Gillette to unsheath razor promotions<BR>
Gillette has committed approximately $1 million to a product promotion campaign, which is designed to move shavers in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to the company's high-end product - the Sensor Shaving System, by offering a free razor and blades to anyone who turns in his old razor and answers a marketing questionnaire.
In April, the campaign will get underway in 30 locations throughout Poland.
A test run in Prague on March 10-11 exceeded company targets. Shavers there turned in 8,000 razors at six locations in the Czech capital. Campaigns are also planned for the rest of the Czech Republic and Hungary.
Donald Campbell, Gillette's marketing and sales director for Eastern Europe, said he believes the promotion was a new one for the region.
"We wanted to find out what kind of a response we would get, because we thought there might be some degree of shyness," he said. "It was successful. We asked people to bring in their razors. They responded in an orderly fashion. They were happy to turn in their old product."
Piotr Czarnowski, president of First Public Relations, said he is not aware of any similar promotion in the Polish market, but he was not surprised by the success of the test run. He recalled a promotion at a Poznan trade fair nearly 20 years ago, when an Italian manufacturer gave away one sock. "There was an enormous queue - just to get one sock," he said.
Roughly 1,300 people an hour turned in razors during the Prague test. "That's a steady flow of people," Campbell said. But what Gillette wants to determine, he added, is the rate at which these customers will stay with their new razors.
"Shaving is an ideal sort of daily ritual. We believe in letting people test the product and judge for themselves. We think they may have spoiled themselves once they try it," he said.
To gauge this "retention rate," workers at the redemption centers will collect personal data on those who turn in old razors. Follow-up interviews will be conducted with a representative sample. For example, the company now has a database of some 8,000 names in Prague.
Campbell said a similar program in his native South Africa, where the marketing concept was developed, showed that 50-60% of the users remained loyal to their Sensor razors. He said they had anticipated retention rates of around 25%.
The Gillette brand currently has a 10% share of the shaving market in Poland - where 11.5 million shavers buy 170 million units a year. Gillette also owns Polsilver, the Lodz-based company that holds most of the remaining 90% of the market, according to Campbell. Polsilver's double-edged blades are exported throughout Central and Eastern Europe, but the plant does not manufacture the Sensor product line, which is produced in Berlin. Polsilver's principal competitors are Bic and Wilkinson, neither of which has a product which directly competes with the premium-priced Sensor.
Gillette's share of the Hungarian market of 3.5 million shavers is already 30%, according to Campbell.
McCann-Erickson in Prague is handling the advertising for the product swap promotion.
In April, the campaign will get underway in 30 locations throughout Poland.
A test run in Prague on March 10-11 exceeded company targets. Shavers there turned in 8,000 razors at six locations in the Czech capital. Campaigns are also planned for the rest of the Czech Republic and Hungary.
Donald Campbell, Gillette's marketing and sales director for Eastern Europe, said he believes the promotion was a new one for the region.
"We wanted to find out what kind of a response we would get, because we thought there might be some degree of shyness," he said. "It was successful. We asked people to bring in their razors. They responded in an orderly fashion. They were happy to turn in their old product."
Piotr Czarnowski, president of First Public Relations, said he is not aware of any similar promotion in the Polish market, but he was not surprised by the success of the test run. He recalled a promotion at a Poznan trade fair nearly 20 years ago, when an Italian manufacturer gave away one sock. "There was an enormous queue - just to get one sock," he said.
Roughly 1,300 people an hour turned in razors during the Prague test. "That's a steady flow of people," Campbell said. But what Gillette wants to determine, he added, is the rate at which these customers will stay with their new razors.
"Shaving is an ideal sort of daily ritual. We believe in letting people test the product and judge for themselves. We think they may have spoiled themselves once they try it," he said.
To gauge this "retention rate," workers at the redemption centers will collect personal data on those who turn in old razors. Follow-up interviews will be conducted with a representative sample. For example, the company now has a database of some 8,000 names in Prague.
Campbell said a similar program in his native South Africa, where the marketing concept was developed, showed that 50-60% of the users remained loyal to their Sensor razors. He said they had anticipated retention rates of around 25%.
The Gillette brand currently has a 10% share of the shaving market in Poland - where 11.5 million shavers buy 170 million units a year. Gillette also owns Polsilver, the Lodz-based company that holds most of the remaining 90% of the market, according to Campbell. Polsilver's double-edged blades are exported throughout Central and Eastern Europe, but the plant does not manufacture the Sensor product line, which is produced in Berlin. Polsilver's principal competitors are Bic and Wilkinson, neither of which has a product which directly competes with the premium-priced Sensor.
Gillette's share of the Hungarian market of 3.5 million shavers is already 30%, according to Campbell.
McCann-Erickson in Prague is handling the advertising for the product swap promotion.
