The Rs 588-crore Gillette India Ltd (GIL) is shedding its premium image with a more than 50 per cent reduction in the price of its Mach 3 razors through a new variant under its franchise.
It has introduced a new Mach 3 razor at a price point of Rs 125 while its premium Mach 3 Turbo razors would continue to sell at Rs 315.
Ms Sonali Dhawan, Director, P&G, Beauty and Grooming, said, “We wanted to make the Mach 3 brand more affordable and in the past have also dropped the price of the single-blade cartridges under the Mach 3 franchise.”
However, the price of single-blade cartridges was dropped 15 per cent (from Rs 95 to Rs 80) compared with the high-end razors where a new brand under Mach 3 would be sold without the ‘turbo’ rubberised effect at almost half the price of the Mach 3 Turbo razor.
The Rs 1,750-crore blades and razors category is currently dominated by Gillette at the top-end of the market, while family-owned Indian companies such as the House of Malhotra and Vidyut comprise the mass-end of the market.
Gillette India is now trying to capture the mass-end of the category and would also be focussing aggressively on the rural market in the future.
“We already have a number of brands such as Vector and Wilkinson Sword at the lower end of the market which compete with the Indian companies. These brands are also present in the rural market but going forward, we plan to have a significant presence in rural India,” she added.
With affordability being the key to reach out to the belly of the market, Gillette is now playing the price card to garner more consumers.
As Ms Dhawan says, “Today, we may have the lion’s share of the market, but we still want more people to reach us; for that the product has to become more affordable. Indian men are more aware of how they look today and we believe that women can influence men as most of them prefer clean shaving men.”
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