02.10.12
What’s the pink one in the middle? Axe launched a limited edition fragrance for women in its new Anarchy collection. |
The Unilever brand has rolled out a new collection called Anarchy, which will include the usual SKUs for men, but also a new body spray fragrance for women.
Anarchy For Him and For Her are the first-ever pair of body sprays to launch at the same time in mass retail stores, according to the brand. The decision to launch them together stemmed from the brand’s wide appeal by both sexes. According to Unilever, Axe has more than two million fans on Facebook in the US alone, and about a quarter of them are female.
“The launch of Anarchy For Him and For Her represents a new evolution of the Axe brand,” said Barret Roberts, Axe senior brand manager at Unilever. “We know guys love the smell of Axe and the confidence it gives them, and our success is, in part, due to the way girls have also embraced the brand.”
In addition, Axe is bringing the Anarchy “experience” to fans on YouTube.com/Axe and Facebook.com/Axe via “Anarchy: The Graphic Novel,” a comic series designed by Aspen Comics. The series will be updated every few days based on real-time user-submitted ideas and poll votes. Fans will also have a chance to be drawn directly into the story by Aspen’s artists.
• Six salons in upstate New York and northern Pennsylvania faced a long rebuilding process after they were destroyed in August by the destructive one-two punch of Hurricane Irene and a severe tropical storm just several days later. Massive flooding forced these businesses to close, and it took weeks and even months to repair and rebuild. The salons, along with three neighboring salons that offered workspaces to many of the displaced stylists, received a welcome boost from the Matrix Chairs of Change initiative. Led by Matrix VP/GM Colin Walsh, and joined by Al DiTulio, president of the local A&A Beauty Supply Company, the team made surprise visits to each salon to celebrate their re-openings.
Matrix helped several salons rebuild after Hurricane Irene by surprising owners in their stores with supplies, gifts and more. |
The group presented the owners with six months worth of Matrix professional products to help them regain their business momentum, an Elchim blow dryer for each stylist and an assortment of product samples for clients. The salons also received a full day education class with Matrix artistic director Daniel Roldan, gift baskets to raffle off to clients and incremental Matrix Friends and Family points.
The six salons included The Cutting Edge, The Styling Corner and Shear Paradise in Owego, NY; and Paula McNeil, Image Salon and The Klip Joint in Athens, PA. The three “helping salons” included Hair Designs in Owego, NY and Mane Designs and SophistiCuts in Sayre, PA.
• St Giles - The Court Hotel in New York includes Philosophy brand amenities in all its guest rooms. Featured products include blackberry musk conditioner, green tea body lotion, lemon grass shower gel, lime blossom shampoo and lime blossom facial bar.
“The decision to carry Philosophy in The Court is in keeping with our brand messaging,” said Bonnie Somerstein, director of sales and marketing, St Giles Hotel New York. “We want our guests to have a luxurious and pampering experience. Philosophy believes in inspiring beauty on the surface and within the soul. These products deliver a rejuvenating feel that our guests appreciate, and they can look their best while on the road.”
• Scentsy says think pink pepper in 2012. Based on evaluation and trend analysis by fragrance experts at the Meridian, ID-based home fragrance company—and prominent international fragrance houses—pink pepper has been tapped as the company’s ScenTrend for 2012, a designation that identifies the up-and-coming fragrance note for the new year, which consumers will find in home as well as fine fragrances.
“Pink Pepper fits the mood of our time,” explained Heidi Thompson, president of Scentsy, Inc. “It’s a spirited fragrance note that offers inspiration to find adventure, be romantic or simply add a touch of excitement to any aspect of life. We’re pleased to highlight Pink Pepper’s inspiring personality in Scentsy’s home fragrances.”
Fragrance lovers can experience the contrasts of Pink Pepper in Pixie, Scentsy’s February 2012 scent of the month. It is billed as a “mischievous moonscape of pink pepper, mandarin and heliotrope deepened by exotic teakwood and vanilla oak.”
• While L’Oréal may have dibs on biggest fashion reality show of them all—“Project Runway”—don’t count P&G out. The Cincinnati-based consumer product giant’s CoverGirl and Herbal Essences brands are taking a role in Lifetime’s newest fashion TV series, “24 Hour Catwalk,” which debuted last month.
CoverGirl and Herbal Essences are featured on “24 Hour Catwalk,” a new fashion reality show. |
The contestants must finish their collections in only 24 hours. The winner is presented with a $10,000 cash prize courtesy of CoverGirl and Herbal Essences.
• Tria Beauty, Inc. is linking up with actress Tiffani Thiessen. Under this new partnership, the “Beverly Hills 90210” actress will participate in various public relations and marketing activities for the company’s laser hair removal system.
“When Tria was identifying potential celebrity partnerships to pursue last year, Ms. Thiessen jumped out at our team as a natural fit,” stated Danika Harrison, senior VP global marketing, Tria Beauty, Inc.”Her combination of being a talented actress and businesswoman, fashionable role model and committed mother is very relatable to the Tria consumer. We are looking forward to working with her over the coming year.”
