The challenge facing Gillette was that despite the positive
perception of Gillette Mach3 as a product, Indian men found shaving
to be a chore. As Indian men placed very little importance on
shaving, they couldn't justify using the Gillette Mach3 - which is
around 10 times more expensive than traditional Indian razors.
Gillette sparked a national debate on shaving that would
infiltrate the conversations of millions. The campaign
platform of "India Votes....to shave or not" could have gone
horribly wrong. First, Gillette piqued the nation's interest
by commissioning a Nielsen survey on the country's attitude to
shaving. The research highlighted a series of controversial
points that were sure to get the nation talking. Were
clean-shaven men more successful? Did the nation prefer
clean-shaven celebreties? And the big one: did women prefer
clean-shaven men? The provocative results generated buzz
across the key news services. TV-news-anchors, and radio-DJs
keenly picked it up and started a debate on their own perspective
channels. Even the Times of India ran a daily poll online on
the subject. Gillette had sparked a national conversation
among celebrities, Bollywood-stars, noted business-icons and
socialites. An online poll and live polls conducted malls and
cineplexes kept the debate raging, and also offered men a chance to
trial the product. What was the critical insight that broke
the brand challenge? Quite simply, the survey proved
conclusively and publicly that women preferred clean-shaven
men. Sharing this observation with the men of India created
dramatic change in the brand's fortunes.
The campaign set all time sales records with a dramatic change in
the brand's fortunes. The campaign set all time sales records
with a dramatic sales increase of 38%. Awareness
doubled. Trials increased by 400% and Gillette's market
share increased by 35%. The campaign also won the People's Award at
the Festival of Media in Valencia 2009.