Gillette to expand its Venus brand

Gillette is to create a female personal care “master brand” around its Venus shaving range with plans for a Venus skincare product range as well as the launch of a battery-powered Venus Power razor.

An industry source says the company hopes to create the same “master brand” around Venus for women as the Gillette brand has with men.

The Venus range is only available in the shaving market at the moment, although sources say the company sees the brand as being applicable across a range of product areas.

A source close to the company says Gillette will first gauge the success of its male battery-powered M3 Power vibrating razor, although he adds Gillette sees the Venus launch as an obvious next step. The M3 Power will launch in the UK in September, backed by an ad campaign featuring footballer David Beckham (MW January 15).

Gillette is already planning to extend its male brand into the skincare market, with the launch of the Gillette Complete range expected in the UK later this year (MW October 23, 2003).