Answer the following questions:
1. - 3 separate answers. For the three options presented by thebrothers, what are the pros and cons of each?
2. Which would you choose from #1 above and why?
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Bringing an Innovative Razor to the Masses By MICKEY MEECEAPRIL28, 2010 L.P.I.
Consumer Productsmakes and distributes patentedShaveMateall-in-one razors that feature shaving cream dispensedfrom the handle. The company, which has been in business since1987, has been developing its line of razors since 1997. Titan 6,for men, and Diva 6, for women, which have six in-line blades, arethe newest products. The company employs four people and hadrevenue of about $2 million in 2009. THE CHALLENGETo crack the $2.6billion United States razor and blade market, which is dominated byGillette and Schick. THE BACKGROUNDLouis D. Tomassetti and Peter C.Tomassetti, known as “the inventor brothers” in Pompano Beach,Fla., created and sold a line of marine signaling devices under theSafety-Sport brand. More recently, they homed in on razors becausethey believed shaving was getting “complicated.” They concluded,Louis said, that “the common sense thing to do is to combine theshaving cream with the razor.” After years of research anddevelopment, engineering and patent work, the brothers took theirrazors to the military in 2002 because they had heard that soldiersin Iraq and Afghanistan were dry shaving. That first product wasrugged and featured two blades, with the shaving cream in thehandle. The military became a repeat customer. Still, theTomassettis found American retailers reluctant to take shelf spacefrom Gillette and Schick. Store managers encouraged the brothers toimprove their product — add more blades, they suggested. So theTomassettis did. With six blades, ShaveMate offers one more in-lineblade than its competitors, and it is the only all-in-one razor onthe market with shaving cream in the handle. Peter Tomassetti, leftand his brother Louis invented ShaveMate razors, which dispenseshaving cream from the handle. Credit John Van Beekum for The NewYork Times When Titan 6 and Diva 6 were in prototype, the brotherstook the razors to trade shows. While retailers were intrigued,they said that ShaveMate lacked brand awareness. It became clearthat the brothers needed to stimulate demand by building namerecognition and educating consumers on the benefits of theirrazors. THE OPTIONSThe brothers thought they had three options:They could go head-to-head with Gillette and Schick with a nationalprint, television and radio advertising campaign, supplemented bystore promotions and coupons. Because the cost could easily exceed$150 million, the brothers dismissed this idea out of hand. Theycould market ShaveMate on their own through shavemate.comandspecialty retailers like hotels, airport stores and cruise ships,using their tagline, “The future of shaving is here.” This was themost affordable option, costing an estimated $100,000 to producerazors for the initial stock, displays and promotions, but it wouldtake a while to build the brand and increase sales. Finally, theycould initiate a two-pronged marketing attack for about $1 million,looking for a big splash with a low-cost specific public relationseffort to put ShaveMate in front of print editors and TV producers.Then they could begin a national, as-seen-on-TV campaign on cablechannels to educate consumers via two-minute commercials on howtheir product could simplify shaving. The goal would be to have awell-known spokesman promote the razors.
