Gillette Venus Razor For Women Review

In what is considered to be its biggest launch since the 2001 introduction of the original Venus razor, Gillette has introduced its new Venus Embrace shaving system for women.

The five-blade razor features a Protective ribbon of moisture for a more comfortable shave. The curve-hugging blades individually adjust to stay in contact with the skin for shaving such tricky areas as knees and ankles. The launch is being supported by a multi-faceted marketing campaign.

More than 40 million women use Venus products and, since its launch in 2001, the Venus family has become the No. 1 female shaving line in the brand, according to Gillette.

The new Venus Embrace shaving system hit shelves in February with a suggested retail price of $9.99 to $11.99.BOSTON -- Gillette Co. is launching two high-performance women's razors, broadening the portfolio of its top-selling Venus brand.

The new items are Venus Vibrancy; the first power wet shaving system for women, and Venus Disposable, a premium disposable razor. Both incorporate technological and design enhancements to better address the specific shaving requirements of women.

"The introduction of Venus Vibrancy and Venus Disposable reflects Gillette's commitment to product innovations that drive category growth," says Gillette president of blades and razors Peter Hoffman.

Using the advanced technology that Gillette pioneered with the introduction of the M3Power men's razor in May 2004, Venus Vibrancy delivers gentle pulses to the shaving cartridge to provide close, smooth shaves, according to Hoffman.

The product will be available in drug stores and other outlets in early spring 2005, at a suggested retail price of between $9.99 and $11.99.

The Venus Disposable, with its lightweight, easy-to-hold handle, combines "premium-performing" Venus system blade technology with the ease of a disposable razor, Hoffman points out.

It will be available in two formulas: Enhanced Moisture with aloe and vitamin E, and Sensitive Skin with botanicals. It will also be launched in early spring at a suggested retail price of $6.49 to $7.99 for a package of three razors.

Finally, Gillette announced is cutting the price of its most expensive men's razor, the vibrating M3Power, to align its cost with the Venus Vibrance.Gillette did a lot of shouting about the launch of Venus in March last year.

Primetime TV ad slots featuring the Panorama song 'Venus', ads in popular women's magazines, billboards, liveried buses, adversarial on women's web sites and extensive Pops promotions made up the bulk of its 15m [pounds sterling] support, which targeted the key summer season.

The company claimed wet shaving accounted for more than 68% of the women's shaving market.

Sales

Information Resources values women's razor systems at 14.5m [pounds sterling] for the year ending 27 January 2002, an increase of 128% year-on-year. Of this, it attributes 10.2m to Venus sets. Replacement blades for women's razors are valued at 19.6m [pounds sterling], a 35% year-on-year rise, of which Venus accounts for 8.6m

"We spent eight years developing the Venus system to produce the first razor to be designed by a woman for a woman. Venus' many unique features, such as its oval-shaped cartridge, ergonomically-designed handle and storage compact, have won it the Super drug Health and Beauty award for Best New Woman's Shaving Product as well as the Pure Beauty Award for Innovation.

"Maximum marketing exposure led to fantastic sales within weeks of its launch and sustained a performance which has exceeded even our expectations