Competition and Extinction of Style
The biggest competitor to Gillette and other companies that make razors is not any company. The competition is that growing beard is becoming fashionable. If you watch the American football which is a small religion here, you would pity these razor companies. Simply, most of the men wear beards. Except military, the trend is largely normalized across industrial sectors. P&G which owns Gillette brand understands that challenge: you can make a great product, but the customers may not be interested. So, the work now is to figure out how they would continue to pay attention.
“What was problematic was if you’re losing too many new customers certainly at a time when there’s societal trends around the frequency of shaving,” Taylor [P&G CEO] said.
“You put those two together and we said we’re not going to sit around and watch a significant portion of new users, more millennial customers, not being exposed to Gillette.”
This is the typical example of dynamic customer preference. Styles move but you never want an extinction of style. Gillette would have been fine if the men prefer larger razors or smaller ones. That way, they just pivot and produce the trending style. But when the men decide they would not use the product, you have a problem.
In any sector you work, be alert to see how style is evolving. It is possible your competitor is not any company. Yes, the style is redesigned and people are changing habits.
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