hair care products really need to stand out on the shelf

8/8/2019 Hair Care Products Really Need to Stand Out on the Shelf

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Hair care products really need to stand out on the shelf.

And some of them are literally turning themselves upside-down to do so.

Tottles are just one of the ways that hair care products are attempting to distinguish themselves through packaging. Odd shapes and sizes, unique closures and colors, and other brand-identity strategies abound on

the shelves of drugstores, mass marketers and salons.

Shelf presence is a need shared by many consumer products, of course. But hair care products have certainunique packaging requirements. As with fragrances and cosmetics, the packaging for hair care productsneeds to evoke beauty, style, femininity (or masculinity), and whatever other qualities the marketer wishesto associate with the product.

Sales venues are another important factor. Shampoo, conditioner, skin lotion and other hair care productsare sold in a variety of locations, from beauty salons to mass merchandisers to upscale department stores.Each venue brings different packaging priorities to the forefront. (Some salon products have a habit of appearing on retail shelves, much to the marketers' chagrin--see "Salon brands want to wash awaydiversion" on page 47.)

Different hair-care companies--and different divisions within the same companies--take differentapproaches to all these challenges. Some opt for a time-honored strategy among consumer products ingeneral: Make color do all the work.

For instance, the Thermasilk brand of Unilever's Helene Curtis division, which uses all high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles, features different shades of lavender for different lines, such as mediumviolet for Moisture Infusing shampoo and deep purple for Heat Activated. This approach has the virtue of simplicity. The drawback, some designers say, is that there are only so many shades of one color to work with.

A more prevalent strategy is to use the same bottle color throughout the line, but vary the color of a smallelement, such as an icon or lettering, on the label. For instance, L'Oreal's Vive brand features white

polypropylene (PP) bottles with orange type spelling out "Nutri-Moisture" and burgundy letters for "Color-Care." (The exception is "Smooth Intense" shampoo, which comes in a vibrant orange bottle.)

By the same token, Procter & Gamble's Pantene line uses white HDPE bottles for its shampoo andconditioner, with the formulation ("Smooth & Sleek" or "Classic Care," for example) in type of varyingcolor. Bill Winkler, P&G's associate director of hair care package development, says the pearlescent whitecolor of Pantene bottles and the "Pro V" logo were determined to be the mainstays from a brand-identitystandpoint; a recent redesign kept those elements while altering shapes and other aspects.

Worldwide choices

One of the priorities for the Pantene redesign was to standardize the packaging worldwide, Winkler says:"We wanted to design a package having one shape equity around the globe, replacing the several different

package shapes used for Pantene in the various [global] regions."

On the other hand, one of Unilever's recent major line extensions, Dove shampoo and conditioner, came outwith different bottles for the U.S. and Europe. The U.S. bottles are tall and slender, with color-codedcircular closures (light blue for shampoo, white for conditioner). The European packaging is squatter, with

broader closures that are all dark blue, and an upside-down bottle for the conditioner.



The Dove hair care line used a couple of elements to tie into the equity of the well-known soap brand, saysMatthew Okin, senior packaging design director for Unilever Home & Personal Care North America. "The

bottles include Dove's signature "smile'--a curvature on the top that conveys a positive feeling," Okin says.

Color was another important element. "Dove's new hair care line centers on the proposition of WeightlessMoisturizers--delivering superior moisturization with out weighing down the hair," Okin says. "The

packaging reflects this positioning with a soft, white container that is slightly transparent, and graphics thatconvey the purity of the Dove brand along with a light, weightless feel."

White is a popular color for hair care products. It conveys the feeling of purity, and it's easy to achieve inHDPE, which is naturally opaque.

In our rapidly changing and highly competitive markets, a successful new productlaunch is thought by many to be the key to business growth and profitability. Theproblem developing a successful new product is not a shortage of ideas, but ratherthe expense in producing and marketing new products without anyguarantee of success. Sadly this is a fact that is little known to individual inventorsand is a tremendous hurdle for a manufacturer.

