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Would P&G sell TAOS?

Surely someone on the R/D team reads these threads occasionally. We should stop giving them ideas :001_huh:

Trust me, they're waaaaay ahead of us. But I'm sure they look in on these pages even more than you think. This board represents the .00001% of men who are willing to spend the most $$$$ of their discretionary income in the world.

It's like a self-selecting 24/7/365 focus group, all at no cost whatsoever to them.

If B&B didn't exist, P&G would have to create it.
 
The ultimate aikido move would be to develop a product that plays against their existing product line.

You're not a kid anymore. Why use a kid's razor? The New Gillette DoubleEDGE premium cartridge razor.

"I got sick of all the multi bladed contraptions. I wanted to go back to basics -- but with the ease of my Fusion. Now I have an old-school razor with new technology."

A premium twin-bladed cartridge, the way they used to make them. Turn it over -- it's like a whole new razor! The Gillette DoubleEDGE. With a knurled metal handle, built for a man's grip.

"I got tired of all the blue gels. What's in those things, anyway? I shop at Whole Foods. I eat kale. I'm willing to pay more for natural ingredients. But I didn't want to mess with all the messy animal-hair brushes and mugs. I need to get going quickly in the morning. So I got the Gillette DoubleEdge foams, in Fougere, Sandalwood, and Eucalyptus scents."
 
AOS was a strategic investment. It's not even about revenue (though I have no idea how well the division is doing) but about controlling the high end of the shaving market, and more importantly, developing the way forward for the entire Gillette division.
Your opinion is obviously an informed one, and even suggests a certain "inner access" :thumbup1: so please accept any and all of my comments as part of a friendly discussion and in no way a challenge or disrespect of any kind!

My perspective (we all have our filters) comes as an operations manager tasked over 30+ years with implementing marketing plans. Some work, some don't, but the justification is almost always the same - only the brand names are changed. :blink: After all, why pursue a new initiative if it isn't going to "fundamentally change the way we do business and ensure our Company's future"? And I'm not saying that's a bad thing, it absolutely is the best way to get folks fired up and behind the new initiative.

And I also can't say it too many times or in too many ways - as a P&G alum, I absolutely love, respect and admire them as a truly world class company with ethics and integrity beyond reproach, and I wish them nothing but success with TAoS and everything else they do.

See my post here with my belief that P&G is largely responsible for the resurgence of DE/wet shaving!
 

tankerjohn

A little poofier than I prefer
My guess is they'll create a line of products that simply co-opts what the DE shaving world is already doing.

A line of shaving creams with "natural" ingredients and scents, instead of the weird blue gels.

A line of "premium" razors with "premium" cartridges to match.

The razor will have more sophisticated, perhaps retro styling, in contrast to the video game joystick-style handles they've been peddling for a while now. More metal, less plastic. Think of the cartridge razor handles AoS already sells. Better packaging, etc.

But importantly, it won't cost what an AoS razor costs. As has always been their strategy, the razor will seem like a bargain for "quality" -- a high-end looking cartridge razor for $20 or so. Where you will pay more, as usual, is for the cartridges.

It also won't sell through AoS, but through their typical retail channels. Though it may have the AoS branding on it.
This! This is exactly what the big beer companies did when the microbreweries started to seriously eat into their market share. "Big Beer" also started stealthily buying up venerable European brands like Bass, which is now owned by Anheiser-Busch. Hmmm. Might Mitchell's Wool Fat or Cella be coming to an AoS or department store near you courtesy of Messieurs Procter and Gamble?
 

tankerjohn

A little poofier than I prefer
Trust me, they're waaaaay ahead of us. But I'm sure they look in on these pages even more than you think. This board represents the .00001% of men who are willing to spend the most $$$$ of their discretionary income in the world.

It's like a self-selecting 24/7/365 focus group, all at no cost whatsoever to them.

If B&B didn't exist, P&G would have to create it.

Bingo! We are the mavens of the shaving market. B&B is a "maven trap" if there ever was one.

I love this "Inside Baseball" - keep it comin'!
 
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TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
I tend to agree that they will hold onto it to have some presence in the high-end shaving market. Whether they can control it is another question, i.e., whether they want to start consolidating in the aforementioned same way things have been going in craft beer. P&G knew, when they were getting into it, that they were buying a retail business. However, they were also buying a trademark and a market share foothold--it was a hell of a lot easier than creating a new one.

It will be interesting to see where it goes. In the end, though, P&G is either going to sell it off or find a way to make it high-volume.
 
So P&G today announced the sale of its beauty brands and no mention of Art of Shaving which looks like will remain within the Gillette division.

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As I noted on the similar thread (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...ng-(TAOS)-on-thin-ice/page2?highlight=equity), Wall Street analysts view TAoS as a divestiture candidate, and I agree.

I believe a private equity shop would be the most likely buyer. It's my belief that -- like many retail chains -- TAoS is "overstored", at least in some places. There are eight in Manhattan alone!

Once the chain is "right-sized" (forgive the business jargon), then decisions could be made about markets that might need new stores, what the product line should be, service, etc.
 
I'm sure there must be some reason I have to actually work for a living rather than making millions as a CEO, but man I find it hard to imagine that AOS makes any money. The rent on those locations must be ungodly, and only about 1/10th of 1% of people are both wealthy and stupid enough to pay $30 for a piece of shaving soap.

So, it seems to me that the whole thing must be part of some larger marketing scheme.
 
I am surprised. I fully expected P&G to sell but to cosmetic store chain, Sephora, owned by Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy LVMH. After all, that's who currently sells the AOS shaving software in Canada since we don't have AOS stores in our retailing market.
 
Since AOS is a subset of Gillette, it makes sense P&G would keep it. They certainly wouldn't unload Gillette - at least not yet. If Gillette keeps losing market share, that could change.
 
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