Beard trend blunts razors and skincare

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gillette fusion

Top launch: Gillette Fusion Proglide with Flexball - P&G

There was really only one choice for the male grooming category’s top launch. Even if P&G’s pitching Gillette Fusion Proglide with Flexball as the “biggest fmcg launch this year” veered into the realms of hyperbole, there’s no denying that it’s left its mark on the struggling razor sector. The product, which pivots on a ball to keep the blade in better contact with the contours of the face, has generated £9.6m in sales over the past year, helping to stem the sector’s value decline.

It’s perhaps no surprise that the rise of the beard is causing razor sales to lose their edge. But now it’s blunting skincare sales too.

“Men shaving less is hurting not just the market for razors and blades, but also every other shaving prep or skincare product that could be connected to shaving regimes,” says Simon Duffy, founder of Bulldog, the only top five skincare brand in growth, up 27.9% on volumes up 25.6%, albeit from a small base.

With beards still red hot (Prince Harry is currently sporting ginger whiskers), brands need to respond with innovation, says Duffy, putting Bulldog’s phenomenal growth down to a combination of distribution gains, “product quality and meaningful differentiation”.

Gillette certainly can’t be accused of cutting back on innovation. Razors might be down 6.6% by volume, an acceleration on the previous year’s 5.4% loss, but value sales held up much better, dipping just 0.4%, thanks in no small part to the February launch of Gillette Fusion Proglide with Flexball (below).

“This has been a huge success,” says P&G sales director Ian Morley. “The growth of male facial hair is there for us all to see. We’ve invested heavily in innovation to provide superior products and encourage the men who are still shaving to trade up to higher value, better performing products.”

Others are tailoring NPD for more hirsute men. Nielsen identifies L’Oréal Men Expert Hydra Energetic Face Wash, specifically designed for men with stubble, as a significant innovation from the past year. Its skincare line might be down (see above), but the brand’s overall sales are up 4.1% to £36.4m.

Other noteworthy NPD includes Nivea Men Creme (a moisturiser that can be used on the face, hands and body), reflecting growth in multi-functional products and grooming routine simplification, and P&G’s new Gillette Proglide 170ml range, which has had the largest contribution to men’s skincare.

But the big question remains: how long will the beard stay in vogue? Perhaps wisely, P&G’s Morley won’t make any predictions on the vagaries of fashion, but he’s upbeat nevertheless: “Like many fashion trends, we anticipate this to be a temporary one.”

TOP 5 Men’s toiletries				SALES
				£m	change (£m)	change (%)
Total volume change: –5.2%			Total Category	797.00	–13.6	–1.7
			Total Own Label	26.30	–1.8	–6.3
1	1	Gillette	P&G	232.7	–4.2	–1.8
2	2	Lynx	Unilever	123.9	–6.7	–5.1
3	3	Nivea Men	Beiersdorf	72.6	4.6	6.8
4	4	Sure Men	Unilever	48.7	–7.3	–13.0
5	5	Wilkinson	Wilkinson Sword	38.3	–2.2	–5.3

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TOP 5 Razor blades				SALES
				£m	change (£m)	change (%)
Total volume change: –6.6%			Total Category	349.9	–1.5	–0.4
			Total Own Label	15.5	–1.1	–6.3
1	1	Gillette	P&G	251.5	1.7	0.7
2	2	Wilkinson Sword	Wilkinson Sword	64.9	–0.9	–1.3
3	3	BIC	BIC	15.6	–0.6	–3.8
4	5	Super-Max	Super-Max	0.5	0	6.3
5	4	King of Shaves	King of Shaves	0.4	–0.6	–60.6

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TOP 5 Men’s skincare				SALES
				£m	change (£m)	change (%)
Total volume change: –3.8%			Total Category	124.7	–2.8	–2.2
			Total Own Label	10.5	–0.5	–4.7
1	1	Nivea Men	Beiersdorf	35.7	0	0
2	2	Gillette	P&G	34	–0.4	–1.2
3	3	L’Oréal Men Expert	L’Oréal	24.2	–0.8	–3.3
4	4	Bulldog	Littlewing	6.4	1.4	27.9
5	5	King Of Shaves	King of Shaves	3.6	–0.6	–13.8