Product Marketing - the Wet Shave Market

As the marketing manager for Wilkinson Sword I have been asked to prepare a report to explain the reasons why Gillette invests heavily in new product development and promotion. I will look at Gillette's product and branding strategies and consider how these impact other elements of the marketing mix
Gillette have launched their new product, it's a partially new product called the Mach 3, it has had minor changes from their existing product the Sensor Excel, and they have invested heavily in the development and launch. Although this is really just a product improvement on their old razor through continuous development, Gillette has also incorporated room for product additions. This could be seen as repositioning their old product. Gillette give continuous innovation to their products, whether it's a new product line or a new product all together.
Why launch a new product? I hear you say, consumer needs haven't really changed, and nothing has created new consumer needs, Gillette must have accessed competitor activity and realised a decline in the market of there existing products. …