• Ace Metrix, a Mountain View, CA-based company that measures television advertising effectiveness, announced the most effective ads overall and those within 23 different categories for 2011—a list that represents the top one-half of one percent of all television ads to break in 2011.
“Storytelling was a powerful creative tool for advertisers in 2011, as we saw from KitchenAid’s Ad of the Year and ads from Google that have put them on the map as a true brand marketer,” Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix, said, referring to KitchenAid’s minute-long ad demonstrating its innovative food processor. “But to be a top ad, you need to deliver more than just ‘likeability....”
According to Ace Metrix, highly effective ads need to score well with consumers on multiple dimensions, such as relevance and information.
Within the personal care category, Lysol’s “Happy Family Healthy Family” was top ranked with an Ace score of 614. Ace score is the measure of ad creative effectiveness based on viewer reaction to national TV ads, according to Ace Metrix.
“Ads that demonstrated product innovation clearly knocked the socks off of consumers,” Daboll said. “...But what was interesting is that brands that you don’t immediately associate with innovation—like Lysol, Sears and Columbia—used this kind of messaging very effectively too.”
• Angus Mitchell, son of the hair care product icon Paul Mitchell and current co-owner and artistic director of Paul Mitchell Systems and owner of the Angus Mitchell Salon, Beverly Hills, has donated an historic Hawaiian coastal property to The Nature Conservancy.
The idyllic seven-acre parcel, valued at $6.5 million, is located at Kiholo Bay on the North Kona Coast of the Island of Hawaii. It is home to historic fishponds and dozens of green sea turtles and was once part of the landholdings of King Kamehameha I. Paul Mitchell, who acquired the land in the late 1980s while battling cancer, intended to build his dream home there, but died in 1989 before realizing his vision.
“My dad shared his love of Hawaii with me and I fell in love with this beautiful land,” Mitchell said of his late father. “This parcel was my father’s Eden—his Shangri-La. He thought it was the most beautiful spot on Earth, as do I. This land evokes a wonderful spiritual energy and beauty, and I believe I can best serve his intentions by having this land protected in perpetuity.”
For the younger Mitchell, this is the second donation of Hawaiian lands once owned by his father. In 1999, he donated a significant cultural site, also located on the Big Island of Hawaii, to the Edith K. Kanaka’ole Foundation.
• Procter & Gamble’s Febreze brand is hitting the road, literally, with a new product designed to work in a place where Americans spend a lot of their time—their cars.
P&G’s new Febreze Car Vent Clips have a sleek design. |
New Febreze Car Vent Clips, which are designed to eliminate tough odors and freshen the air for up to 30 days, attach onto the air vent in the car. They feature a unique membrane that allows the product to slowly release scented oils, eliminating tough odors. Consumers can control the scent level via an intensity dial.
“After listening to consumer needs, we were inspired to shake up the car freshener category and design something that actually worked,” said external relations manager Jeff Pierce, Febreze. “The Febreze Car Vent Clip was tailored specifically for the car environment. Discreet in size, the Febreze car freshener is formulated with light, fresh scents that have true odor eliminating power and the technology to slowly release scent day after day without becoming too overpowering,”
Scents include Linen & Sky, Meadows & Rain, Hawaiian Aloha and Thai Dragon Fruit, as well as a new fragrance, Midnight Storm.
Febreze Car Vent Clips are available in the air care and select auto aisles at major retailers in North America.
• The makers of Wen by Chaz Dean was named by the Miss America Organization as a sponsor for the 2012 Miss America Pageant, which was held at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas on Jan. 14.
Prior to the pageant, celebrity stylist Chaz Dean interacted and styled a variety of contestants’ hair, allowing each contestant to experience the Wen hair care difference.
The brand also hosted a LiveStream conversation with Chaz Dean live from Las Vegas on the day of the big event.
Following the pageant, the brand will provide ongoing Miss America related video content through the Wen social channels to give fans a behind-the-scenes view into how to look, act and become more like their favorite Miss America contestants. The Wen Facebook page will include more information and ongoing updates.
• Make Up For Ever, the Paris-based professional make up brand, is on the cusp of announcing the name of the “real woman” who will star in its next HD Complexion advertisement—which will not be digitally retouched or enhanced in any way, according to the company.
Make Up For Ever’s HD Complexion Starter Kit. |
The winner will be flown to New York City for her professional photo shoot. The winning model will star in an advertisement that highlights Make Up For Ever’s new HD Complexion Starter Kit, billed as a toolbox for perfecting one’s complexion that can be personalized to include each client’s ideal shade of HD Invisible Cover Foundation. The kit includes HD Microperfecting Primer, HD Invisible Cover Foundation, HD Microfinish Powder and a kabuki brush.
• PearlBrite Concepts, Inc. had its spokesperson Teresa Giudice on hand at the SoBe Hair Show in Miami Beach last month. The “Real Housewives of New Jersey” reality star helped to promote the brand’s new consumer at-home home teeth whitening kit.
“With an aging population and people increasingly embracing professional cosmetic procedures to achieve the appearance they desire, this is an opportune time to own a teeth whitening business,” said Leonard Tucker, president of PearlBrite. “The rollout of our consumer at-home teeth whitening kit includes establishing distribution channels, such as hair salons, nail salons, tanning salons, health clubs, medi-spas, spas and other retailers.”
