Neutrogena launches cosmetics line collection touts color, skin care properties

Drug Store News,  Dec 14, 1998  by Liz Parks

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Buyers who got a peek at the new Neutrogena cosmetics line at last year's Marketplace show will soon see the collection in store-level settings.

Neutrogena is in the process of rolling the 85-SKU collection out now. It will be phased into the cosmetic walls of chains, including Walgreens, Eckerd, CVS, Rite Aid, WalMart, Kmart and Target, as each chain implements its 1999 planogram updates.

M. Bolyard, executive director of new business development for Neutrogena Corp., said the company is estimating that Neutrogena cosmetics will be on the wall in at least 14,000 mass market doors by the end of the year, and the bulk of that distribution should be achieved in the first quarter.

Although Bolyard said Neutrogena was not prepared to discuss the details of its advertising and marketing campaign, management will spend $40 million on print and advertising to support the launch. The first ads will most likely break in early spring when Neutrogena expects to have much of its distribution in place.

In addition to that $40 million, the company will be spending a total of $100 million to support the entire Neutrogena brand franchise in 1999.

Ads for both the cosmetics and the Neutrogena skin care collections will focus on the product benefits of the collection.

"We'll be consistent in discussing the skin care benefits of Neutrogena," said Bolyard. "All of our advertising will be geared toward the consumer and the breadth and benefits of the line."

To generate trial of its face makeups, which are the heart of its cosmetics collection, Neutrogena will also be shipping trial size samples of its liquid and compact makeups in the initial pre-pack promotions that will support the roll-out.

Bolyard said management is also looking at leveraging the equity of the brand by doing some cross merchandising promotional tie-ins with the skin care and cosmetics products.

With $40 million in advertising specifically behind the launch, and with its distribution through 14,000 doors, Neutrogena believes that it can, in retail dollars, build Neutrogena cosmetics into at least a $70 million brand in marketing year one. If it can achieve that goal, Neutrogena would vault into the top 10 dollar-volume cosmetics brands in terms of three-outlet sales, according to Chicago based Information Resources Inc.

In the face makeup category, where Neutrogena is expected to generate the bulk of its first year's sales, it would come close to putting the brand in competition with Almay, now the fifth-highest ranked brand in three-outlet dollar volume sales.

Almay, whose heritage has it positioned as a hypoallergenic brand that is good for a woman's skin, is Neutrogena's closest competitor, but Neutrogena will also have to contend with P&G, which is also shipping a new cosmetics line, Oil of Olay cosmetics, in the first quarter of 1999, which also emphasizes its skin care heritage.

P&G has said it will spend aggressively to support Olay, which it predicts will end its first marketing year as one of the five highest-ranked brands in cosmetics. To do that, P&G would need to generate at least three times $70 million in retail sales for its first marketing year.

Of course, both Olay and Neutrogena will have to contend with increased advertising and marketing activity from Revlon, now the No. 1 brand in three-outlet sales, as well as with more spending from No. 2 ranked Cover Girl, No. 3 ranked Maybelline and No. 4 ranked L'Oreal, not to mention strong competitive resistance from Almay.

Neutrogena's marketing strategy is to position its Neutrogena cosmetics collection, which has conditioning makeups for the face, eyes and lips, as the "color cosmetics collection with real skin care advantages."

Some of the products in the new collection will contain ingredients now available in the Neutrogena skin care collection. All will have unique, advanced-technology, therapeutic ingredients formulated to condition the skin and prevent problems from materializing.

The heart of the collection is the face makeups: 16 SKUs of a cream-to-power compact makeup and 16 SKUs of a liquid foundation in coordinating shades. There are also five shades of pressed powder, five shades of loose powder, 10 shades of blush, four concealers and two color correctors.

In addition, there are 24 shades of lip color and three shades of mascara.

Both the liquid and the cream-to-powder face makeup formulations are enriched with proretinol to help refine skin texture and brighten the complexion, as well as with a patented ingredient called melibiose, a sugar extract that helps keep the skin firm and resilient.

Melibiose is a key ingredient in Neutrogena's Healthy Skin Eye Cream, which has been one of the top sellers in its category ever since its launch more than a year ago. The formulations for the makeup also contain a vitamin-enriched hydrating complex to help protect and improve the skin, as well as light diffusers to help soften fine lines. The formulas also contain SPF 20, which offers protection against both UVB and UVA rays.