NEW YORK — With men spending more time and money on grooming in recent years, upscale beauty brands have intensified efforts to attract male consumers.
The Estée Lauder Cos. relaunched its two biggest men’s skin care brands, Clinique Skin Supplies for Men and Lab Series, in as many years. And other top beauty companies, including Shiseido, its John Varvatos brand and Groupe Clarins, have launched men’s treatment lines at specialty and department stores in the past several years.
Now, another Lauder company — feel-good beauty and wellness brand Origins — is diving headlong into the men’s grooming fray. Origins for Men, an assortment of eight face and body care products due in May, represents the brand’s first cohesive men’s line.
Origins for Men will feature four new items and four existing products. The brand’s Blade Runner shaving cream and Fire Fighter aftershave already have a consumer following, executives pointed out.
“We’ve always had men’s, but we’re repackaging and repositioning [the products],” noted William Lauder, president and chief executive officer of the Estée Lauder Cos., quipping that he was the “test subject” for Blade Runner, which was introduced 13 years ago. Lauder founded Origins in 1990. He added that, given the brand’s overall packaging motif, “many treatment products in the range are gender neutral.”
Lauder was among a number of executives who attended an unveiling of Origins for Men in the Central Park Zoo’s balmy Rain Forest room here last week. Daria Myers, president of Origins and a founding member of the brand, was present, as was Susan Akkad, vice president of global marketing for Origins; Lynn Mazzella, the brand’s vice president of global product development, and Lauder chief marketing officer Joe Gubernick, who was also a founding member of Origins.
While many of Lauder’s 26 brands include products designed for men, Origins is the latest to introduce a freestanding men’s assortment. Besides Skin Supplies and Lab Series, Lauder’s Aveda brand markets four Aveda Men products.
Two of the new Origins for Men items, along with the four repackaged products, are due in full distribution in May. They are Easy Slider pre-shave oil and Fire Fighter Plus, each $18.50 for 1.7 oz. The other two additions are due in freestanding Origins stores in June. They are Skin Diver active charcoal body scrub, $17.50 for 5 oz., and body soap, $10 for 7 oz.
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Existing products include Blade Runner, $14 for 5 oz.; Fire Fighter, $16.50 for 1.7 oz.; Lip Remedy, $10 for 0.24 oz., and Skin Diver active charcoal body wash, $16.50 for 6.7 oz.
Discussing the timing of Origins’ men’s initiative, Myers noted men’s treatment grew by 13 percent in department stores last year, where Origins was the number-eight men’s skin care brand. Origins’ men’s business was up 30 percent, she added.
“It’s our fastest-growing category,” said Myers, “and I think [Origins for Men] will only enhance it.” Myers, who joined Lauder’s Aramis brand 30 years ago, added that, while men’s skin care “never had momentum like women’s had, I believe now men’s has taken off. It’s just the right moment to do this.”
Akkad noted that, while 2 percent of Origins’ revenues come from men’s products, male consumers account for 10 percent of the brand’s customer base. “I’d love for this to triple our just-for-men business,” she said.
Origins for Men could generate $7 million in first-year retail sales, according to industry sources. The line will be carried in the brand’s distribution network of 575 doors, including 125 freestanding stores, in the U.S. and 10 freestanding boutiques abroad. Overall, Origins has about 350 points of sale outside the U.S.
The men’s products employ a blend of essential oils, including sandalwood, eucalyptus and peppermint. The active charcoal in the body products is designed to help remove dirt, debris and excess oil.
Fire Fighter Plus features saw palmetto, “which can help retard regrowth of facial hair,” Mazzella contended. Citing an eight-week study, Origins claimed Fire Fighter Plus “significantly reduced the appearance of hair growth by 45 percent eight hours after shaving.” The brand added shave time is reduced by 24 percent after eight weeks of using the product.
Myers called the line’s green and charcoal motifs “masculine” and “organic,” while Mazzella described the so-called “eco-chic green” as a more subdued green than a green hue already used by the brand, which now comprises some 300 products, half of which fall into the makeup category. The remainder of the Origins assortment constitutes bath and body care, skin care, ingestible supplements and — in freestanding Origins stores — lifestyle products, like books and music.
It is estimated that the Origins brand generates $325 million in annual sales globally.
Origins for Men will be promoted through a direct-mail campaign, sampling, in-store visuals and Web-based marketing, an effort said to be worth $2.1 million. Co-op advertising also is planned. The tag line “nature calls” is a nod to the products’ botanical ingredients.