Well, there’s a lot to tell this week! Let’s start with the surprise news that Boots has bought Liz Earle. In business terms, the brand had only just been bought by Avon (2010) who had underestimated just how essential the person Liz Earle was to the brand. Without a meaningful figurehead, it just didn’t flourish in the way that Avon had anticipated.. women (mainly) who had bought into the Liz-ness of Liz Earle lost their emotional connection to the brand. It’s really where a lot of brands come unstuck – this emotional connection, that is so essential to every brand, and what keeps their customers loyal and engaged, is meaningless at the finance and boardroom end of things.
The Coty acquisition of P&G brands is finally done – with Coty acquiring 43 of P&G’s brands. As you can imagine, it’s a complex financial structure and it has literally doubled the size of Coty overnight. I don’t think we’ll know for some time how this will shape up for consumers; for now, I’m thinking about the internal structures because, just like when Coty acquired Bourjois, there will be heavy streamlining and inevitable job losses.
This is a very interesting one, and I think I little unfair to Olay (owned by P&G) but the brand has been fined $850K in a legal quirk of Californian law. It’s called the ‘slack fill’ law and the term applies when a brand implies, via packaging, that there is more product inside than there really is. The upshot is that Olay now has to change its entire packaging across the line, so the $850K is the tip of the iceberg in terms of costs. Now, the reason that I say it’s a little unfair on Olay is that they are by no means the only ones doing this – they just happen to be the ones to be made an example of and it’s such common practice; of course it’s better for the consumer if packaging doesn’t mislead but I can think of many, many brands, including my beloved Sarah Chapman, that imply via their packaging that there is more product than there really is inside. Shu Uemura blush pots, Lancome blush pots – in fact creme blush is a good example. The pot looks big, but the product fills a fraction of it. There are literally thousands of slack fill examples.. feel free to add your own in comments! I’m definitely going to do a post on this in the next week or so.
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14 comments
I’m actually fairly interested in what is gonna change and happen to the brands that COTY acquired from P&G apart from streamlining. Anyways, I too feel that Olay is unfairly fined. If Olay should be fined under the slack-fill law, then other brands should also be fined to be fair e.g. brands mentioned above.
From what I read here http://colinsbeautypages.co.uk/avon-sells-liz-earle-to-walgreens/, it is Walmart that bought Liz Earle and they bought Boots earlier this year as well.
yes, Boots were bought by Walgreens – technically it’s called the Boots Walgreen Alliance..bit of a mouthful!
Interestingly on the face of it Walgreens bought Boots, but the majority of the shares in Walgreens Boots Alliance are owned by Stefano Pessina from Alliance Boots and the majority of the management team is from Alliance Boots! Secret reverse takeover!
Thats a bit of a harsh punishment for Olay. Sounds a bit like a scapegoat case to deter other brands from doing the same.
Slack filling is so common! My first experience with it was when I bought a primer from ELF, after a couple of weeks nothing was pumping out so I unscrewed the lid to find that the actual container the product was in was a third of the size of the casing! I also bought one of their mascaras only to discover 2/3 of the tube was the handle and the product was in the bottom end.
I don’t mind when it’s a brand like ELF that are known for being budget, but it happens a lot with pricier products too and it’s just ridiculous. Not only that, it’s wasteful… why use the extra materials when there’s no need?!
I’m really keen to see how the ruling affects other brands and whether it serves as a warning.
Our much loved Double Buff exfoliater by Miohas 150ml in huge tube. Paying for air?
Such an interesting post Jane! I hope that Boots takes care of the Liz Earle brand. xx
Expect the prices of Liz Earle to go up. Boots loved to increase prices of their own brand products once they prove popular.
A product that comes to mind is the Revlon Colorstay Whipped foundation. The jar is huge in comparison to how much product you actually get
Haven’t Unilever just bought Murad as well? Just a few days after they bought Dermalogica. It’s so hard for skincare brands to retain their personality when they become merged into larger companies. Unless they outsource, I would imagine they all use the same research and development facility and budget. Which usually means similar products, just with different packaging at different price points.
Such a shame for the industry I think. And I know quite a few beauty therapists who will be withdrawing from the Dermalogica range as they believe Unliever test on animals.
Lucy
http://www.moonandstarsbeauty.com
Slack fill (or deceptive packaging as it is called in the UK) is so common and in theory regulated by Trading Standards in the UK, but I’ve met with them and they could not give two hoots about it unless consumers complain in their hundreds. What I would love to know is how much excess packaging is going to landfill as a result of over packaging???? Until we all start judging products by how they work rather than how premium/big they look….the loser is going to be the environment!
Hope Boots buying Liz Earle doesn’t lead to the demise of the Botanics range.
Wish Trading Standards would have a go at price fixing in premium beauty. The prices are too uniform.
Just had a quick look through my makeup & skin care and have to say other than lipstick/glosses/mascara practically EVERYTHING is deceptively filled(not filled!). Emma Hardy, Sarah Chapman, Liz Earle, Chanel etc etc are all in chunky packaging. Bobbi Brown gel liner is the perfect example- heavy, thick glass: tiny blob of product.