Gillette Flunks the Giggle Test
June 2005 By Denny Hatch
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Razor Wars: Little Schick cries foul and the giant is nicked
Look over the saga of Gillette vs. Schick-Wilkinson Sword, and you do not find two rivals vying for share of shaver market.
This latest decision in favor of Schick is but one small victory in what is a truly nasty, all-out war between a corporate Goliath (Gillette with 90 percent market share) and David (Schick). The conflict is not only being waged in the media and on retailers' shelves for the whiskers of the American post-pubescent males, but also in courtrooms on both sides of the Atlantic.
To follow their endless litigious antics is to believe the only ones making money are the lawyers. Think again.
When Procter & Gamble bought Gillette last January for $57 billion, Gillette's CEO, James Kilts, came away with $185 million. This was chump change compared to Warren Buffett's one-day haul of $645 million.
Today's column is not about patent infringement suits and counter-suits or mergers and acquisitions.
This is about advertisers--and their agencies--making horses' asses of themselves.
The Holy Grail of Advertising: The USP
When a new product or service is introduced, the brand manager has to create a summary sheet describing its physical characteristics and the size and make-up of the universe of prospective buyers. In addition, a media plan must be created that outlines the most efficient way to reach the market (e.g., print ads, TV, direct mail, point-of-purchase promotions or, most likely, a combination).
It is then up to the advertising agency to come up with the USP--Unique Selling Proposition or main benefit--that sets this new product apart from the competition and makes it so desirable that the potential buyer simply must have it.
Examples of USPs:
Rolls-Royce: "At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock." —David Ogilvy, 1957
Volkswagen: "Think small."—Doyle Dane Bernbach, 1959
Clairol: "Does she … or doesn't she?"—Foote, Cone & Belding, 1957
Ivory Soap: "99 and 44/100% pure"—Proctor & Gamble, 1882
Gillette: "Look sharp, feel sharp"—BBDO, 1940s
Gillette M3 Power Razor: "Gentle micropulses stimulate hair up and away from the skin"—BBDO, 2005
Does the copy pass the "giggle test?"
The giggle test is a legal term. Is a claim legitimate, lawyers ask, or will it cause the judge to giggle?
Beards are tough. A close shave requires softening the face with plenty of soap, water and shaving cream and using a razor to push the skin down, causing the hairs to stick out, whereupon they are sliced off with one, two, three or four blades. The only men who would not understand the giggle test--that a battery-powered razor would raise facial hair--would be members of the castrati, who have little to giggle about in the first place.
Look over the saga of Gillette vs. Schick-Wilkinson Sword, and you do not find two rivals vying for share of shaver market.
This latest decision in favor of Schick is but one small victory in what is a truly nasty, all-out war between a corporate Goliath (Gillette with 90 percent market share) and David (Schick). The conflict is not only being waged in the media and on retailers' shelves for the whiskers of the American post-pubescent males, but also in courtrooms on both sides of the Atlantic.
To follow their endless litigious antics is to believe the only ones making money are the lawyers. Think again.
When Procter & Gamble bought Gillette last January for $57 billion, Gillette's CEO, James Kilts, came away with $185 million. This was chump change compared to Warren Buffett's one-day haul of $645 million.
Today's column is not about patent infringement suits and counter-suits or mergers and acquisitions.
This is about advertisers--and their agencies--making horses' asses of themselves.
The Holy Grail of Advertising: The USP
When a new product or service is introduced, the brand manager has to create a summary sheet describing its physical characteristics and the size and make-up of the universe of prospective buyers. In addition, a media plan must be created that outlines the most efficient way to reach the market (e.g., print ads, TV, direct mail, point-of-purchase promotions or, most likely, a combination).
It is then up to the advertising agency to come up with the USP--Unique Selling Proposition or main benefit--that sets this new product apart from the competition and makes it so desirable that the potential buyer simply must have it.
Examples of USPs:
Rolls-Royce: "At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock." —David Ogilvy, 1957
Volkswagen: "Think small."—Doyle Dane Bernbach, 1959
Clairol: "Does she … or doesn't she?"—Foote, Cone & Belding, 1957
Ivory Soap: "99 and 44/100% pure"—Proctor & Gamble, 1882
Gillette: "Look sharp, feel sharp"—BBDO, 1940s
Gillette M3 Power Razor: "Gentle micropulses stimulate hair up and away from the skin"—BBDO, 2005
Does the copy pass the "giggle test?"
The giggle test is a legal term. Is a claim legitimate, lawyers ask, or will it cause the judge to giggle?
Beards are tough. A close shave requires softening the face with plenty of soap, water and shaving cream and using a razor to push the skin down, causing the hairs to stick out, whereupon they are sliced off with one, two, three or four blades. The only men who would not understand the giggle test--that a battery-powered razor would raise facial hair--would be members of the castrati, who have little to giggle about in the first place.
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