Gillette Guard

Gillette Guard is a breakthrough new shaving system designed to provide a safe, high-quality shave at an affordable price for more than one billion men in emerging markets who today shave with double-edge razors. As the first Gillette product designed specifically for men in these markets, Gillette Guard is one of the most significant product launches in Gillette history.

Bringing Purpose-Inspired Growth to Life Today, nearly one billion men are shaving using technology invented by King C. Gillette more than 100 years ago, double-edge razors, because there is no better affordable alternative – until now. Many of these men shave without running water while balancing a hand-held mirror, an intense, tedious and time-consuming process that can easily result in nicks and cuts.

Recognizing an opportunity to improve the lives of these consumers, we took a fresh approach to every 

element of our innovation process, from consumer understanding to design to manufacturing, to create 

a product uniquely for these men while carefully managing cost to meet their affordability criteria in a sustainable business model. The result is a breakthrough new product that enables Gillette to better serve wet shavers in emerging markets around the globe.

Unique Insights, Unique Approach 

Market immersion was critical to the development of Gillette Guard. A multi-functional innovation team 

spent thousands of hours with consumers in India and other emerging markets to experience the lives 

of these men, understand the role that grooming plays in their life, and better understand their specific 

shaving needs. We learned they valued safety, ease of-use and affordability above all else.

Thousands of men helped shape the product – participating in interviews, in-home visits, “shop alongs” and test shaves to fine tune the razor’s performance. These experiences generated rich insights that challenged many fundamental product assumptions built on decades of experience with men in developed markets.

From these insights, the team developed Gillette Guard from a clean sheet of paper, filtering every design and technology element through the eyes of the low-income consumer and what he valued most.This consumer inspired, laser-like focus drove inclusion of only the most important features that were meaningful for the consumer and allowed the product to be offered at an affordable price. This also enabled a dramatically simplified product design using 80% fewer parts than Gillette Vector which enables a streamlined and lower cost manufacturing process.

Gillette Guard will be available in India and will sell for a suggested retail price of approximately 15 Rupees (or 33 U.S. cents) per razor with refills costing approximately one Rupee (or 2 U.S. cents) per shave.

About Gillette Guard Technology:

Gillette Guard is a razor system especially designed for safety that men in emerging markets love. Consumer testing shows that men in India prefer Gillette Guard 6-to-1 versus double-edge razors, and the razor also has significant wins in key areas like value, safety and trust. 74% of men tell us Gillette Guard provides fewer nicks and cuts and 75% tell us they feel safer using Gillette Guard than double edge razors.

Double-edge users in emerging markets have unique needs and preferences that differ from consumers in 

other parts of the world. For example, these men:

• Primarily want an affordable and safe shaving experience

• Desire a razor that can help manage longer hair because they don’t shave every day

• Often lack running water, therefore place high importance on easy-rinsing technology

• Use unique gripping patterns when shaving that need to be addressed

With these insights in mind, Gillette Guard delivers:

A Focus on Safety

• A single-blade system lined with a safety comb designed to prevent nicks and cuts

• A flexible pivoting razor head helps better maneuver the curves of the face and neck and tackle the hair under the chin – difficult areas for double-edge razor users to shave safely

• An easy-to-maneuver handle with a lightweight, ribbed design offers excellent one-handed control 

to help prevent nicks and cuts

Added Convenience

• Easy-rinse cartridges to prevent clogging

• A hang hole at the end of the razor handle provides a convenient means of storage

• Easy-click docking makes it faster and easier to connect the blade to the razor versus the 

complexity of assembling a double-edge razor

Availability:

Gillette Guard will be available in India beginning in October 2010. The razor will sell for a suggested 

retail price of fifteen Rupees (or approximately 33 U.S. cents per razor) – with refill cartridges for 

approximately 5 Rupees (one Rupee per shave or approximately 2 U.S. cents per shave).

Summary:
Reference: http://www.pg.com/en_US/downloads/innovation/factsheet_final_Gillette_Guard.pdf

Gillette invited thousands of male to participate in their interviews which these men could be their customers  or may be not. Data collection during the interview was very useful to identify any issue or problem that can be solve through new innovation in their products. At the end, finished product break many fundamentals challenges and at same time was produced at affordable price.