Gillette Mach3 Disposable ad push

Being that I'm in the PR profession, I'm very sensitive to how and when I am being marketed to.

For a little over a month now, the Back Bay T stop in Boston has been flooded with Gillette Mach3 Disposable ads. There are ads on the walls on the other side of the train tracks (maybe 6x6 in size). There are ads "wallpapered" to the floor.

For days now, I've been starring at these aqua blue and black ads with short punchy lines on them, trying to convince me to buy their product. After a while, you forget they are there because they eventually start to soak into the wall, i.e. I can't see they are there anymore.

This morning, as I'm jamming along to the some classic Soundgarden, I noticed a street team in aqua blue t-shirts, handing out little cards.

Yep, you guessed it. They were coupon ads for the Mach3 disposable. Three bucks off.

This got me thinking about their marketing strategy for this product. It felt old school to me. A shotgun approach. I wasn't impressed and it still hasn't gotten me excited enough to buy Mach3 disposables. Now, if they were giving samples away, that would have had more of an impact.

Going back to my point...why do big brands tend to stay within their comfort zone? Why not branch out and do some very creative marketing to promote your new product? Where's the social media/web 2.0 component? Is there one? If so, I haven't seen it and I consider myself pretty well in tune with that world.

Is this a product they really don't want to put too much marketing dollars in to? Do they think the popularity of the Mach3 or the entire razor line will carry this product off the shelves?

Good questions, all of which I don't have answers to. So if there are any PR folks for the big G out there reading this, I'd be interested to learn what the strategy was to roll this product out. IMHO it seemed like a half-assed effort to promote what I'm sure is a great product. I am, after all, a Gillette man. I've never shaved with anything else nor will I. Brand loyalty is big with me.

What ticks me off the most about this entire thing is that Gillette has a great brand even with the fact that they were swallowed up by P&G. I've always enjoyed their marketing efforts, TV ads, etc. Everything is consistent. I think it's time for them to step out of the box a bit and be more creative. It's not 1998 anymore.