5 Star Men Grooming - Essay Example

? 5 Star Men Grooming Introduction In this paper, the researcher will analyze the business portfolio of two luxury men’s grooming companies such as The Art of Shaving and Pour Homme. Although, these two companies are located in different socio-demographic verticals but significant amount of symmetry exists in product folio of these two companies. In such context, analyzing the business matrix of The Art of Shaving and Pour Homme will help the essay to suggest which one might be better to open in a 5 star hotel in Qatar. The Art of Shaving The Art of Shaving is well known retail chain offering high end men’s grooming services to customers ready to pay premium price to afford the luxury offering. Product portfolio of the company includes range of shaving products, travel kits and cosmetics items. The Art of Shaving was established by Myriam Zaoui and Eric Malka during the year of 1996 and in 2009, the company was acquired by Procter & Gamble (The Art of Shaving, 2013). The Art of Shaving has expanded its distribution operation to 66 locations nationwide and the company has the mission “to be a household name for generations to come” (The Art of Shaving, 2013a). In 2009, Art of Shaving was acquired by Procter & Gamble (promoter of Gillette brand). Five of the existing stores of the company were redesigned by Procter & Gamble and new style quotient like pictures, furniture was added in order to reflect The Art of Shaving’s upscale, men’s club brand image (The Art of Shaving, 2013a). Product portfolio of The Art of Shaving has seven verticals such as 1- Shaving Products- Pre-Shave item, Shaving Soap, Shaving Cream, Shaving Bowls and After-Shave; 2- Shaving Brushes- Silvertip, Fine and Shaving Stands; 3- Razors- Fusion Razors, Straight Razors, Electric Shavers, Mach 3 Razors, Blades, Safety Razors; 4- Shaving Sets- Fusion Chrome Collection, Power Shave Collection, Contemporary Shaving Sets, Compact Shaving Sets, Chelsea Collection; 5- Kits & Gifts- skin care kit, 3-piece manicure set, 7-piece manicure set; 6- Grooming & Skincare- Skin Care, Grooming Accessories, Hair Care, Fragrance and 7- Travel- Shaving Products, Lather Goods, Travel Kits (The Art of Shaving, 2013b). From the starting days, The Art of Shaving expanded retail shops in those locations where customers can easily find the shops and the company invested significant amount in developing the infrastructure within the store that can grab the attention of customers (Wohl, 2009). After the company has acquired by P&G, it has got the financial backup to finance its strategic and marketing activities such as expanding distribution channel, promoting product offerings etc. After the acquisition, P&G advised The Art of Shaving to offer more customer friendly products and increase privacy of customers visiting the retail store (The Art of Shaving, 2013a). For example, on the basis of advice of P&G, The Art of Shaving improved display containing razors, oils, lotions and started using richer & darker colours in order to attract customers (Wohl, 2009). At present, The Art of Shaving has more than 80% of retail outlets located in big cities or suburban shopping mall locations and the company has also opened outlet inside the upscale stores such as Nordstrom and Bloomingdale (Wohl, 2009). According to report published by Wohl (2009), The Art of Shaving opens on an average 20 to 40 stores in a year and has the plan to expand the brand out of USA within next 5 years. Even before the acquisition, The Art of Shaving worked with P&G for significant number of years and the luxury man grooming company simultaneously used Gillette blades as part of their portfolio (Wohl, 2009). The Art of Shaving uses premium pricing policy in order to reflect the elegance and luxury feelings associated with the brand in some cases, products offered by the company might be dearer by 40 to 50 times. For example, The Art of Shaving sells razor handles at a price range of $100-$500 while customers can buy the complete razor sets at less than $10 from Wal-Mart Stores Inc (Wohl, 2009). However, customer can replenish the high end razor purchased from The Art of Shaving by market available ordinary blades which increases threat of substitute for The Art of Shaving products. According to report of Wohl (2009), sales revenue for The Art of Shaving products is increasing at steady pace even during the recession and it is expected that the market will further grow in next couple of years. On the basis of above information, a brief SWOT analysis of The Art of Shaving can be conducted in the following manner. Table 1: SWOT Analysis of The Art of Shaving Strength Weakness Strong brand presence in USA Financial support from P&G Brand loyalty of customers. Target segment for the company is small and limited scope of revenue maximization Product portfolio diversified only in the saving segment which is also decreasing revenue earning potential for the company. Opportunity Threat Taking help of the strategic and financial capabilities of P&G, the company can expand business beyond USA and offer products to larger set of customers. Diversifying the product portfolio can help the company to earn more revenue from multiple segments. Customer can replenish the high end razor purchased from The Art of Shaving by market available ordinary blades which increases threat of substitute for The Art of Shaving products. Gillette brand of P&G might cannibalize the market share of The Art of Shaving (Source: Wohl, 2009) Pour Homme Pour Homme is located in Dubai, 9th floor of Sh. Zayed Road and the company specializes in offering different types of male grooming services (Pour Homme, 2013a). Service offering of the Pour Homme is entitled with HOMMAGE Signature services. Service offering of Pour Homme can be depicted in the following manner; Table 2: Service Offering of Pour Homme Ultimate Grooming Signature Shave Precision Shave Beard Sculpture & Maintenance Scalp Shave Waxing Services Packaged grooming complemented with Black Diamond Exfoliation. Total time duration for the package is 120 minutes. Complete facial clean up complemented with bioactive black slit treatment, facial massage etc. Total time duration for the package is 50 minutes. Straight razor shaves within 25 minutes by the hand of master barber. Bear is trimmed through hot towel treatment, straight edge razors etc and it’s a 20 minutes affair. Pressure point message and use of scalp-targeted formulas to increase the rate of cellular repair. Total time duration for the package is 30 