On the Hydro 3 packaging there is a sticker that says “Shaves Better Than Mach 3”, which gives the game away. So Energizer need to compete against both the Mach 3 and the Fusion if they are to switch customers over. They have a point because anything more than 3 blades tends to be very clunky and the cartridges sell for even more extortionate prices. A lot of Gillette customers haven’t upgraded from their Mach 3 razors to the Fusion, presumably they think that 3 blades are enough. You can see exactly what has gone on here. A 3 blade and a 5 blade (handily either cartridge will work on either handle). Interestingly there are two versions of the Hydro. This is called the “Advanced Hydrating Gel Reservoir”. The second feature is the replacement of the (possibly unnecessary) lubricating strip with a small tank containing a water activated lubricating gel. The first is a bump that runs along the blade just behind the edge to prevent it digging in to the skin. In this time they came up with 2 main innovative features. So what is the Hydro all about then? What “features” have they come up with that they can patent and which their marketing people can convince us are benefits? They say the razor was 6 years under development. But it gives the shaver far more control over what the razor is doing. A DE shaver has to manage the angle of the blade themselves, which entails shorter strokes, not using the wrist and a brief learning curve. So the shaver can shave with their wrist and use long strokes. The hinge is supposed to keep the angle of the blade against the face constant, which makes it easier to use. To me the defining feature of a system razor is the hinge, everything else is just marketing. Would this PR company have one of these for comparison? Hardly likely. How could I refuse?Įveryone in traditional shaving knows that the best ever Wilkinson Sword razor was the legendary “Stickie” DE, which was my first ever razor. The lovely Nick from Shaving Shack is coming along.”. We will also have a pop up barbers shop should you wish to try the new range and have a professional shave. Hence I received a stream of emails from the London PR company representing the Hydro inviting me to an event: “I was just wondering if you would like to join us for our special breakfast on Monday to unveil the biggest launch in Wilkinson Sword’s history. If they actually read my blog they would realise that I see them as being the dark side, which might dampen their enthusiasm. All of which means that the PR companies employed by Procter & Gamble and Energizer have me as a target as a “shaving blogger”. Rightly so, my Bruce on Games blog had over 100,000 readers a month, so reached an audience larger than a lot of specialist print magazines do. And these days that means bloggers as well as conventional print journalists. Part of the marketing billions is spent with PR companies, whose job it is to reach people who write in the media. Marketing is far more important than the product with these razors. This must cost them many millions every year in lost marketing synergies and in my opinion epitomises why they are number two and are likely to remain that way. In some places it is a Schick and in some places a Wilkinson Sword. Inexplicably they sell this under two different brand names in different sales territories. So now, in the patent cycle, the time has come for Energizer to try and sell us more new features in a brand new system razor, this one they are calling the Hydro. It just doesn’t have the marketing billions behind it. Yet the DE razor is both hugely better and hugely cheaper. In the West they are far more popular than the double edged (DE) safety razors that this blog is about. Of course these marketing people are massively successful (rivalled only be De Beers and the global diamond monopoly) and many hundreds of millions of men around the world are perfectly happy to pay enormous prices on an ongoing basis for these patent protected system razor blade cartridges. Then their marketing people have to convince us that the new patented ideas are worthwhile. But patents run out, so each of these companies is forced to bring out a succession of new models with new patents in them. These patents give these big global companies monopolies in supplying the very expensive blade cartridges needed for their razors. The two big global system razor companies, Procter & Gamble (Gillette) and Energizer (Schick and Wilkinson Sword) make their huge profits by patenting features on their system razors which their marketing people can try and convince us are benefits. But don’t worry, there is some method in my madness. Oh no, I can hear you thinking, Bruce has gone over to the dark side.
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