Brantford’s post on Dollar Shave Club makes me think about that, even in a saturated and mature industry such as the shaving industry, there is still space for creative marketing and business ideas that can bring a no name brand into the public eye, thus enabling the business to effectively obtain a market share of a gigantic industry.

Generally the razors market is dominated by a few big companies, whose brand names are very well-known, including Gillette, Braun, Panasonic and Merkur, whose products consist of either razor blades or electric shavers. The prices and the qualities of their products vary due to their differentiated segmentation strategy in an effort to target different consumer/product segments. However, the one segment all of these companies didn’t target is the bargain segment of this market, where products are sufficiently functional and are sold at a significant discount relative to similar products in the market.

This segment has of course been attempted by others before, but only Dollar Shave Club successfully captures this market and positions itself as a valuable brand, as a result of its creative marketing video and its understanding of the use of social media. Also, in a recessionary economy, although razors and shaving items are not luxury products, the psychological impact of lower income would push people to buy cheaper products with less brand recognition and potentially worse quality more willingly than before. This certainly gives Dollar Shave Club an extra edge.