Phisoderm is giving its skin care line a face-lift by repackaging and reformulating the products and revamping its face care assortment to offer customers more pH-balanced skin care options.
Since the early Seventies, the brand has been best known for its gently formulated products designed to help maintain the skin’s pH balance and retain its natural moisture.
“They’re known for having some of the earliest products formulated to cleanse the skin without disrupting the acid mantle,” said Erin Welch, assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, who joined Phisoderm as a consultant this past year.
After purchasing the 35-year-old Phisoderm from Chattem last November, parent Mentholatum is attempting to reinvent the brand’s image and organizational structure. The first step was to consolidate Phisoderm’s three subbrands and discontinue certain products to eliminate consumer confusion. According to Nicole Gawronski, Mentholatum’s assistant marketing manager, the initiative began with the repackaging and reformulation of products in August and will continue into next year.
“This is the new generation of Phisoderm. We wanted to take this older brand and make it relevant again to today’s younger women,” said Jennifer Hamberger, Mentholatum’s brand manager. “To reach this younger demographic, we needed to create products that were more relevant for this particular age group and [we] found that they are into multipurpose products.”
According to Hamberger, Phisoderm is focusing on women ages 20 to 30, rather than still trying to cover its traditional market, which included 40-plus consumers and girls between the ages of 12 and 17.
“It was confusing and hard to go after different demographics with one brand. We felt that we should consolidate the brand and pick a particular demographic to concentrate on,” added Hamberger.
According to Information Resources Inc., Phisoderm’s skin care sales have dropped 33 percent, to $5.3 million, in food, drug and mass stores — excluding Wal-Mart — in the 52-week period ended September 10.
In February Phisoderm will introduce four skin care products: a gel, a nighttime moisturizer, a foaming face wash and a toner. All the products, retailing for $8.99 and less, are designed for all skin types and help cleanse and purify the skin, preventing outbreaks and blemishes, the company said. They are designed to keep the skin evenly toned and protect it from environmental factors, including the sun and pollution.
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“We felt we needed to provide consumers with a better balance in product offering,” said Gawronski. “It made no sense to wash your face with a pH-balance cleanser and then put on a moisturizer that is not pH-balanced, because you undo all the good that has just been done.”
The products will roll out in about 9,000 food, drug and mass doors, including CVS, Wal-Mart, Walgreens and Rite Aid. The company plans to increase its doors by the end of next year. Though executives wouldn’t comment, industry sources estimated that the four new products would bring in between $4 million and $5 million in first-year retail sales, with over $1 million spent on advertising and sales promotions.
All the products will still feature the trademark pH-balance positioning, but will also contain high-end ingredients such as polyglutamic and hyaluronic acids. The two moisturizers and foaming facial wash contain polyglutamic acid, and the toner contains hyaluronic acid. These ingredients are designed to work with the skin’s pH for a clear and more balanced complexion.
“Hyaluronic acid helps retain water molecules, which attract more moisture to the skin, while polyglutamic acid is designed to hold in moisture,” said Welch, who added that polyglutamic acid is an ingredient that has not been available in drugstore products in the U.S. She has, however, seen it frequently used in the Japanese market.
Hamberger added, “We’re offering customers these higher-end ingredients, but not having them pay higher price points.”
The packaging will feature a new Phisoderm logo with a new copper-toned top, updating the brand’s old green cap. By next spring, the entire line will be repackaged.
“We wanted to update the packaging and make it more spa-like,” said Hamberger. “We’re doing this by adding copper accents in addition to changing the labels to make it more clear and more high end. It was important to keep the green color because consumers associate Phisoderm with it, since that’s been the brand’s signature color since its inception, but we wanted something more soothing and contemporary.”
To support the launch, Phisoderm is planning a print campaign in beauty, fashion and lifestyle books. Though the company has done some sampling in the past, it plans an aggressive program for this rollout — about 2.5 million samples will be distributed at promotional events and on college campuses.