Herbie Dayal tells Catherine Dawes about the values and products that have enabled KMI Brands to flourish since the company was hived off from King of Shaves
Sometimes the parts are greater than the whole. When KMI began adding other personal care brands to its King of Shaves portfolio in the late 90s, they were always overshadowed by the rapidly growing shaving brand.
So in June last year, owners Will King and Herbie Dayal took the decision to split the business in two and the King of Shaves Company and KMI Brands were born.
The move has paid off handsomely. "When private equity companies look at us now, they ascribe the same value to the King of Shaves Company as they did to the whole business before, but now they also recognise the value of KMI Brands," says Dayal.
The KMI portfolio of 15 fragrance and toiletries brands, which includes Ted Baker fragrance and toiletries, Fish hair products and Naked hair and bodycare, had sales of £42m in 2009 and is stocked in the multiples, department stores, Boots and Superdrug. The team of 20 staff work out of an office in Teddington, Middlesex, developing brands that Dayal describes as 'masstige' in the mass market but with a little more prestige.
"We can't compete with P&G and Unilever on their level because of their scale," he admits but that's not exactly a problem when the likes of Sainsbury's describes KMI as a boutique P&G. This is a tribute to the way KMI positions products, believes Dayal.
"To compete, we need to inject products with differentiation. We do this through integrity and humour." He cites the Naked range, which it acquired in December, as an example. It is 97% natural and free from parabens, petrochemicals and sulphates, but takes a lighthearted approach with product names such as Ooh La La Naked.
"It's fun but you still get all the things about why it's good for you," says Dayal. The approach seems to be working. Sales of Naked are up 22% year-on-year, and KMI is expecting to hit £52m in 2010, with half the growth coming from new lines and half from existing brands.
The biggest of these brands was also KMI's first venture outside King of Shaves the Ted Baker licensed range, launched in 1998 and now accounting for half KMI's turnover.
What started as a fine fragrance line has expanded to include shower gels, body lotions, colour cosmetics and even a gift set complete with a Ted Baker-branded mug called Especially for Brew.
"Ted Baker is one of the few brands that can sit in fine fragrance with the likes of Hugo Boss, but crosses over into the standard toiletries aisle," says Dayal.
KMI is hoping to replicate this success with its next new line a licensed range of fine fragrances and homeware items for the designer Orla Kiely, famous for her brightly coloured plant-stem designs. This will be Kiely's first fragrance and KMI's first move into homewares, with items such as candles, room fragrances and scent diffusers, which will all hit shelves in August.
The final look is still tightly under wraps. "It's so easy to just brand products, but we try to create a soul in each product," says Dayal. "It's vital that consumers have a rapport with the products, and they know that the brand has personality the soul of Orla Kiely or the soul of Ted Baker."
It seems KMI's brands just needed to be brought out of the shadow of King of Shaves for their souls to shine through.
Sometimes the parts are greater than the whole. When KMI began adding other personal care brands to its King of Shaves portfolio in the late 90s, they were always overshadowed by the rapidly growing shaving brand.
So in June last year, owners Will King and Herbie Dayal took the decision to split the business in two and the King of Shaves Company and KMI Brands were born.
The move has paid off handsomely. "When private equity companies look at us now, they ascribe the same value to the King of Shaves Company as they did to the whole business before, but now they also recognise the value of KMI Brands," says Dayal.
The KMI portfolio of 15 fragrance and toiletries brands, which includes Ted Baker fragrance and toiletries, Fish hair products and Naked hair and bodycare, had sales of £42m in 2009 and is stocked in the multiples, department stores, Boots and Superdrug. The team of 20 staff work out of an office in Teddington, Middlesex, developing brands that Dayal describes as 'masstige' in the mass market but with a little more prestige.
"We can't compete with P&G and Unilever on their level because of their scale," he admits but that's not exactly a problem when the likes of Sainsbury's describes KMI as a boutique P&G. This is a tribute to the way KMI positions products, believes Dayal.
"To compete, we need to inject products with differentiation. We do this through integrity and humour." He cites the Naked range, which it acquired in December, as an example. It is 97% natural and free from parabens, petrochemicals and sulphates, but takes a lighthearted approach with product names such as Ooh La La Naked.
"It's fun but you still get all the things about why it's good for you," says Dayal. The approach seems to be working. Sales of Naked are up 22% year-on-year, and KMI is expecting to hit £52m in 2010, with half the growth coming from new lines and half from existing brands.
The biggest of these brands was also KMI's first venture outside King of Shaves the Ted Baker licensed range, launched in 1998 and now accounting for half KMI's turnover.
What started as a fine fragrance line has expanded to include shower gels, body lotions, colour cosmetics and even a gift set complete with a Ted Baker-branded mug called Especially for Brew.
"Ted Baker is one of the few brands that can sit in fine fragrance with the likes of Hugo Boss, but crosses over into the standard toiletries aisle," says Dayal.
KMI is hoping to replicate this success with its next new line a licensed range of fine fragrances and homeware items for the designer Orla Kiely, famous for her brightly coloured plant-stem designs. This will be Kiely's first fragrance and KMI's first move into homewares, with items such as candles, room fragrances and scent diffusers, which will all hit shelves in August.
The final look is still tightly under wraps. "It's so easy to just brand products, but we try to create a soul in each product," says Dayal. "It's vital that consumers have a rapport with the products, and they know that the brand has personality the soul of Orla Kiely or the soul of Ted Baker."
It seems KMI's brands just needed to be brought out of the shadow of King of Shaves for their souls to shine through.
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