Gillette Readies Massive Mach3 Launch

In what is being touted as the largest product launch in company history, Boston-based Gillette Co. will deliver the Mach3, a three-bladed razor, to the market by mid-July. According to Robin Parker, assistant display manager for Gillette, approximately 89,000 displays are being readied for the product launch including floorstands, counter units, pallet displays, power wings and trays. Parker says that no fewer than 11 P-O-P companies will be involved in the production of displays for the launch, although at press time, he declined to name them.Mach3 succeeds Gillette's Sensor line, which has helped the company garner 63 percent of the razor market. "This will be a very aggressive launch not only in the United States, but worldwide," Parker says. "Keep in mind that we're trying to roll out Mach3 five times faster than we did with Sensor. It's a monumental effort to try to trigger all those in-store retail drops for one particular week." When asked how many stores Mach3 will be delivered to, Parker said only "I don't think my calculator goes that high."Parker says that because of the large runs involved, the display design employs injection-molded components: "We're really happy with the quick assembly they give us. The displays easily click into place. With a project like this, you don't want to mess around at retail with assembly issues."Gillette says it spent more than $750 million dollars developing Mach3, and will spend another $300 million for advertising and promotion costs. "We are as enthusiastic about this product as we have ever been," Parker says. "We would not be bringing this to market if we didn't feel 100 percent sure that it was going to take the world by storm. So this is no time to be conservative."

Gillette Readies Massive Mach3 Launch

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