NEW YORK — Shoppers scrambled to find it, retailers couldn’t get enough of it and prestige beauty marketers rushed to launch similar innovations. Since its entry into the mass market last spring, Jergens Natural Glow has captivated consumers with a simple promise: “A healthy, summer glow all year long just by moisturizing.”
This spring, Kao-owned Jergens will ratchet up that promise with the introduction of Jergens Natural Glow Face Daily Moisturizer. And given that women tend to spend more time and money on their facial care regimen, according to Jergens’ consumer research, the spoils of the new entry could outweigh the current success of the body product.
Industry sources estimate that Natural Glow has generated $50 million in retail sales since it was launched in March, and that the addition of Natural Glow Face could push the franchise to between $75 million and $100 million in retail sales next year.
While the company would not comment on sales, Brian Rudie, Jergens’ senior brand manager, said sales indicated the product brought department and specialty store shoppers to the mass channel.
“We know that one-third of Natural Glow’s sales were incremental to the category,” said Rudie, explaining the finding was based on volume analysis.
“There’s something magical about Jergens Natural Glow,” he mused. “We’ve had a very exciting year and we’ve learned a lot about the ‘glow’ category.” Rudie uses the word “glow” to distinguish Jergens’ color-building moisturizers from self-tanners, which sometimes get a bad wrap for being sticky and smelly.
“Consumers don’t want a tan,” said Rudie. “The just want to look a shade or two darker.”
Jergens is working to convince retailers to add “glow” to their vernacular as well, and to merchandise products accordingly.
All three shades of Natural Glow Face — Fair, Medium and Medium/Tan — will be placed alongside Natural Glow body moisturizers in the hand and body lotions aisle. They will retail for $6.99 each.
The brand will also add a third shade, Medium/Tan, to its Natural Glow body lotion lineup to suit a wider range of skin tones. “We’ve learned the importance of shade customization from John Frieda,” said Rudie, referring to the fellow Kao brand’s offering of shampoos and conditioners tailored to specific hair colors.
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To create the formula for Natural Glow Face, Jergens looked to Kao’s prestige skin care brand Sofina. Marketed in Asia, Sofina is several times the size of the Jergens brand in terms of sales volume, noted Rudie. The focus of Natural Glow Face’s oil-free formula is moisturization and color change. It is designed to hydrate and build subtle color without clogging pores. Like its body predecessor, Natural Glow Face contains DHA, the ingredient universally found in sunless tanners, and erythrulose, a color agent commonly found in prestige products that’s designed to build color gradually.
“We realize the face is prime real estate,” said Rudie. “So we have emphasized erythrulose for more even color-building.” He explained that the face darkens differently than the body, mainly due to its varying levels of thickness.
Aside from the intended benefits of moisturizing and color, several consumer testers found the new facial formulation allowed them to wear less makeup, said Rudie.
Jergens’ ability to stand out in a crowded skin care category allows the brand to continue to expand its Natural Glow franchise. At the height of its launch success, Jergens Natural Glow body moisturizer had a waiting list of nearly 40,000 people.
“We know we’ve hit the main line,” said Rudie, who said there will be more Natural Glow products to come. Its nearest competitor, Olay Quench Radiance, launched as part of the Olay Quench Body collection in February. The collection has generated $31.8 million in retail sales during the period ended Nov. 27, according to Information Resources Inc., which excludes Wal-Mart. Excluding Wal-Mart, Natural Glow’s two shades rang up $35 million in retail sales. Dove is also said to be planning to launch a color-building body moisturizer this spring.
“We want to make sure that we continue to drive the glow category,” said Rudie. “Face is the next incarnation of that.”