Marketing techniques...

[Ophidian]

I'm sure that this has been addressed before, but:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122325275682206367.html


How can an 8-pack of cartridges last 6 months?


A Lord blade lasts me about 3 shaves. I can get 200 of them for about the same price as 8 Fusion blades. 600 shaves, if I shave everyday, almost 2 years worth. An 8 pack of cartridges would last me about a month...

 

[Myosin]

I'm sure that this has been addressed before, but:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122325275682206367.html


How can an 8-pack of cartridges last 6 months?


A Lord blade lasts me about 3 shaves. I can get 200 of them for about the same price as 8 Fusion blades. 600 shaves, if I shave everyday, almost 2 years worth. An 8 pack of cartridges would last me about a month...

You can shave with those cartridges for 6 months the same way you can shave with DE blades for 6 months....

painfully

 

[Ophidian]

You can shave with those cartridges for 6 months the same way you can shave with DE blades for 6 months....

painfully

I was thinking the same thing. Isn't it a Gillette commercial where they give guys one of their new contraptions, and they say that their old razor "tugs & pulls"? Maybe they too were getting 6 months out of their old cartridge system.

 

[Ophidian]

Or maybe the "tugging & pulling" was Gillette after their wallets.

 

[BladeDE40]

I'm sure that this has been addressed before, but:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122325275682206367.html


How can an 8-pack of cartridges last 6 months?


A Lord blade lasts me about 3 shaves. I can get 200 of them for about the same price as 8 Fusion blades. 600 shaves, if I shave everyday, almost 2 years worth. An 8 pack of cartridges would last me about a month...

Leave it on the self for five months and then use them to shave with for month six.

 

[Texas Don]

First thing that I would suggest to the public is to stop believing everything that you are told by someone wanting to sell you something. The best type of marketing perceives a need and offers up a product to address that need effectively at an attractive price. The worst type offers up a crappy product designed totally with profit in mind, and then attempts to use print, and broadcast media to create a market for that product at an outrageous price.
If the need were there, the product wouldn't require the extensive, expensive marketing campaigns to sell them. Far too many products of our educational system are taught to just "go along" and not question anything. That in a nutshell is how we wind up with 5 bladed razors costing $25.00 or more for a pack of blade thingeys. That's also how we wind up with the type of political leadership that we enjoy in this country from the local level all the way to the top.

 

[Ophidian]

First thing that I would suggest to the public is to stop believing everything that you are told by someone wanting to sell you something. The best type of marketing perceives a need and offers up a product to address that need effectively at an attractive price. The worst type offers up a crappy product designed totally with profit in mind, and then attempts to use print, and broadcast media to create a market for that product at an outrageous price.
If the need were there, the product wouldn't require the extensive, expensive marketing campaigns to sell them. Far too many products of our educational system are taught to just "go along" and not question anything. That in a nutshell is how we wind up with 5 bladed razors costing $25.00 or more for a pack of blade thingeys. That's also how we wind up with the type of political leadership that we enjoy in this country from the local level all the way to the top.

+100 I couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[Ceri]

One of marketing's greatest deceits is that consumers' time is valuable, when in fact much of the time saved, is spent viewing more marketing.

 

[luvmysuper]

First thing that I would suggest to the public is to stop believing everything that you are told by someone wanting to sell you something. The best type of marketing perceives a need and offers up a product to address that need effectively at an attractive price. The worst type offers up a crappy product designed totally with profit in mind, and then attempts to use print, and broadcast media to create a market for that product at an outrageous price.
If the need were there, the product wouldn't require the extensive, expensive marketing campaigns to sell them. Far too many products of our educational system are taught to just "go along" and not question anything. That in a nutshell is how we wind up with 5 bladed razors costing $25.00 or more for a pack of blade thingeys. That's also how we wind up with the type of political leadership that we enjoy in this country from the local level all the way to the top.

Very good point.

I'll add that we are not immune to the phenomenon here, in the terms of the latest and greatest way to get a shave (cold water, hot water, towels, no towels, pre-shave oil, jello pudding etc), the latest and greatest products (the Red Tip Rules, the Feather rules, Tabac rules etc), and even in things not shaving related such as all things "natural" must be wonderful and good for us and all things "chemical" are automatically horrible and bad for us.

We humans have a tendency to follow the pack mentality, and sometimes it's not a bad thing. But when it is done in lemminglike fashion, it benefits no one except those that have a product or an agenda to sell.

 

[michiganlover]

Far too many products of our educational system are taught to just "go along" and not question anything. That in a nutshell is how we wind up with 5 bladed razors costing $25.00 or more for a pack of blade thingeys. That's also how we wind up with the type of political leadership that we enjoy in this country from the local level all the way to the top.

