THE KING'S BLOG

I've been monitoring eBay for a while, waiting for the first 'Azor = Cash' transaction to rear its head. And this appears to be it - 32 Azor cartridges with a RRP of £37.96 on eBay with a starting bid of £9.99 from 'kezzi15' - see it here This, coupled with Bill letting me know that he's seen an Azor or two at the local 'car boot' suggests we're gaining currency not only with legitimate shavers (who know a thing or two about getting a close shave without the ransom), but with other less savoury types who know a bit about nicking. Unless these were an "unwanted gift". As if.

Which? is the UK's leading, independent, unbiased and authoritative consumer magazine. As they put it, "No Advertising, No Bias, No Hidden Agenda'.

It reviews all manner of goods, from cameras to cars, phones to printers, and of course razors. And we just missed out on inclusion in a razor test in May (just prior to the Azor launch). But, true to form, they've checked out the King of Shaves Azor, and like what they see.

I don't need to say anything else, other than Which? agree with our opinion about the Azor, that it "shaves closer, longer, for less". Plus, it's coming to Tesco, Superdrug, Morrisons and Waitrose very very soon...

Thanks Which?!!!!!!!
ps - to see how to use the cartridge case to hold (and store) the Azor, see the pic of the Mauritus based World's Happiest Azor, above too (no unnecessary secondary packaging remember)

Hot on the heels of our top Which? report yesterday, this is the sight that greeted me today in my local large Sainsbury's at Beaconsfield. I guess one has to keep a sense of perspective (and humour) when looking at this, but i wonder what we're looking like nationwide...?

Maybe it's time to mobilise our army of 'Loyal Subjects' with their digital camera's and find out, just like we did with a major UK retailer some years back, and got thousands of pictures back...

Whoever's behind this, stop. It's silly, it's stupid, and it won't stop the King of Shaves Azor selling...

..you have been warned.

Whilst at Bray Lake, watching my son go kayaking with his favourite number 1 cousin today, delighted that whilst browsing The Times magazine, to see a great little write up on the Azor! With the rain holding off, a nice breeze, and a typical British Barbecue, what a pleasant day!

A delightful little blog post regarding the Azor here

It was fantastic to read an article in the FT today based on an interview I gave at Canary Wharf back in July - the link to read it online is here and there is also a video of part of the interview here!

I was also in Sainsbury today, and took the pic below - 3 KoS Azors, squillions of Gillette Fusions. I leave you to draw your own conclusions, especially as the first slice of market data has come through, and out of two retailers, we're already tracking about 5% market share of the UK handle market...not bad in just a couple of months, eh! In the next few weeks, we've got Tesco, Morrisons, Superdrug and Waitrose coming on-board, plus the independents, plus the launch of the new 'RARI'...

Oh, and the new King of Shaves Azor v5 Advanced Shaving Software too...

"Wilkinette - you ain't seen nothing yet..."

We were absolutely delighted today to present a cheque for £15,000 to Capital Radio's designated London charity, Help a London Child. Although I couldn't be at the ceremony, Tim Wright (Commercial Director) and Jenny Moore (Head of Brand Communications) joined Margherita Taylor, Lisa Snowden and Johnny Vaughan of Capital to hand over the cheque.

Princella, Chelsea, Stephen and Luke came along too, all aged between 7 to 8, and are some of the children the charity helps from the Catholic Children's Society. They had great fun, watching Johnny and Lisa broadcast the Breakfast show, and later having a bit of fun with Lisa 'Strictly' Snowden (good luck Lisa in Strictly, by the way!)

Many thanks to everyone who came along to our fantastic 'To Baldly Go' event at Canary Wharf, and to those who individually donated money, taking the total to approximately £35,000. King of Shaves Azor = Shaving Closer, Lasting Longer, Costing Less and raising Money.

Great stuff.

So, we're nearly three months into the first phase of launching our King of Shaves Azor. And today, whilst passing my Sales Director's desk, I saw a nice little statistic as part of a retailer presentation on his screen.

Although we are currently only in two retailers (Boots & Sainsbury) sales of our King of Shaves Azor handle means it's already 7th in value behind Gillette & Wilkinson Sword, and importantly, only £7,000 behind the brand in sixth spot, Wilkinson Sword's Quattro Manual.

Now, given A) we're not worth $60Bn and have crass amounts of cash to spend nor B) worth $2Bn and have slightly smaller amounts of cash or C) have not had to resort to half price handles for the past 3 months (like both our competitors) and finally D) are only in 2 out of 6 of the UK's major retailers (Tesco, Morrisons, Waitrose, Superdrug coming very, very soon), I don't think that's a bad result...in fact I think it's incredible!

Number 7 handle value share in just 30% distribution. Things, can only get better...

In my mind, it just goes to show, when you listen to the consumer and design a product, and price it fairly, and market it in a way the consumer understands (without having to resort to overpaid sports stars hitting your poor existing customer with all manner of objects forcing him to 'upgrade') then you know what, maybe we've got a major success on our hands.

Especially when (like me) you're also able also check the all important cartridge to handle ratio, and see it's tracking the same as "Wilkinette" too...

So, if you're looking for a close, comfortable shave, that costs less too, with the latest in shaving hardware from a British company making things in Britain, then check out our Azor. As apple might say: "Choose Different, Shave Better" (and save Cash).

Whilst in my local Sainsbury's the other week, I got chatting to a chap who worked within the store group, and asked him if he'd give our Azor a trial.

He emailed back this morning, with the following response:
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Subject: Azor Review - Mr E (Sainsburys)

Hi Will,

Since our meeting in Sainsburys Beaconsfield on Thursday 04/09/08 I have been using your King of shaves Azor razor. For the past 10 years I have been using Gillette razors until recently when I started using the Wilkinson Quattro Titanium. Both razors served a purpose!!

However since trialling the Azor for the past week and a half I can safely say that I have never had such a clean shave. I have also found that the Azor is also very forgiving when one is in a rush!! The design of the razor is simple, eye catching and very effective.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your generosity, and to inform you that you now have an additional customer.

The best form of marketing is by word of mouth, and rest assured I have informed all my male associates, who have also mentioned that your product is cheaper than a mach 3 or Quattro razor, which is another reason you have captured my custom.

I wish your product every success and congratulations on producing a fantastic product.

Kind Regards

Mr E
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It's a great pleasure to receive (unsolicited) emails of thanks like this, so many thanks Mr. E and be sure to look out for many more new KoS products coming to JS shortly!

I'm very pleased with this review! Our King of Shaves Azor is also on promotion at Boots with £1 off, so you can shave 'closer, longer, for (even) less!'

Following a posting on the world's leading DE (Double Edge) razor forum, Badger & Blade, we've supplied about 30 Azors to DE aficionados willing to test the Azor. These are genuinely independent tests, with people carrying them out in the USA and the UK.

The first one was posted today, see it here.

Please also note how you can store the Azor in the pic below, as a few people have commented that the Azor doesn't have a storage tray - cunningly, it does (the cartridge tray)!

First sighting of our King of Shaves Azor in Tesco today, excellent news! Tesco are also listing our new Azor v5 Advanced Shaving Gels too, look out for them!