With Zirh Purchase P&G Adds Premium Skin Care To Men’s Grooming Portfolio
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Procter & Gamble is serious about its goal of assembling "the world's premier male grooming company," scooping up high-end, "male-only" brand Zirh less than two weeks after its announced acquisition of The Art of Shaving
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Procter & Gamble is serious about its goal of assembling "the world's premier male grooming company," scooping up high-end, "male-only" brand Zirh less than two weeks after its announced acquisition of The Art of Shaving . "Zirh is an excellent fit into P&G's already incredibly strong male grooming portfolio," Chip Bergh, group president, P&G male grooming, asserted in the June 16 statement. "Although it is a relatively small, North American-centric business, its super-premium positioning and product lineup is a perfect complement to our portfolio," he said. With the Zirh buy, P&G picks up the botanically based Zirh Natural line that launched earlier this year through Sephora, plugging men into the natural products trend and fulfilling what the company identified as an undermet need in the men's personal-care market. P&G also gains Zirh Platinum , a peptide-powered anti-aging range that despite its high price points - at $65 to $145 - "surprised" Zirh President Brian Robinson by accounting for more than 16 percent of the company's online business in 2008 (1 (Also see "Zirh Naturals Launches At Sephora, Inviting Men Into Healthy-Living Trend" - HBW Insight, 19 Jan, 2009.)). Other recent Zirh introductions include a line of cocktail-inspired body bars and a troop of Warrior shower gels paying tribute to Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, Ulysses and other legendary military figures (2 (Also see "Zirh Brings Happy Hour To Shower With Cocktail Body Bars" - HBW Insight, 17 Nov, 2008.)). "P&G Male Grooming is a perfect home for Zirh," Robinson said June 16. "Zirh is a quintessentially male brand designed specifically to meet men's unique skin care needs." "With brands like Gillette and Old Spice , the P&G male grooming portfolio will be a natural fit for the brand. This was a great move for both companies," he concluded. Robinson will stay on board to help transition the brand into P&G, according to the firm. Other details of the acquisition were not disclosed. Robinson, who founded Zirh in 1995, sold the company to Shiseido in 2000 but continued serving as head of the unit until he was replaced at the helm in 2005 by Kaoru Takagi (3 'The Rose Sheet' Jan. 3, 2005, In Brief). Under Shiseido, Zirh put out a self-titled men's fragrance as well as Zirh Corduroy , which bowed in 2005 (4 (Also see "Zirh Fall Wardrobe Includes Corduroy Fragrance For Men" - HBW Insight, 6 Jun, 2005.)). The brand also launched the controversial fcuk him and fcuk her scents through a licensing agreement - which has since expired - with apparel manufacturer and retailer French Connection (5 (Also see "Zirh FCUK Fragrances Are First To Launch Under French Connection Umbrella" - HBW Insight, 2 Jun, 2003.)). By the time Robinson bought back the company in 2007, Zirh had doubled its product offerings with sun care and fragrances. Robinson took custody of the bulk of Zirh's skin-care and fragrance offerings, leaving Shiseido with items developed under a partnership with men's wear designer John Varvatos, which continued to be marketed by the Japanese firm's ZIC Corp division. Zirh, Art of Shaving Are Complements, Firm Says The addition of Zirh to P&G's portfolio comes hot on the heels of its purchase of prestige men's shaving brand The Art of Shaving (6 'The Rose Sheet' June 8, 2009, In Brief). P&G views The Art of Shaving and Zirh as complementary, according to spokesperson Kelly Vanasse. The Art of Shaving gives the personal-care giant a toehold in the premium men's shaving market, as well as an e-commerce presence and a chain of 36 Art of Shaving stores, she noted. Meanwhile, Zirh comes with a respectable piece of the prestige men's skin-care space. P&G's male grooming stable features well-known mass brands Gillette and Old Spice, as well as Braun shavers and Nioxin hair care. But prior to The Art of Shaving and Zirh acquisitions, the firm's only prestige offerings for men were fragrance brands such as Hugo BOSS and Dunhill , Vanasse said. While the premium men's grooming market remains fairly small, its buyers tend to be brand-loyal, Vanasse noted. P&G will focus on growing the acquired brands by reaching out to that demographic, according to the rep. "It's all about raising awareness and getting more guys, more of those prestige shoppers, into the brands." "P&G brings scale to these brands and the power of big marketing that they didn't have up until that point," she said. The Art of Shaving and Zirh acquisitions are small potatoes compared with P&G's $57 billion acquisition of Gillette in 2005. That deal gave the firm Braun shavers as well as the Oral B and Right Guard brands (7 (Also see "P&G $57 Bil. Gillette Acquisition Creates 21 Billion-Dollar Brand Portfolio" - HBW Insight, 31 Jan, 2005.)). The firm has since expanded the Gillette brand beyond razors and shaving products into a well-rounded line of men's mass market hair-care, body-wash and deodorant products. While The Art of Shaving and Zirh may not be of the same magnitude, such investments in the downed economy reflect a bold corporate strategy dating back to the Great Depression when P&G expanded its overseas operations and acquired a number of soap and detergent brands while competitors waited for the market to recover (8 (Also see "History Lesson: P&G, Cereal Makers Show Boldness In Ailing Economy Pays Off" - HBW Insight, 8 Jun, 2009.)). - Molly Laas ([email protected]) |