It well worth noting, that our public educational system was originally designed to turn out obedient factory workers. Thus being on time is especially important, and so is taking scheduled breaks/lunches. The educational system teaches children to not question authority, as they know what is best for you.

This is great for turning out assembly line workers who will do exactly as they are told, not so great for turning out adults capable of thinking for themselves.

Honestly, the educational system is antiquated, and has not kept up well with the demands of a modern society, but there is little hope it will ever be fixed.

 

[Stubblefield]

Very good point.

I'll add that we are not immune to the phenomenon here, in the terms of the latest and greatest way to get a shave (cold water, hot water, towels, no towels, pre-shave oil, jello pudding etc)

But does the Jello pudding offer up a superior shave? If it does I'll buy it.

 

[proxymoron]

One of marketing's greatest deceits is that consumers' time is valuable, when in fact much of the time saved, is spent viewing more marketing.

I thought marketing's greatest trick was convincing the world that marketing doesn't exist.

 

[rtb178]

It well worth noting, that our public educational system was originally designed to turn out obedient factory workers. Thus being on time is especially important, and so is taking scheduled breaks/lunches. The educational system teaches children to not question authority, as they know what is best for you.

This is great for turning out assembly line workers who will do exactly as they are told, not so great for turning out adults capable of thinking for themselves.

Honestly, the educational system is antiquated, and has not kept up well with the demands of a modern society, but there is little hope it will ever be fixed.

Quite a leap from marketing to wholesale criticism of education.

It is interesting that Gillette's ads implicitly criticize their prior-generation products ("tugging and pulling"). Not surprising that other companies can't say this, as they're making the same type of razors as Gillette.

 

[DE Shaver]

Marketing is about presenting a product in the best possible light for the manufacturer or vendor. It's also about promoting sales and increasing revenues, not about providing factually neutral information. As discerning consumers, we need to be somewhat circumspect on what is presented to us and use sound judgment to cut through the ever increasing hyperbole.

By way of example, when you see toothpaste advertising, look at amount toothpaste that is used. Well more than necessary, as only a pea sized amount is required. How about canned shaving gel? I see adverts that show so much gel that there is enough to shave down a wooly mammoth. So, if you are expecting unbiased truth in advertising, you will be disappointed.

 

[michiganlover]

Quite a leap from marketing to wholesale criticism of education.

Work in the educational field for any length of time, and you will quickly conclude just how broken the system truly is. From lack of funding for even basics needs (such as routine building maintenance) to a system that can't readily adapt to change, and often times greatly resists any change (even when desperately needed).

 

[Slivovitz]

I actually enjoy analyzing advertising for claims that are misleading without being provably false. Do the arithmetic on the original claim. First, it's a little weasel worded if you look at the article, Gillette claims that an 8 pack can last "as long as" six months, so yes, obviously they aren't claiming that everyone, or even most people, will get that.

Could that limited claim be true? Well, they're making a claim based on time rather number of shaves. Take someone who shaves every other day. That would be 90 shaves in six months. For 8 cartridges to last for 90 shaves, he would have to get 11.25 shaves from each. That's conceivable, if he has a fairly light beard, and doesn't do a lot of extra passes.

Of course we all know you can do better. I'm shaving every day, mostly with injectors, and even my premium Personna 74 blades were cheaper than the Proglide. I tried the previous version of the Fusion, and it was tolerable, but I have no motivation to try this new one.

 

[Ceri]

Kudos to the English Shaving Company's marketing - they sent me an email earlier (on payday - aargh), and I've just parted company with £20 for a stand for my DE89L. It was almost pavlovian

 

[Bit2]

Very good point.

I'll add that we are not immune to the phenomenon here, in the terms of the latest and greatest way to get a shave (cold water, hot water, towels, no towels, pre-shave oil, jello pudding etc), the latest and greatest products (the Red Tip Rules, the Feather rules, Tabac rules etc), and even in things not shaving related such as all things "natural" must be wonderful and good for us and all things "chemical" are automatically horrible and bad for us.

We humans have a tendency to follow the pack mentality, and sometimes it's not a bad thing. But when it is done in lemminglike fashion, it benefits no one except those that have a product or an agenda to sell.

+1

But does the Jello pudding offer up a superior shave? If it does I'll buy it.

+1
Not DOES Jello pudding offer up a superior shave, but what flavor gives the superior shave!!

 

[Psicko]

+1



+1
Not DOES Jello pudding offer up a superior shave, but what flavor gives the superior shave!!

The jello chocolate pudding does the best for me.

 

[gull]

When I used Fusion cartridges, I shaved one every 3 days and I didn't change the blade for a month. It was painful, but at the time, I never thought it would get any better.