treseme

Top launch: Tresemmé Perfectly Undone - Unilever

Unilever moved to create waves in the haircare category in March 2015 with the launch of Tresemmé Perfectly Undone. Tapping the trend for messy, wavy-looking locks, the seven-strong range is designed to help create styles from ‘boho and beach to Hollywood’ at home. It has clocked up more than £1.3m in sales since launch, claims Unilever, which backed the innovation with a multimedia push that included television advertising.

That Batiste dry shampoo is now the UK’s fifth biggest shampoo brand says a lot about how Brits are living today. With convenience king in many food sectors, demand for on-the-go products extends to personal care.

No wonder P&G launched Aussie, Herbal Essences and Pantene dry shampoos in 2014. Elvive and Garnier Ultimate blends also took the plunge into dry shampoo. Not that it’s been enough to defy this year’s difficult conditions. Of the top shampoo brands, only Elvive and Batiste are in growth.

With competition between grocers, high street chemists and cut-price retailers intensifying, shampoo and conditioner continue to be heavily reliant on deals, with 61.3% and 63.7% of volume on promotion respectively. Only Batiste and Herbal Essences have seen average prices rise in shampoo, and this contributed to a significant fall in volumes for the latter. Market leader Head & Shoulders had modest volume growth as value fell 2.2%.

The greatest fall in price came from Elvive, up 8.2% on volumes up 17.3%. “As brands we’re relishing navigating the new challenge between high-low and EDLP business models and ensuring category value is retained,” says Ben Beharrell, marketing director at L’Oréal Paris haircare, adding that Elvive has offset the price pressure with NPD.

Beharrell says L’Oréal’s Hair Obsession push, borne from the insight that British women are obsessed with their hair but struggle to choose the right products, has been key to Elvive’s impressive performance. “The campaign has achieved growth across our top franchises and recruited new consumers.”

Demand for greater convenience and portability extends to conditioners, where ‘leave in’ products such as Aussie Take The Heat and John Frieda Frizz-Ease have contributed to growth, albeit from a small base, and not enough to put the sector in growth.

Styling, meanwhile, has enjoyed the busiest year in terms of innovation since 2012, with NPD contributing £7.1m to the sector’s value, which has inched up 0.8% on volumes down 4.1%, thanks primarily to hefty declines in hairspray. Clay, paste and wax are in growth.

TOP 5 Shampoo  SALES
        £m change (£m) change (%)
Total volume change: –1.0% Total Category 422.50 –1.0 –0.2
      Total Own Label 13.5 –1.3 –8.9
1 1 Head & Shoulders P&G 58.70 –1.3 –2.2
2 2 Elvive L’Oréal 48.4 3.7 8.2
3 3 Herbal Essences P&G 32.9 –3.3 –9.1
4 4 Pantene Pro V P&G 30.9 –1.6 –5.1
5 7 Batiste Church & Dwight 29.6 2.8 10.5

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TOP 5 Conditioners  SALES
        £m change (£m) change (%)
Total volume change: –1.2% Total Category 278.7 –5.6 –2.0
      Total Own Label 5.40 –0.6 –10.1
1 1 Aussie P&G 41.4 1.8 4.5
2 2 John Frieda John Frieda 34.30 –1.5 –4.2
3 3 Tresemmé Unilever 32.7 –0.5 –1.4
4 4 Herbal Essences P&G 26.2 –2.2 –7.8
5 5 Pantene Pro V P&G 22.2 –4.2 –16.1

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TOP 5 Hair styling  SALES
        £m change (£m) change ()
Total volume change: –4.1 Total Category 253 1.9 0.8
      Total Own Label 12.60 –1.0 –7.7
1 1 Vo5 Unilever 45.3 –1.6 –3.4
2 2 Elnett L’Oréal 37.7 1.8 5.1
3 3 Silvikrin Wella 27.1 –0.9 –3.2
4 4 Tresemmé Unilever 20.4 –0.0 –0.2
5 5 John Frieda John Frieda 18.9 0.7 3.8

Get 20% off the full category ranking. Click here and enter discount code NIELSENGROCER