Gillette has created a number of razors over the years. But did you know that the company's first version of the Vector razor, which was meant for Indian men in 2002, flopped in India? This razor had a plastic push bar that slid down to unclog it when it got stuck. The bar was added as a result of Indian men's having denser and thicker hair than American men. Furthermore, they frequently shave less frequently than American men, resulting in longer beards. Gillette, which is based in Boston, wanted to test the product with Indian customers before putting it on the market. To save time, they used focus groups made up of Indian students at MIT, USA. The team all came back and said, 'Wow, that's a big improvement,' Alberto Carvalho, vice president of global Gillette, recalls.
When Gillette launched the vector razor in the Indian market, people didn't react the same way. Executives didn't understand why the razor didn't sell until they went to India and observed a man shaving in a tiny hut using a cup of water while sitting barefoot on the floor.
He didn't have electricity, running water, or a mirror, whereas all of the students from MIT had access to running water. Without that, the razor kept getting stuck. Alberto Carvalho, vice president of global Gillette, said, "That was another big a-ha moment for me." "I'd never seen anyone shave like that before." Carvalho said, "That taught us the importance that you really need to go where your consumers are, not just to talk to them, but observe and spend time with them to gather the key insight.”
In 2008, before designing the next razor design, Carvalho decided to bring 20 Gillette executives, product designers and developers from the United States to India for three weeks. They spent countless hours with Indian users at their homes, in stores, and in small group discussions. They observed people's routines throughout the day, sometimes staying late into the evening. One thing they learned from filming Indians shaving was that users hold razors in many different ways, so the handle is textured to make it easy to hold. There is also a hole at the bottom of the handle so that it is easier to hang up and a small comb next to the blade because Indians tend to have thicker hair. The result is Gillette Guard, which is one of India's best-selling products. It only had one blade because Indian men valued safety above a close shave.
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Piyush is originally from Lucknow and could go on and on about "Lucknowi kebabs" and "Wes Anderson movies." He enjoys observing, conducting user interviews, and learning about people's behaviours and attitudes. He would spend his free time with his Oculus VR headset. Say hi to him.
