Apple was recently announced as the most valuable brand and that is not only because they make money and no matter what the critiques say they will continue to do so, as long as they they continue to get the customer service, design and attention to detail right; it also brings me to the main topic here, Braun.
Braun is a German company founded in 1921 in Frankfurt by Max Braun, and after his passing, it was then taken on by his two sons.  It has since been passed on to P&G one of the world’s leading business firm that owns various health care products in their portfolio.  I was recently invited to Braun’s R+D centre to get a close look at some of the process involved in making sure every man and woman has a great shaving experience.
While I was there I conducted a quick survey via Twitter just to see what people knew about Braun, and just like me majority of my audience said they immediately thought of men/women’s shavers. Around 2% mentioned technology and that could be a good or bad thing but for me it was a good thing after seeing the work that goes into the products Braun make. Â When a product is highly suited for the purpose it was intended for, users tend to over look the Technology behind it and just see it for what it is, and that is as a result of near flawless design and attention to detail.
Braun CoolTec Blade Manufacturing and Quality Check
It is why  I liken Braun with Apple because majority of Apple users, be it an iMac, MacBook Pro, iPhone or iPod, they simply use it and never think of the raw process involved because they are near flawless.  When a product goes wrong that is when you begin to see its flaws.  Braun showed myself and other guests the CoolTec technology which for many would simply be a new product on the market till they are educated and Braun has done a great job from start to finish to make sure the message is clearly communicated to its users.
For those who doesn’t know what CoolTec is, in simple terms, it is a cooling system, almost like a fridge embedded between the blades of the new CoolTec shavers so that it applies cold temperatures to the face so that during a shave no matter how often you shave stops common shaving symptoms or side effects such as red surface, itching, burning sensations, bumps etc. Â Those issues are mainly caused by the reactions from the blood vessels when they are irritated, they become inflamed and just like a footballing or sports injury the only way to keep them down is by applying ice packs.
Braun CoolTec Cooling Plate
Braun as managed to implement the same technology in their new shaver in order to keep your faces cool during shave and keep irritation symptoms at bay. Â The innovative move by Braun took 6 years and numerous engineers ranging from product designers to Dermatologists and even the marketing department who makes sure the message is clear. Â Braun also uses clever technology to make sure everything is quality checked. Â Even the buzzing sound from the shavers are quality checked to make sure they sound right, that is performed by experienced sound engineers and high tech equipments.
Quality check is a very vital part of Braun’s engineering, they check to make sure every blade that goes in their shavers are 100%, not 99.9, if any defects are found they are taken out to be recycled. Â The design process goes through numerous phases each of which carries the same vision from the top to the bottom of chain; each member of staff are passionate about their module to make sure the end product is “Braun”. Â When a Braun product sits next to other brand in Boots or your local health store, it stands out from the rest for the right reasons.
Braun’s HEad of Product Design explaining the design process
CoolTec is innovation at its finest as it offers solutions to its users and potential users thanks to the thorough consumers-centric research that took place to make sure it suits or address issues the majority are facing today when shaving. Â It goes beyond technology, it is a combination of science and technology, design and a great deal of attention to detail. Â You can find out more about CoolTec here.
Stay tuned for a review of the CoolTech shaver also.
