Gillette Fails to Fuse Super Bowl Razor Pitch

"Gillette Fails to Fuse Super Bowl Razor Pitch" by Tom Nardacci

One memorable Super Bowl pitch was Gillette’s new Fusion ™ Power razor. While the ad sticks out, Gillette could have better spent their money with old-fashioned product sample marketing.

Gillette’s atomic ads and newly launched product web page fall very short on details. Having a wealth of information available right away is critical in early stages of product introduction. Consumers who you are counting on to virally market the product (via conversation and web) need to be provided the information to be experts. I sort of remember the Super Bowl ad and I looked at the website, but I still haven’t figured out why five blades are better then three or four.

I began using the Gillette Sensor when I was sent samples during my freshman year in college. I upgraded several years ago to the Mach 3 after a friend recommended it to me (he actually said "it changed his life"), and have felt no need to go beyond the three blades. Or, I simply haven’t been convinced that there is something better out there.

To be fair, the purported $5 million Super Bowl pitch is just a piece of the $100 million estimated that Gillette will spend on the launch campaign. Perhaps there are samples on their way?