minutes. The company uses 100% natural beeswax to develop future hair growth and provide strength to follicle. (Source: Pour Homme, 2013b) It is evident from the above mentioned product portfolio range that the company offers range of men grooming solution to customers and the depth of the product diversification is pretty high. Customers need to make reservation in order to enjoy the services or in case of emergency, customers can book their seat by giving phone call to reservation department of the company. If any customers want to cancel their appointment then they need to do it at least 4 hours in advance otherwise the customers will be charged in full (Pour Homme, 2013c). However, the service offering of the company might be seemed as non-customer friendly because the service offering lacks in flexibility and customization (Pour Homme, 2013c). It is evident from the product offering of the company that Pour Homme has invested significant amount in ensuring privacy of customers and offering international quality grooming services to customers. What makes Pour Homme special and distinctive from other brands? In actual sense, integration of HOMMAGE Signature services has increased the depth of the service mix for Pour Homme. For example, Pour Homme took help of the European industrial designer Wolfgang Joensson (who is the founder of HOMMAGE) in order to design Monaco Shave Set which provides fine quality shaving experience to men (Hommage, 2013). The Dubai based luxury men grooming service provider established partnership with exclusive spas across the globe in order to design transformative environments that can fit the requirements of modern men. On the other hand, the company also offers HOMMAGE Ateliers to customers that can help them to enjoy exquisite grooming experiences. However, the company uses premium pricing policy in order to cover cost of its operation and recover the cost of research and development (Hommage, 2013). For example, Pour Homme offers facial grooming packages in $250 and Black diamond exfoliation in $125 which are pretty high in context purchasing power parity of Arabian people (Hommage, 2013). On the basis of above information, a brief SWOT analysis of Pour Homme can be conducted in the following manner. Table 3: SWOT Analysis of Pour Homme Strength Weakness Strong Dubai specific brand presence Product specific support from HOMMAGE Signature services Diversified product offering Hommage has international brand presence while Pour Homme is still a local brand hence Pour Homme is heavily dependent on Hommage for making any kind of strategic initiatives. In context to economic condition of UAE, product pricing might not match the purchasing power capacity of general customers. Opportunity Threat Taking help of the international presence of Hommage can help the brand to expand its global business portfolio. Increasing flexibility of service offering and designing more customized service offering can help the brand to earn more revenue. If Hommage break the partnership in future then there are possibilities that Pour Homme might have to compete with Hommage in their own ground. Political and economic uncertainty in Arab world might dampen the growth potential of the company. (Source: Pour Homme, 2013b; Hommage, 2013) Conclusion and Recommendation: Opening Operation in a 5 Star Hotel in Qatar Before answering the question which one between Pour Homme and The Art of Shaving might be better to open in a 5 star hotel in Qatar, one has to understand the macro environment situation in the country. Figure 1: Macroeconomic measures for GCC Countries in 2011 (Source: Abuzayed, 2013, p. 124) It is also evident from the above diagram that purchasing power capacity is almost double or four fold of purchasing power capacity of people of other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Hammoudeh (2012) stated that foreign direct investment is limited to only 25% in Qatar while 49% is allowed in case of Dubai. Hence, at present political and trade environment, foreign players would face multitude of difficulties while expanding business in Qatar. Considering the resource based research work of Acedo, Barroso and Galan (2006), it can be said a firm can only achieve competitive advantage by utilizing their resources in context to macro environmental situation. In this essay, The Art of Shaving is foreign company that has more financial and non-financial resources (considering the support of Procter & Gamble) in comparison to Pour Homme which is more or less local name in context to GCC countries. However, it is evident from the above macro environmental indices that Qatar market lacks proper structure (only 42 listed companies) and price competitiveness (Abuzayed, 2013). Another thing is that at present situation, The Art of Shaving will only be allowed to invest 25% by Qatar government and they need to search for partner in order to start operation in 5 Star Hotel in Qatar. Hence, entering 5 Star Hotel in Qatar will not be a feasible option for The Art of Shaving. On the other hand, Pour Homme is GCC based men grooming retailer and they also have years of experience catering demand of GCC customers. Hence, it will be strategically less risky for Pour Homme to open in a 5 Star Hotel in Qatar. To conclude the arguments presented in the essay, it can be said that strategically Pour Homme is in better position to open in a 5 star hotel in Qatar. Reference List Abuzayed, B., 2013. Sport and emerging capital markets: Market reaction to the 2022 World Cup announcement. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, 6(2), pp. 122-141. Acedo, F. J., Barroso, C. and Galan, J. L., 2006. The resource-based theory: Dissemination and main trends. Strategic Management Journal, 27(7), pp. 621-36. Hammoudeh, S., 2012. Herding Behavior In GCC Stock Markets – Surprising Results. [online] Available at: [Accessed 22 October 2013]. Hommage., 2013. The story. [online] Available at: [Accessed 22 October 2013]. Pour Homme., 2013a. About. [online] Available at: [Accessed 22 October 2013]. Pour Homme., 2013b. Services. [online] Available at: [Accessed 22 October 2013]. Pour Homme., 2013c. Make a reservation. [online] Available at: [Accessed 22 October 2013]. The Art of Shaving., 2013a. Brand Story. [online] Available at: [Accessed 22 October 2013]. The Art of Shaving., 2013b. Product Type. [online] Available at: [Accessed 22 October 2013]. Wohl, J., 2009. Analysis - P&G in upscale retail game with The Art of Shaving. [online] Available at: [Accessed 22 October 2013]. Read More