A Study on Gatsby Moving Rubber

A Study on Gatsby Moving Rubber (Hair Wax)

1. Product Category

Hairstyling products are used to mould the user’s hair into a particular hairstyle, retaining it over time and satisfying the consumer’s need to shape their appearance to their desired style, delivering the self-expressive core benefit of enhancing the user’s self-esteem through augmentation of his appearance.

As a hairstyling product, Gatsby’s “Moving Rubber”, a thick wax-based styling agent, faces generic competition from the consumer’s need for self-expression through hairstyling, to enhance their overall appearance through retaining their style over duration. Hair wax provides two key defining characteristics comparative to other hairstyling products – a stronger holding power and pliability, as well as the ability to rearrange or reshape one’s style conveniently and quickly.

The product category competition is “hair wax”, specifically because it addresses different consumer needs as a styling agent as compared to other hairstyling products. Hair wax provides the core product benefit of a strong hold while providing re-moldability to suit various occasions, fitting the busy lifestyle of consumers who value convenience, key product attributes which neither hair gel nor mousse are able to emulate (Black Lapel, 2013).

Hair wax, gel and mousse serve the purpose of hairstyling in general; however, each product serves a different consumer need based on the individual consumer’s lifestyle and user preferences. Mousse has a weak holding power and is more suited for textures or creating volume. Amongst the styling agents that offer strong holding power over time, gel provides a narrow stylistic range due to its nature of hardening up and creating a glossy finish. On the other hand, hair wax allows for a wider range of styles, does not flake out (Berley, 2011), and allows for restyling without having to be washed away.

1. Main Competitors

Gatsby’s “Moving Rubber” faces competition from other products offering the same core benefit, a strong hold as well as convenience through pliability in re-molding one’s hairstyle for a different occasion without the hassle of having to wash off the product. Clay, putty, paste, mud, fibre and pomade provide the same core benefit, though pomade provides a wet rather than a matte finish, and hence is not a strong substitute.

By assessing the degree of substitutability through our evaluation of the product distribution channels and target audience in addressing the same consumer need for a “strong hold, convenient and pliable styling agent”, we have narrowed down the main competition to be: Toni and Guy’s Texturizing Fibre/Pomade/Clay, L’Oreal Studio’s Styling Fibre/Wax/Putty, Amby London’s Hex Hair Wax, and Dominate’s Salon Series.

These brands sell similar products which serve the same functional need as Gatsby’s “Moving Rubber”, primarily focusing on channel distribution through drugstores, convenience stores, and other mass market retailers (Mandom Corp, 2014), to target a similar audience, males aged 15-29 years old (Arichi, 2004) who embrace having their own personal style and appreciate the ability to restyle their appearance with convenience.

1. Comparison across Competitors

Target segment

All 5 brands target Singaporean males, mainly the youth and young adults segment. This is because the unique selling point of hair wax is its ability to retain one’s hairstyle with a strong holding power, at the same time allowing for convenient and fuss-free restyling. This need is largely centred on youths due to their desire for affiliation, as appearance plays an affirmative role in acceptance and admiration among peers. Ease of restyling appeals to the young adults who juggle between work and leisure, and often desire sporting different hairstyles to suit different occasions, without the time and hassle of washing off the product.

Product positioning

Consumers of styling agents appreciate having a product that suits their individual style, and thus variety is one of the key factors that they value, aside from product performance.[pic 1][pic 2]

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Figure 1: Perceptual map of Gatsby and its competitors in the hair wax market. The number beside the brand indicates the style variety offered at distribution channels.

Brand associations 

Product concept 
Core benefit: Gatsby’s “Moving Rubber” provides style retention over duration.
Generic product: Holding power, pliability, ease of application.
Expected product: Style retention over a reasonable duration, convenient restyling for a different occasion, non-sticky and non-flaky.
Augmented product: Gatsby embodies youth, style, and trend. “Kakkoii” denotes “cool, smart, or sharp”, while self-expression though Gatsby’s “KAKKOii” philosophy, in “finding out about one’s unique style and being himself” (Mandom Corp, 2015), signifies its role in aiding its consumers to achieve that level of status and admiration. Dominate promotes individual identity and targets hipsters through its “stand alone and dominate” theme (Dominate, 2015). Both Gatsby and Dominate have a masculine gender identity, while L’Oreal possesses a feminine identity focusing on “beauty, self-confidence, and self-expression” (L'Oreal, 2015). Toni & Guy dominates the high-end market in the U.K. and focuses on “creativity, quality and consistency”, while Amby London brands itself as catering to the “young, dynamic and modern” man, with an emphasis on being easily washed off compared to other products (Amby London, 2015).
Potential product: There is potential in the “multi-advantage” hair products market through protection and care, adding UVA/UVB filters to reduce keratin and melanin attrition as a result of ultraviolet rays, as well as Lactic Acid LAK 1000 to repair damaged hair. This would allow the user to augment his external appearance while answering his haircare needs.