Building Brand Value: Gillette

The first safety razor with disposable blades was invented in 1901 by King C. Gillette. Since then to this date Gillette has been one of the leading in shaving technology and innovation. Gillette has been the preferred choice for many workforce and women around the world for over 100 years. In the Mid-1970s the then establish chief operating officer Colman M. Mockler succeeded Vincent C. Ziegler after being with the company since 1957. Mocklers strategic figure include the concentration of limited number of potential markets mainly with high school volume returns and repeat purchase consumer items.He to a fault invested in companies that were matched with already existing manufacturing or distribution capabilities. Gillettes advertising budget was increase whilst at the same time cost-cutting measures were done in all separate divisions. Basically he took a financial approach rather than a sales approach. The company was seeing success under the leadership of Mockler. mocker was expected to retire at the end of 1991 but died unexpectedly in January 1991. While Mockler served as CEO for the period 1975 to 1991 the company was the target for tierce mintover attempts. In 1998 the Mach 3 was introduced.The new safety razor arranging introduced a third blade into the twin-blade system that dominated the wet-shaving market be Gillette $35 billion to bring to the market. Gillette faced its worst economic exercise in 1998, sales had dropped by 15 percent and 4700 jobs were cut. rough of markets that contributed towards the red in income were Brazil, Germany and Russia, with the percentage price dropping by 11 percent. Gillette go on to underperform well into 1999 to 2000 and in October 2000. At that point the companys managing board fired the then CEO Michael Hawley and announced a world-wide restructuring of Gillette.In 2001 James M. Kilts was recruited by the Gillette Board both as the chairman and CEO to bring his turnaround talent to the company. K ilts, the former Nabisco CEO had a composition for fixing troubled companies. He was the first outsider recruited to lead Gillette. Some of the issues Kilts had at the top of his list to address upon his arrival at Gillette were 1) Duracell was no longer dominating the market as it had lost market share to other brands for example Energizer and Rayovac which offered similar performance at a lower cost. ) The company IT system was outdated and in some departments did not exist 3) Lacked communication throughout the organization both locally and internationally 4) Lack of discipline 5) Gillettes earnings were below expectations. 6) Lack of Innovation 7) entrepot prices fell to 60 percent between early 1999 and late 2001. fight Gillettes problems from within the organization Kilts demanded greater executive discipline, accountability and focus. Kilts also found that the company had lost its edge with a corporate nuance that was outdated and failed to reward innovation.He found that the company did not salve up with the marketplace innovations and promoted staff mainly from within which did not rear any new ideas. Kilts introduced to the company a new more businesslike meeting approach that promoted fact-based management, open communication, simplicity, collaboration, measurement, reports, and methods for working together. He wanted nice performance that included the ability to collaborate across business units. Kilts strategical Plan * Introduction of computer programs to aid with tracking of sales and inventory. decreased the number of stock-keeping units, instead greater concentration was placed on the top hat selling items. * Reduction in overheads.* change magnituded advertising and conscious spending on R&D in key business units. * Increase accountability from managers through one and one meetings to discuss quarterly and yearly reviews. * People were hired to lead and innovate, gradually changing people at the top. * Fostered teamwork and incre ased communication within the entire company globally. * The entire strategic plan was adapted or mapped precisely around the world. Kilts guiding principles included Straight talk about problems and expectations * Courage to admit responsibility * unbuttoned dialogue and widespread communications * Clear priorities and attention to detail * deed feedback At the end of the first quarter in 2004 Gillette reported 43 percent increase in profits which came mainly from the wet razors, Mach 3 and Venus systems. Under the watch of Kilts, the Gillettes stock had risen by 50 percent. Within four years time Kilts was able to take Gillette from a declining slope to an inclining slope and made it one of the best-performing consumer products companies in the world.Eventually, on October 1, 2005, Gillette and Procter & Gamble merged companies. Procter & Gamble bought 100% of Gillette for $57 billion. Gillette continues to execute as the world best-selling razor with a mission and visions dis putation as follows. Vision The Gillette co. is a globally focused consumer products marketers that seeks competitive avail in quality, value added personal use product. We are committed to variety shareholder value through sustained profitable growth. Mission To reconstruct total brand value by innovating to deliver consumer value and customer leadership faster, better and more completely than our competitors.