another Sensor coming, and they see that the sales force wasn't kidding. S&B: All that upfront work is phenomenal. William Flynn: That's something Gillette does the best, from an executional point of view. The company prides itself on this. A year before launch, the manufacturing people pegged how many cartridges and razors they could produce: between 50 million and 70 million razors and 400 million cartridges. They were able to call it a year in advance. You need extraordinary people to do that. S&B: So you can get other geographies on board quickly by having the answers before they ask the questions? William Flynn: You have to get it to the point where they realize that everything has been fully vetted eight ways to Sunday. We've done our research. We tested everything thoroughly in all their markets. We tested the name throughout Latin America and Europe and the scores we had showed that Mach 3 was even stronger than Sensor had been. We had impact scores, diagnostic scores, scores to show how it was different from Germany to Spain to Italy.

We had tests to see how the name was pronounced in different countries. We took the value proposition and created an advertising campaign. The commercial tested better than any other commercial we've ever run in the blade and razor business. S&B: But does that guarantee buy-in from country managers? William Flynn: It sold because we had evidence that it had tested extremely well. It had to come across as extremely credible. When we first showed the European marketing directors and general managers the packaging under the tent, we had to get them in on translations and on local advertising. They challenged us, but they came away feeling we had another Sensor. It really is incumbent to get everybody on board through test results. S&B: Now that the launch has been overwhelmingly successful, how do you sustain the momentum? William Flynn: We do not go back to business as usual. We are wrestling with that now. How do we get the Mach 3 afterburn? How do we convince [country managers] to spend the money on this brand? How much money should you put against each individual unit? We need to get them to spend the amount of money we recommended last year. We can't take our foot off the accelerator.

We need to spend a specific amount over the next two to three years to keep it going. We have numbers on this that are very convincing. We have to continue the tremendous efforts in point-of-sale displays, for example. We have to make sure they have all the tools necessary to continue with a razor program in which a customer buys a razor and gets a free package of other shaving products. We've established marketing guidelines for the year 2000. We created a very good Sensor Excel program that tied in with radio. They were humorous radio ads, and we worked with local markets to develop the ads for drive time for each local market. We tied that in on a cooperative basis with retailers. We called it the Challenge program: "Try Sensor Excel and you won't go back." We think we can do that with Mach 3 as well. Reprint No. 99205

Question: Which company introduced the first triple blade cartridge razor, the Mach 3, in 1998?
Answer: Gillette