Making men’s skin care part of daily routine
Retailers prowling for growth potential in men’s grooming are directing their focus to skin care. And with good reason, according to NPD Group’s Men’s Grooming Consumer Report.
(Click here to view the full Category Review.)
Karen Grant, global beauty industry analyst at NPD, said that although 80% of men use grooming products, only 22% purchase facial skin care. “That leaves this category with strong potential growth opportunity,” Grant said, adding it is at least a $1 billion segment. The entire men’s grooming category is on target to achieve sales of $4.7 billion by 2020.
What will propel usage, she said, is for men to become educated about the benefits of skin care and make it a part of their daily routine.
In sync with many categories these days, the millennial men are expected to lead the change. But older boomer men, who aspire to “be younger,” also are expected to seek skin care as more wrinkles appear. “The millennials outpace peers in facial skin usage and are more enthusiastic about grooming as a whole,” Grant said. Not surprisingly, most of the new marketing and even the fresh store planograms are curated with a younger man in mind.
The promising potential isn’t wasted on marketers — both multinational brands and emerging independent players. The prestige market, especially Estée Lauder, has driven much of the men’s skin care growth in the past few years. The theory was that department stores with trained sales associates could entice men and show the value of skin care. However, the quality of mass entries continues to improve, along with stepped up efforts at chains.
Beiersdorf was an innovator in men’s skin care with Nivea Men, which has several facial-specific items, such as Energy Gel Moisturizer Q10, Sensitive Protective Lotion and the Nivea Men Creme. “Catering to men represents a growth opportunity for retailers, as males are a relatively untapped demographic group,” said Andrew Kingery, director of shopper and customer marketing at Beiersdorf. His advice is to appeal to the convenience-driven mindset of the male shopper with simple packaging formats and secondary placement in stores to trigger impulse purchases.
Numerous other companies are major contenders in men’s grooming, including Neutrogena, Vaseline, Dove Men + Care, L’Oréal Men’s Expert and Lubriderm.
Recently, niche brands have started filtering into the U.S. men’s facial care market. Man-Cave is a range sold in the United Kingdom that is now gaining traction in the United States at retailers such as Target.com and Ulta. com. The edgy line clearly calls to millennials and has a strong social network presence to support that message. The brand was founded in 2012 by a father and son team who wanted to provide a line of items free of harmful chemicals. Among the facial items is a Willow Bark Face Wash and Borage Moisturizer.
Another example is Every Man Jack, which is now sold at Target, Walgreens and Wegmans among other mass doors. Bee Bald is gaining attention for its concoctions, featuring honey, bee pollen, licorice root, fruit extract and vitamins for men’s heads and faces. Additionally Boots No7 Men has been a major success as it rolls out to Walgreens, according to the company. That lineup brings department-store inspired men’s facial care to mass with such items as an intense serum and a revival eye roll on.
One buyer for a major drug store said the men’s business is growing thanks to a younger generation of men who grew up on Axe and other brands made just for them. “They don’t have preconceived ideas that skin care is just for women,” she said. And she said there are men who used to steal their spouses’ products but now feel more comfortable buying male specific lines.
To expand men’s skin care, retailers said they are using more end caps because men don’t browse through aisles as much as women. Influencers, such as athletes, also help cut through advertising clutter to reach males, experts noted.
The need of the new general market also should be considered with items in the mix created for the special needs of men with darker complexions. Palmer’s, for example, has Fade Milk to help with dark spots.