Filed under: Products and services, Competitive strategy, Procter and Gamble (PG), Battle of the Brands
This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.
When it comes to multi-bladed disposable razors, how many blades is enough? In the long-standing rivalry between the two biggest brands of disposable razors, the current answer seems to be five. For now.
The Gillette company, which in 2005 became part of Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), invented the safety razor in 1895, as well as the first razor marketed to women in 1916. They started the current arms race in multi-bladed disposable razors by introducing a twin-blade razor in 1971, and then the triple-bladed Mach 3 in 1998. Schick responded with the four-blade Quattro in 2003, then in 2005, Gillette introduced the five-blade Fusion. Of course, each of these models includes a version for women, and versions with various bells and whistles.
St. Louis-based Energizer Holdings (NYSE: ENR), a U.S. manufacturer of batteries, bought the Schick brand of razors from Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) in 2003. Outside the North America and Australia, the same products are sold under the Wilkinson Sword brand. Either way, Schick remains a distant second to Gillette in global sales, though some analysts saw patent infringement lawsuits filed against Schick by Gillette as evidence that Gillette recognized a potential threat. Combined, these two brands account for nearly all razor sales in America.
Gillette’s rational for the Mach 3 that the extra blade reduces irritation and requires fewer strokes. So for the Quattro, it apparently was a case of four must be better than three, and likewise with the Fusion, though Gillette claims that more blades with narrower space between them creates a “shaving surface” that distributes the shaving force across the blades, making the shave more comfortable. What do you think? Is five blades superior than four, which is superior than three? What comes next?
Vote in our poll for Gillette or Schick as your preferred brand, and let us know in the comments why you love it.
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