wow, this has been coincidence! while I’ve been on my way back home from a visit to BRAUN design last friday I’ve heard about the mega deal between Procter&Gamble and Gillette. to be more precise: P&G buying Gillette for approx. euro 44 billion!!!
with a portfolio of more than 20 brands (21 from P&G plus 4 Gillette brands (Mach3, Duracell, Oral-B and Braun)) P&G makes revenues of approx. $1 billion with each brand. this puts enormous pressure on the performance of the Gillette brands and P&G already announced expected saving of approx. euro 16 billion resulting in the loss of 6.000 jobs worldwide (4% of the total workforce).
certainly business press and blogs are commenting intensively on the impact of this deal for both Gillette and P&G. for good articles look at:
- Business Week
- Reuters online
- Dave Taylor’s Blog
- Tom Peters Blog
however what does this have to do with BRAUN design in Kronberg/Taunus - Germany? well BRAUN is part of Gillette ever since 1967 and so is the BRAUN design department. up to the mid 90’s led by Dieter Rams, BRAUN design is now headed by Peter Schneider. while Rams has become famous for his influence on the visual product language Schneider’s challenging job is to guide BRAUN design through tough, globalised times. please read an interview I’ve conducted for the DMI Design Management Journal with him in 2001 on the challenges of globalisation for BRAUN design.
earlier acquisitions of Gillette like the Duracell deal (powerpoint file ~ 24KB) might be seen under the light of complementing each other (Braun developing gadgets which make intensive use of battery power) this deal is mainly about market domination. while P&G’s portfolio has more focused on womens products (Wella, Clairol, etc.), Gillette has a strong brand reputation in the domain of mens products (shavers, etc.). in conjunction with P&G’s increased negotiating power towards wholesalers this certainly has great impact on the marketing and communication of BRAUN’s products.
consequently, effects on BRAUN design with an even stronger (imposed) focus on mass consumer markets and products will be there; like it or not. these challenges will definitively require more than delivering good design which is appreciated by design aficinados. several years ago BRAUN already started facing this challenge. I’m pretty sure Schneider will manage.
