NEW YORK — Clairol executives acknowledge that accelerating the pace of innovation in the hair color category will ensure sales growth next year. That was the company’s aim in 2005 with the introduction of Nice ‘n Easy Root Touch Up, along with new conditioning technology on the Nice ‘n Easy and Herbal Essences hair color brands, additions they said helped propel category sales to its current 3 percent gain over last year.
For 2006, the division of Procter & Gamble plans to maintain its product launch pace by continuing to address consumers’ unmet hair color needs, which will be demonstrated with innovations designed to touch all four of its core brands: Nice ‘n Easy, Natural Instincts, Hydrience and Herbal Essences.
“The category over the past three months ending November is up 3 percent,” said Patrice Louvet, general manager of P&G Global Retail Haircolor. “At least it is not declining anymore like it was last year.”
Louvet added that Clairol’s new items are growing sales.
“We are driving growth with Root Touch Up by getting salon users into the category. The way we think about it is we really want to convert hair color from a chore to a frequent delight. That is our vision for this category and we want Clairol to lead that transformation.”
Retailers are open to any new launches in hair color, which they unanimously agree is what drives the category.
One regional drugstore buyer said he is looking forward to Clairol’s new lineup, which lands on shelves in March, specifically Natural Instincts Shine Happy, a colorless hair treatment to revive shine, and Hydrience’s base restage, which takes packaging to a more beauty image, and implements Pantene Pro-V technology within the three-step color system. The buyer added that Clairol discontinued Ultress and is supporting retailers with “markdown funds to help get it out of the store since [P&G] is not taking it back.”
Within the Nice ‘n Easy franchise — the third best-selling hair color brand with sales of $88.7 million, according to Information Resources Inc., excluding Wal-Mart — are several new items, not just for the company, but for the industry. Nice ‘n Easy has developed the first Color Boosting Glaze designed to deposit color in between color jobs. The glaze, which is available in seven shades, is meant to be used at the first sign of color fading or for an extra color and shine boost. It will be merchandised in the hair color aisle. It is different than other glazes on the market in that it is a one-time use product that deposits color immediatley, not over time. The five-minute, ammonia-free formula is meant for colored, as well as natural, hair. While the glaze will not cover gray and is not recommended on highlighted manes, formulas are designed to be gentle with aloe vera, jojoba oil and vitamin E. The glaze lasts up to six shampoos and will cost $7.99. Also within Nice ‘n Easy is Gray Solution, a collection of 10 shades targeting stubborn grays and those with more than 50 percent gray hair. A pretreatment in the box preps hair for color coverage, while ColorSeal Conditioning technology aims to lock in color. Gray Solution will retail for $8.99. Nice ‘n Easy Root Touch Up, which has garnered nearly $19 million in sales this year, excluding Wal-Mart, sports a new textured and curved brush, and four shades have been added to the range. Root Touch Up retails for $6.99. All Nice ‘n Easy products will receive new packaging to help consumers better find their shade and tone. And, a weekly Conditioning Gloss is included in boxes to help keep hair smooth, shiny and manageable.
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Natural Instincts, the firm’s semipermanent color brand that grew almost 9 percent this year, has undergone a base restage with new conditioning technology and 30 percent more damage protection. Natural Instincts sales in 2006 could continue to grow with the introduction of Shine Happy, a colorless hair treatment Clairol likens to a shampoo, to revive dull hair color. Shine Happy includes a weekly Color Conditioning Treatment and will retail for $7.99. “We think it will bring something fresh and new to the market,” said Louvet.
Hydrience, which realized nearly 9 percent sales decreases this year, according to IRI, is getting a total makeover.
“On Hydrience, we are reinventing the brand, frankly, with new packaging, new concept, new products and new marketing support,” Louvet said. And in another move, P&G is marrying existing technology with one of its sister brands: Hydrience’s three-step moisturizing color system utilizes Pantene Pro-V technology in its one-minute pretreatment, to prep hair for color. Following the color step, a Pantene Pro-V Moisturizing After Color Therapy treatment is applied to lock in color. A six-week supply of this treatment is included in boxes, which retails for $8.99.
Herbal Essences, Clairol’s youngest hair color brand, is targeting its twentysomething customer with cheeky mantras to express the experimentation factor in its newest products. For example, ColorFlirt Mousse is being marketed as “color you can date but don’t have to marry.” The mousse, which colors hair in just minutes, lasts up to 12 shampoos and does not contain ammonia or peroxide. Available in six shades, it will retail for $5.99. Three Herbal Essences Highlights kits hit shelves in June, complete with a dual-chambered comb to make crafting highlights easier, especially from root to tip. Each kit retails for $3.99.
Louvet is expecting to see growth “across the portfolio” because of these latest efforts, especially within Nice ‘n Easy, which he said is “growing at a very high pace, clearly more than double digits. We expect that to continue for next year because of the Color Boosting Glaze and Gray Solutions and because of the continued push on Root Touch Up, which is expanding into a wider choice of shades.”