Throughout my career, I have seen thousands of new products and talked tohundreds of inventors who could have saved themselves hundreds of thousands of dollars and increased the likelihood of success if they had a framework fordeveloping their idea and preparing it for market.

Our experience leads us to the following 6-step process for new productdevelopment and successful launch . Certainly, every plan is tailored to eachindividual client based on where you are in the process. Depending on "where youare today and where you want to go", the outline below will give you an idea of howwe would approach working with you toward new product launch:

1. Determine “Who is your target customer?” “Everybody” is not an acceptableanswer.

2. Determine, “How do I want to go to market?” Your options include: Produce the product yourself, Sell the idea or Licensethe product to someone else to produce and market. There are definitetradeoffs to each approach.

3. Explore the “ The Fuzzy Front End ” (outlined in the May 2004 issue of Taking Aim ). Regardless of what your answer is to question 2, this thoughtprocess will help you to find the right resources to achieve your goal.

4. Market Research Phase:

a. Research Market size and potential.b. Interview End users, Retailers, Wholesalers and Sales Representatives asnecessary for the specific product.

5. Analysis and Development of the Marketing Plan:a. Competitive Analysis – Review the 4 Ps currently offered by the existingplayers utilizing a product matrix to find a unique position from which tocreate a competitive advantage for the product.

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b. Review SWOT with client.c. Utilize SMART technique to develop the written, working plan.

6. Execute the Plan and launch the product:a. Develop collateral materialsb. Begin placement dialogue with the first step in the preferred channel.

c. Have enough dialogue with enough different entities to uncover anypreviously undiscovered real objections.d. Review and Revise Plan as necessary with the new information.e. Repeat until Sold.f. Explore relationship extensions with new partner.

The new product development and introduction plan is the first step in The ProductLife Cycle . It is created in phases, giving logical break points to force the decision toproceed or not based on what is known at each phase.

In a bid to take on multinationals in the branded shampoos sector, Dabur India is chalkingout a fresh growth strategy which includes expansion of manufacturing facilities, new

products and fresh investments in its existing brands Competitor, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd is currently test marketing its new shampoo brand ‘Godrej No 1’ in MadhyaPradesh. In a quiet move, Marico Ltd has just forayed into the branded shampoos sector with the launch of Parachute Advanced Starz targeted at kids.

After launching its new acquisition Unza’s soap brand ‘Enchanters’ in select cities acrossthe country, Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting is evaluating a possible foray into the

branded shampoos sector in India. With increasing competition, the Rs 4000 crore branded shampoos category will soon witness a lot of action.

On Dabur’s strategy, Sunil Duggal, chief executive officer of Dabur India said: “We are

setting up new manufacturing capacity for shampoos in Himachal Pradesh. Our research& development wing is working on new variants of Dabur Vatika.” The company isgearing up to launch its new products in October this year.

To pump up volumes in competitive markets, Dabur is also planning to increase its ad budget this year. “We will be investing in our existing brands and new launches to gain acompetitive edge, we plan to increase our ad spend by 15% this year,” he said.

After carrying out a comprehensive survey Wipro Consumer Care is now introducingUnza’s soap brand ‘Enchanters’ in select cities namely Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata andBangalore. “Internationally, we have a presence in the branded shampoos sector through

the acquisition of Unza brands. We are now looking at a possible foray into shampoosmarkets in India,” said Vineet Agrawal, president Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting.Incidentally, Unza’s portfolio includes shampoos under the brand name ‘Enchanters’.

Meanwhile, Marico Ltd has entered the branded shampoos segment with the launch of ‘Parachute Advance Starz’. “It’s a pilot project. The company is in fact test marketingthis brand in Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. In 2003, Marico was planning to forayinto this sector but it did not take off,” informed industry sources.

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On Godrej’s new initiative, HK Press, executive director & president of GodrejConsumer Products Ltd said, “We are currently test marketing our shampoo brand‘Godrej No 1’ in Madhya Pradesh. We are testing and evaluating a possible foray into theshampoos sector.” To woo consumers, shampoo majors in India are now sharpening...

hair care products really need to stand out on the shelf

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