Gillette Dry Idea

GROUP 2
A R U N M E N O N ( 1 9 3 ) | RA H U L G OV I N D WA R 2 0 1
Z U B A I R ( 2 0 6 ) | P R I YA N S H U V E R M A ( 2 1 5 ) |
S H R U T I PA N D E Y ( 2 2 9 ) | T E R E S A P RA F F I ( 2 3 6 )

Analyse Deo market and

Dry Idea's Place in the
market

Deodorant market
US market size of underarm products in 1983 was 506 million units, revenue of
over $1bn
Underarm products 25% deodorants, 75% antiperspirants
4 application forms aerosols, roll-ons, sticks and solids
Consumer preference shifted from creams in 1950s to aerosols in 1970s to rollons by 1977
By 1983, consumer trends started shifting towards sticks and solids, with 93%
of females and 87% of males in the US using it
Form choice preceded brand choice, with users being extremely form loyal
6 major players in the US - P&G as the leader (21.8%), followed by Gillette
(17.1%)
Positioning of products as male, female and unisex brands

Dry Ideas place in the deodorant

market
Dry Idea brand created to capitalise on the non-aerosol trend
Dry Idea brand name chosen to convey improved dryness protection
and dry-feeling application (to address the biggest consumer complaint
of wet, sticky application)
Contains no water advertising for product differentiation
Premium pricing strategy superior performance
Consistent growth in market share from 1978 to 1981
Share began to fall from 5.1% in March-April, 1981 market shift from
roll-ons and decreased share within the roll-on segment
Suspected causes of brand decline low brand awareness, frequent
creative shifts, inferior media spending, intensified competition

Consumer trends (Category driver)

Category has been historically form driven
Change from application form to aerosols resulted in increased male usage
By 1970s, 79% of the market captured by aerosols
Government action resulted in consumer shift of dominant form to application or roll ons
Places of major purchses
Food store (83%)
Drug stores (27%)
Mass merchandiser outlets (21%)

Major purchase factors

Product efficacy
Aesthetics
Dominant form choice

Survey in 1983 showed 68% of consumers would shift brands rather than shift forms
(Extremely form loyal)

Client and Agency

perspectives on the
Gillette marketing and
advertising issues

The advertising issue

Setting advertising objectives and goals to measure the success or
failure of the ad- DAGMAR Model
Awareness

Dry Idea had very low top of the mind recall;

Eg. New Start to finish had 13% for Females and 9% for Males which is
very less than industry norms of 17 and 13% respectively.

Comprehensi
on

The Spokesman was very persuasive and communicated the product

concept in a very clear manner. However, for Start drier-finish drier, the
level of communication of aesthetic and efficacy story was very low.

Conviction

Lack of any identifiable personality lead to no affective and cognitive

connect.
The product was not associated with something consumers could easily
relate to.

Action

Roll-on subset in itself was declining; from a 35% in 1980, market of rollon had gradually declined to 29.6%. Also there was lack of impactful
creative.

Client Perspective
Major purchase factors: Need for a better creative to achieve a proper
balance between efficacy and aesthetics.
Start drier-finish drier shouldnt be aired as it doesnt communicate the
key equity that the product has been developed upon- that it has no water
and so is non-sticky
Spokesman should be continued as not only it has direct aesthetic
communication but also it led to a higher brand recall among both males and
females
Long term goals consistency: Creative should have a core proposition for
long term benefit; unwilling to put up a creative in short term that is
inconsistent with communicating benefits and isnt persuasive too
Advertising budget: Get the maximum out of the dollars and hardwork put
into the product to come up with the right long term solution
Marketing to management: Make the management fall in love with the
product
Short term goals: Better advertising, product improvement and new

Agency Perspective
Major reason for decline: underspending on advertising; lack of impactful
and pre-emptive creative
Major purchase factors: inconsistency in selling idea and promoting
aesthetics or efficacy or both
Start drier-finish drier extend the line as this campaign brings closer
consistency with current campaign; can offer long term viability
Spokesman: designed as a concept; unable to provide long term benefit
Short term goals: Run an interim creative for 6-12 months to develop
brand personality
Long term goals: Decide on a strategy as to how to position the product
when compared to other competitors and carefully understand drivers of
business
Launch strategic test: To decide if they should go into solids and sticks;
understand strategic feasibility of the long term goals

Problem?
Alternatives?
What to do?

Alternatives
Start over fresh with a new agency
Fresh and innovative thinking

Go for another round of copy development

with BBDO
Knowledge of industry category and the company

Go for another round of copy development

with BBD
Financially and emotionally draining
Leads to animosity from 2 loyal agencies

Recommendations
Short term
Go with the SPOKESMAN ad for the interim
Better brand recall and persuasion than STAR DRIER-END DRIER ad
Makes the best out of the limited media spent in the short term

Long term
Move from attribute oriented to benefit oriented ads
Achieve the balance between efficacy and aesthetics in the
brands
Remake start to finish to have more brand recall

Go for another round of copy development with BBD