More info: www.pearlbriteathomekit.com
This bristles used in this toothbrush are composed partly of nano-sized colloidal silver compound particles. |
• Mouthwatchers Anti-Bacterial Power Toothbrush is billed as the first power toothbrush that works synergistically with toothpaste to fight tooth and gum decay.
The bristles are composed partly of nano-sized colloidal silver compound particles. This colloidal silver content has the same anti-bacterial effects in the mouth as infection applications, making the brush both immune to becoming a home to microorganisms and having anti-bacterial tooth and gum cleaning effects even without toothpaste, according to the company. The Mouthwatchers Power Toothbrush also features unique “flossing bristles” that operate at 5,000 oscillations per minute.
More info: www.mouthwatchers.net
• Hair Fairies, a national full-service clinical salon chain devoted to lice removal, offered free early lice detection on Jan. 18 at its San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and New York City salons. The company’s trained professionals evaluate infestation, manually “nit-pick” the active lice and eggs, and condition the scalp to discourage re-infestation.
More info: www.hairfairies.com
• OneStopPlus.com, an online shopping site for plus-size women, has added fragrances to its list of wares. The site offers more than 6,000 fragrances as well as more than 1,400 hair care and skin care products through FragranceNet.com, from a multitude of top brands in the arena. Brands now available via OneStopPlus.com include: Marc Jacobs, Christian Dior, Hanae Mori, Givenchy, Chloe, Burberry and many more.
OneStopPlus.com also plans to expand its beauty category offerings in the near future with the addition of makeup items from FragranceNet.com.
“As the leading plus-size shopping destination, we are always working to continuously expand our marketplace,” said Jim Lofgren VP/brand manager for OneStopPlus.com. “Adding beauty products to our repertoire was the next logical step in increasing our selection. FragranceNet.com is a great beauty vendor partner with a large product selection at affordable prices and we are happy to offer a wide array of its inventory.”
• Expect to hear more from Fuller Brush Company in 2012. The venerable firm says it has completely “rebooted itself” with a new website, products, marketing campaign and new mass retail relationships to expand its reach into the consumer market and mindset.
More info: www.fuller.com
• Obagi Medical Products, Inc. has been recognized, for the second consecutive year, as the “The Best Skin-Care System at a Doctor’s Office” by NewBeauty magazine. The award was given for the Obagi Nu Derm System and will be featured in the Winter 2012 issue of NewBeauty. The awards recognize the best products on the market as determined by thousands of NewBeauty readers, as well as the magazine’s editors and beauty experts.
“We are honored to be named, once again, the top skin care system from a physician’s office,” said Jim Hartman, vice president of global marketing and business development at Obagi Medical Products.
“Being acknowledged in 2011 and now in 2012, by consumers, along with such an esteemed group of beauty insiders and industry professionals, makes it that much more significant.”
More info: www.Obagi.com
• Ten Women of Worth were named by L’Oréal Paris and Hearst Magazines for their tireless volunteer efforts dedicated to a variety of worthy and relevant social and philanthropic causes. Each of the 2011 honorees received $10,000 for her charitable cause. The women are:
Women of Worth 2012 honorees and L’Oréal Paris president Karen Fondu. |
Cora White of Madison, WI—CEO, board president and proud foster parent for the Foster Care Children and Family Fund, which provides a variety of services to support children in foster and out-of-home placement, including everything from educational training for foster parents to ensuring each child receives a gift during the holidays.
Dr. Barbara Summey Marshall of Fayetteville, NC—volunteer CEO at Steps & Stages: Women Veterans Resource Agency, Inc., a global non-profit agency dedicated to connecting transitioning female veterans and their families with necessary services and support.
Gina Keatley of New York, NY—CEO and director of nutrition at nourishing NYC/USA, a community food program that strives to provide “nutrition for all” in New York City and throughout America.
Gretchen Holt Witt of Califon, NJ—founder of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a non-profit committed to raising funds to support research for new and improved therapies for pediatric cancer, the leading cause of death by disease for children under the age of 18 in the US.
Pilar Pinel of Long Beach, CA—founder of Embracing Latina Leadership Alliances (ELLAS), an organization dedicated to the educational, professional and political advancement of Latina youth.
Shanta Barton Stubbs of Orlando, FL—founder of the New Image Youth Center, an educational and recreational safe haven for at-risk youth.
Sheila Warnock of New York, NY—co-author of Share The Care and founder and president of ShareTheCaregiving, Inc., an organization that empowers people to pool their efforts in caregiving for family and friends. This model eases the burden on individual caregivers and ultimately improves the quality of life for the seriously ill, disabled and aging.
Stephanie M. Clark of Atlanta, GA—founder and national director for Project Single Moms Worldwide, Inc., a national advocacy and empowerment movement for single moms.
Susan Munsey of San Diego, CA—CEO, executive director and “House Mom” of Generate Hope, an organization that provides a long-term recovery program for young women who have been sexually exploited.