Wilkinson sword intuition

Résumé du document

Every woman old enough to remove hair knows the Wilkinson Sword Intuition. It is a product which has been launched on the women shaver market because it is a market which is strongly expanding nowadays and represents potential profits for producers: it became as competitive as the masculine market. As its name tells us, the shaver has been created by the company Schick-Wilkinson, a subsidiary of Energizer, being more than 200 years old, proof of its efficiency and its expertise in swords since 1772. At the beginning, the company was specialized in weapons and bayonets, then in protocol swords for the Queen army. Along the history, the company adapted itself to follow the trends and needs of society. They began marketing men shavers and finally women shavers. Currently, the Wilkinson Intuition has a direct competitor, Venus, produced by the biggest company on the market Gillette (subsidiary of Procter & Gamble). Their constant battle in innovation offers each time a better product for consumers. But this point will be discussed later.

Extraits

[...] They are either disposable (one-piece) or systems. On the market of feminine shavers, there are three big companies competiting: Gillette, Schick-Wilkinson and Bic. Gillette and Wilkinson often sue each other in order to weaken their monopoly, to impede their advertising campaigns. The feminine market is as competitive as the masculine one even if it is 5 times less important. This market should remarkably grow in the next years. Gillette is the leader company with its product Venus. The Wilkinson equivalent is Intuition. [...]

[...] Opportunities The company obtained the Effie award in 2004: Wilkinson is becoming leader on the women shaver marketplace (with a growth in value of about 92.2 Intuition is now the number 1 reference on this marketplace. Wilkinson Sword Intuition represented in May of market shares. Intuition allowed the women shaver market to register a growth of 68% in volume (which means 195,000 additional sold shavers). In January (out- of-season period), the women shaver sales represented 90% of the May 2003 sales (high season). Threats Gillette has had a monopoly over the market for many years. [...]

[...] On the European market, the Wilkinson Sword Intuition is currently the latest product of the Wilkinson range. It has been greeted by consumers and received the Effie award in 2004, granting it recognition. However, a new shaver has been launched by the company in March 2005 on the American market. It should arrive soon on our market and be a terrible weapon for Wilkinson in order to destabilize Gillette. But let's take a closer look on the product at hand. [...]

[...] Everything is offered in the product. By doing this, they reached an upper-middle class target in which women are looking for particular features and an image given by the product (feminism, gentleness, softness, and so on). They also succeeded in deseasonalizing women shaving. Thus we can deduce that betting on innovation has been a key element in the success of Wilkinson and helped the brand to acquire new markets (new consumers), new market shares and new promising perspectives. However, Wilkinson will have to watch out for competition and have to practice competitive intelligence in order to thwart Gillette and be more innovative than competition. [...]

[...] Persaon Education France. 11th edition Websites Wilkinson Sword Wilkinson Sword [www.wilkinson.de] 10/11/2005 Gillette Gillette : Venus Divine [www.gillettevenus.com] 15/11/2005 Definition-marketing.com What you need when you need it [www.definition-marketing.com] 22/11/2005 BIC Bic world : l'univers de Bic et sa gamme de produits [www.bicworld.com] 30/10/2005 Effie France Effie France [www.effie.fr] 2/11/2005 Appendices Modalités de sondage : Sondage effectué auprès de 85 femmes devant l'hypermarché Géant Casino le 4 novembre 2005. Après avoir préalablement présenté physiquement et décrit les trois rasoirs Wilkinson Sword Intuition, nous leur avons posé la question suivante : - Quel est, selon vous, le prix minimum pour ces produits (sur une échelle de 8 à 10,5 euros) ? [...]