Gillettes company HISTORY The History of Innovation at Gillette Born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin in 1855 , King Camp Gillette learned from an early age the importance of self - sufficiency, innovation , and invention. After his family’ s home was destroyed in the Chicago Fire of 1871 , Gillette left home at 16 years of age to become a traveling salesman . His experiences in his position led him to William Painter , the inventor of the disposable Crown Cork bottle cap, who assured him that a successful invention was one that was purchased over and over again by a satisfied customer. In 1895 , after several years of considering and rejecting possible inventions, Gillette suddenly had a brilliant idea while shaving one morning. It was an entirely new razor and blade that flashed in his mind —a razor with a safe , inexpensive , and disposable blade. According to reports , Gillette’ s idea wasn ’ t immediately successful , as technical experts said it would be impossible to produce steel that was hard, thin , and inexpensive enough for commercial development of the disposable razor blade. However , in 1901 , with the technical partnership of MIT graduate William Nickerson, Gillette produced the original Gillette safety razor and blade, establishing the foun - dation for the Gillette Safety Razor Company . Since 1901 , the Gillette Company has led the personal care and grooming industry through manufacturing efficiency and exceptional marketing. By offering ‘‘ consumers high- quality shaving products that would satisfy basic grooming needs at a fair price, ’’ Gillette effectively captured more than half of the entire razor and blades market across the globe. In fact , in the 1920 s Gillette said the following of his razor product : ‘‘ There is no other article for individual use so universally known or widely distributed . In my travels , I have found it in the most northern town in Norway and in the heart of the Sahara Desert .’’ Gillette’ s success in this market carried the company through economic droughts in the 1920s and 1930 s , as well as allowed it to weather the storm brought on by World War II . In 1948 , Gillette set its all -time performance record with profits per share of $ 6. 80. Encouraged by the successful development of his razor products, Gillette felt inclined to challenge his entrepreneurial spirit with the acquisition of two unrelated ventures : the Toni Company, maker of do -it - yourself home permanent -wave kits, and the Paper Mate Pen company, producer of retractable, refillable ballpoint pens . Although seemingly profitable at first, both acquisitions proved to be unsuc - cessful as sales and revenue waned due to declining demand and innovative com- petitors , such as Bic’ s low -priced disposable ( nonrefillable) pens from France . As a result , Gillette’ s unblemished track record for success became tarnished as net profits slumped to $1 .33 per share in 1964 . Despite this fact , Gillette reigned as a visionary monopoly in the personal shaving market until 1962, when English firm Wilkinson Sword introduced its stainless - steel blade. Distracted by its experimental ventures with the Toni Company and Paper Mate , Gillette neglected to foresee the impact this small company could have on its core business of razors and blades and began to lose a substantial portion of market share. Although Gillette retained 70 percent , the arrival of Wilkinson Sword’ s stain - less-steel blade initiated a transition in niche markets. For the first time , Gillette executives were unsure how to respond . Should they introduce their own stainless - steel blade or ignore the rival and hope that its market niche would remain small? Fortunately for Gillette , Wilkinson Sword lacked the resources necessary to exploit the niche markets it had penetrated and where it competed with Gillette . Advertisements Eventually, Wilkinson Sword sold much of its blade business to Gillette. Unfortunately, by this time Gillette had already begun to feel the impact of competition as its market share had dipped to an all - time low of 49 percent .
Posted on: Sat, 12 Jul 2014 06:41:44 +0000
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