Effie Case Study: Gillette Fusion's 'Look Your Best. Play Your Best' Program at Walmart

A case study from the 2011 Effie awards competition, which for the first time featured a "Shopper Marketing" category recognizing the best efforts to increase retail sales by influencing behavior along the path to purchase.Title: Gillette Fusion “Look Your Best. Play Your Best” ProgramCategory: Shopper Marketing-Manufacturer (Gold)Client: Procter & GambleAgency: Saatchi & Saatchi XContributing Agency: EA SportsBusiness Challenge:The five-blade Gillette Fusion shaving system launched nationally in 2005 and enjoyed strong sales for several years. In 2008-09, however, the product’s growth slowed as the recession led price-sensitive shoppers to give stronger consideration to lower-priced competitors.Even more alarming was the fact that some of these shoppers were upgrading to the competition from the Gillette Mach3 system, which meant that the Gillette franchise was losing additional category share. And the loss was disproportionally worse at Walmart, whose core low-to-mid-income shoppers had been hit especially hard by the recession and therefore weren’t looking to upgrade from their current razors.Therefore, the core Walmart “shave shopper” group of 18- to 34-year-old males was in “refill mode” when visiting the shaving aisle, intent on restocking with cartridges for their existing razors and paying little attention to new items or other options on the shelf. The overall perception was that new technologies were more expensive and, therefore, weren’t essential.The Gillette team determined that the key to turning around sales at Walmart would be to disrupt shoppers out of their refill-grabbing shopping routine. Once that was accomplished, shoppers had to be engaged with a high-value offer that was compelling enough to inspire them to buy a Gillette Fusion razor.Before developing the program, Saatchi & Saatchi X conducted a rigorous study of the target male by reviewing existing Gillette research and secondary reports, conducting new qualitative research, and analyzing the data to mine relevant and actionable insights.The work helped identify a shopper who is interested about his appearance, but wants a simple shaving routine; who is satisfied with his existing shaving products, and perceives upgrades as expensive; and who follows the NFL more than any other sport and thoroughly enjoys playing video games. Although his spouse buys roughly 40% of his shaving supplies, she, too, is hesitant to deviate from his preferences -- but would consider buying a new system as a gift.Because the initiative would be exclusive to Walmart, Saatchi & Saatchi X also analyzed the retailer’s shopping environment and potential opportunities to excite the chain’s buyers. At the time, Walmart was operating under a strict “clean store” policy that severely limited off-shelf merchandising opportunities (by more than 30% compared with the prior year). In order to gain incremental display space, brands had to present Walmart-exclusive promotional programs that would offer a very strong benefit to both the retailer and its shoppers.The agency was also aware that Walmart had been providing strong support to the launch of video game platforms and best-selling games as a key element in its efforts to improve its perception as a destination for consumer electronics.The Concept:Gillette therefore leveraged its sponsorship of the National Football League and a relationship with video game manufacturer EA Sports to deliver a two-pronged purchase incentive for Walmart shoppers that consisted of:a licensed product line of 32 razor SKUs carrying graphics from NFL teams that would be merchandised according to the local market.an exclusive bonus offer coinciding with the launch of Madden NFL 10, the latest version of EA’s blockbuster game and a product whose annual launch had been receiving strong support from Walmart.The agency developed a program in conjunction with the NFL and EA Sports called “Get Your Game Face On” that invited shoppers to “Look Your Best. Play Your Best” by purchasing a Gillette Fusion razor carrying their favorite team’s logo on the handle, then using an in-pack code to download an exclusive mini-strategy guide for the game.The program was designed to disrupt shoppers at multiple points within the store but also connect with the target shopper prior to the trip. Most importantly, it motivated the target shopper to trade up to Gillette Fusion by giving him a unique offer that delivered both relevance and value.The launch was coordinated with Walmart’s own planned Madden NFL 10 launch in order to leverage the broader awareness that effort would deliver and extend the excitement about the “Get Your Game Face On” campaign beyond the health & beauty department.Execution:The key to the program was to create awareness and begin engagement before the target shoppers arrived at the store, then disrupt them at multiple touch points once they got to Walmart.Outside the store, print ads and radio spots were used to generate broad awareness and drive traffic to Walmart or Walmart.com. The media schedule targeted NFL- and Madden-engaged consumers during “NFL Game Day” programming in strategic NFL and Walmart markets and in male-focused magazines Sports Illustrated and Men’s Health.Online, the digital strategy focused on owning the search process on Google by purchasing relevant keywords and placing banner ads on target-relevant sites, including the Madden NFL home page. The ads drove traffic to an NFL brand page on Walmart.com; P&G also secured ad space within Walmart.com to direct visitors to the page.Meanwhile, the goal of the in-store execution was to engage shoppers in places where they wouldn’t normally expect to find razors. The messaging began with security shrouds at store entrances, continued in Action Alley with spots on the Walmart Smart Network upfront welcome screen and endcaps in the beauty department, and concluded in back-of-store electronics departments via pallet displays and spots running on the TV wall. Walmart’s “New Release Games” display case, which merchandised Madden NFL 10, was also adorned with headers and side panels communicating Gillette’s offer. Account-specific PDQ trays did likewise.Gillette Fusion also participated in the midnight launch events for Madden NFL 10 held at many Walmart stores by passing out 400,000 product samples.Results:Sales of Gillette Fusion jumped by more than 20% during the promotional period, increasing the brand’s share at Walmart and simultaneously increasing the retailer’s share of brand sales. Overall category sales also rose. In addition, Walmart’s share of the Madden NFL 10 launch increased compared with the previous year.A similar program involving the NFL-themed razors and an exclusive tie-in to the launch of Madden NFL 11 was conducted in August 2010. (See Related Articles.)For the official Effie case study and other materials related to this campaign, please visit www.effie.org/ideas_that_work. For information about the Effie competition, visit www.effie.org.

Effie Case Study: Gillette Fusion's 'Look Your Best. Play Your Best' Program at Walmart

P2PI MEMBERS

JOIN P2PI

Related Images

Business Topic

Company

Market Segment