NEW YORK — Thanks to a little green giant called Fructis, Garnier is growing like gangbusters in the U.S.
At a fruit-filled press event held at L’Oréal’s corporate technical center this week, Maybelline New York-Garnier senior vice president of marketing Cheryl Vitali rattled off a barrage of statistics attesting to the brand’s U.S. growth.
According to ACNielsen, as provided to Garnier, in just four years, its ranking within the total U.S. hair care market has risen from 19th place to fourth. Per Garnier’s own research, awareness has also doubled in the past year. On the Fructis front, one in three consumers — both male and female — have tried the line, a coup considering the Garnier subbrand is just two years old. Every second, two bottles of Fructis are sold.
“It’s working,” said Vitali. “It’s rocking.”
Described by Vitali as “the single biggest launch in the worldwide history of worldwide L’Oréal,” Fructis fairly exploded onto the market in fall 2002. Buoyed by its eye candy Day-Glo packaging, tantalizing fruit scents and $100 million ad budget, it added much-needed firepower to the Garnier brand.
In short, Fructis has given Garnier a raison d’être. “Our goal — and it’s not small — is to have at least one Garnier product in every household bathroom in America within the next year or so,” said Vitali. “And we’re not far away from that right now.”
To hit that lofty target, Garnier is launching scores of technology- and trend-driven hair beautifiers this February. Falling under the Garnier, Nutrisse and Fructis umbrellas, the brand’s fleet of upcoming entries runs the gamut from hair color shade extensions and an of-the-moment “surf” paste to a three-item range geared to the specific needs of medium-to-long locks.
While Garnier executives would not discuss figures, industry sources forecast a first-year volume of between $75 million and $100 million retail for the new items.
Here’s what’s on deck: six new shades of Garnier 100% Color, including a bleaching kit and Ultra-Lift Browns, which enable users to lighten color four levels without brassiness, $7.29 each; Nutrisse Chocolate Brown, a collection of four rich brunette shades, $7.29 each; Nutrisse Nourishing Multi-Lights, highlighting kits developed to be gentle enough for even colored hair, $7.29 each; Fructis Style XXL Volume, a three-item lineup that taps into the “big hair” trend, $2.99 each; Fructis Surf Hair Matte Texture Cream, designed to give a beachy, tousled look sans grease, $2.99; Fructis Sleek & Shine Deep Conditioner, the latest addition to the red-hot Sleek & Shine line, $5.99, and Fructis Long & Strong, an “anti-breakage strengthening system” priced from $3.99 to $5.99.
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Mike Indursky, vice president of marketing for Garnier, seems especially hyped about Long & Strong, a three-item assortment comprising Fortifying Shampoo and Conditioner and Weightless Anti-Split Ends Treatment. Estimating that 67 percent of American females have medium-to-long hair, Indursky views this breakage-plagued consumer subset as a massive untapped market.
“This isn’t a niche,” said Indursky. “This is a genuine need of two-thirds of women. So for them, Fructis Long & Strong is big news. If your hair is stronger and healthier, it grows longer. We’re the first to market on this and I think it will be absolutely huge.”
Whether Long & Strong hits as big as Indursky predicts, there’s no question Garnier will continue to capitalize on the momentum created by Fructis. While she was unable to attend the press event, Maybelline New York-Garnier president Karen Fondu was still eager to weigh in on the importance of the Fructis franchise to the overall brand.
“We were convinced that Garnier Fructis would revolutionize the hair care category in the U.S.,” said Fondu in a statement.