????今年，吉列（Gillette）首次推出了一則必將載入剃須刀刀片營銷史冊的電視廣告。在這則30秒鐘的廣告中，演員布蘭登?奎因向觀眾講述，吉列讓他環(huán)游世界，來見證一下ProGlide剃須刀頭可以使用多長時(shí)間。在穿越非洲熱帶草原、巴黎和亞洲雨林之后，他對觀眾說出了吉列一直諱莫如深的真相：吉列刀片可以持續(xù)使用五周。

????每次談到刀片使用壽命問題，吉列總是守口如瓶。如果是與剃須有關(guān)的其他任何問題，吉列都會給出詳盡的答復(fù)。比如，你知道嗎，男士每次剃須平均要刮150次？你是否知道男士面部有10,000 – 15,000個(gè)毛囊？你是否知道，只有10%的男士會定期更換剃須刀的刀片，而其他人只是憑感覺來決定是否替換？

????但一旦涉及刀片壽命的問題，吉列就會給出一大堆理由，辯稱根本無法估算刀片壽命。吉列發(fā)言人戴蒙?瓊斯表示，到目前為止，“這是吉列第一次如此明確地說明剃須刀刀片的使用壽命。”

????以前，吉列從未以刀片使用壽命作為廣告噱頭，因?yàn)闆]有這個(gè)必要。作為寶潔公司（Procter & Gamble）旗下的品牌，吉列能夠發(fā)展成為男士剃須用品行業(yè)的領(lǐng)頭羊，并不是因?yàn)樗牡镀梢杂谰檬褂茫且驗(yàn)橘|(zhì)量更好，就是這么簡單。而吉列產(chǎn)品之所以品質(zhì)更高，原因在于公司比競爭對手在這方面投入更多——為了開發(fā)鋒速3（Mach 3）剃須刀，公司毫不猶豫投入了10億美元。此外，吉列從不提及刀片使用壽命的另一個(gè)原因是，消費(fèi)者不知情對公司更有好處。畢竟，消費(fèi)者不知道刀片的使用壽命，他們更換刀片的頻率可能就更高。

????這也是吉列一慣的做法。1990年，一次性用品失寵，于是吉列推出了感應(yīng)（Sensor）雙刀片式剃須刀，1998年推出了鋒速3三刀片式剃須刀，2006年，又推出了鋒隱（Fusion）六刀片式剃須刀。此時(shí)，吉列在有利可圖的美國市場所占的份額已經(jīng)超過80%，而每年因替換刀片和剃須刀帶來的銷售額也接近10億美元。

????隨著刀片數(shù)量的增加，剃須刀頭替換裝的價(jià)格也在上漲。當(dāng)然，在經(jīng)濟(jì)繁榮時(shí)期，這點(diǎn)漲幅算不了什么，但現(xiàn)在經(jīng)濟(jì)持續(xù)衰退，吉列的市場份額也受到?jīng)_擊——從2010年至2012年第一季度，公司在美國剃須刀頭替換裝市場的份額減少了3個(gè)百分點(diǎn)。瓊斯承認(rèn)，新廣告是公司面對這一形勢做出的應(yīng)對之策。他表示：“我們希望借此改變消費(fèi)者對吉列品牌的價(jià)值感知。”換句話說：吉列得有更好的理由，說服男士們在剃須刀片上花更多的錢。

????吉列認(rèn)為，與舒適（Schick）等競爭對手相比，吉列的定價(jià)更具競爭力。但實(shí)際上，調(diào)查公司SymphonyIRI Group的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，目前美國市場上一包吉列刀片替換裝的平均價(jià)格為18.04美元，比勁量控股（舒適品牌隸屬該公司）同類產(chǎn)品的平均價(jià)格高出8美元，而行業(yè)平均價(jià)格只有15.32美元。

????This year Gillette debuted a 30-second television spot that will go down in the annals of razor blade marketing. Actor Brandon Quinn begins by telling the audience that Gillette sent him around the world to see how long he could shave with a single ProGlide cartridge. After gallivanting through what looks like the African Savanna, Paris, and some Asian rainforests, he tells viewers what Gillette never had: That the company's blades last up to five weeks.

????Gillette has always been famously tight-lipped when it came to blade life. Ask them anything else about shaving, and you got a thorough response. Did you know the average male takes 150 strokes per shave? Or that men's faces include 10,000-15,000 hair follicles? Or that 10% of male shavers replace their blades according to the calendar, while the rest of us go by feel?

????But broach the subject of blade life and you got a long list of reasons why it wasn't possible to estimate. Until now. "This is most specific we've been," says Gillette spokesman Damon Jones.

????Gillette never advertised blade lifebecause it never had to. The brand, owned by Procter & Gamble (PG), grew into the leading men's shaving line not because its blades lasted forever but because they were better, period. They were better because Gillette spent more than anyone else to make them that way -- it didn't hesitate to cough up $1 billion developing the Mach 3. And Gillette never mentioned blade life because it was better if the consumer didn't know. By not knowing exactly how long (or short) a blades' lifespan, the customer might replace it more often than necessary.

????And that's often what they did. After disposables lost their luster, Gillette introduced the two-bladed Sensor in 1990, then the three-bladed Mach3 in 1998, then the six-bladed Fusion line in 2006. By then its market share figures exceeded 80% in the lucrative U.S. market, and yearly sales of replacement blades and razors were approaching $1 billion.

????As blade counts rose, so did replacement cartridge prices. Which was fine when the economy was humming. But now as it limps along, Gillette's market share has taken a hit -- its hold of the U.S. replacement cartridges market slipped by 3 percentage points from 2010 through the first quarter of 2012. Jones says Gillette reacted with the new ad. "One of the things we wanted to do was to help reframe the value perception of our brand," he says. Translated from PR-speak: Gillette needed to give men another reason to pay more for its blades.

????Gillette contends its pricing is competitive with rivals like Schick. But the average price paid for a pack of Gillette's replacement blades today is $18.04, far higher than the $15.32 industry average and nearly $8 more than what Energizer Holdings' (which owns Schick) customers pay for a pack, according to SymphonyIRI Group.