Wednesday, March 17, 1999
Oil of Olay's new line says it with flowers
FTD joins P&G promotion
BY RANDY TUCKER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
If you just can't wait until May for the official rollout of Procter & Gamble's new Oil of Olay Color Collection cosmetics, relax — you don't have to wait that long.
The Cincinnati consumer-products giant will give consumers an early look at one of the line's 13 product categories with a pre-launch promotion Saturday at FTD floral shops in Cincinnati and 14 other cities.
FTD florists across the country are to give away a total of 500,000 free mini-bouquets and Oil of Olay ColorMoist micro-lipstick samples during the one-day event.
With Mother's Day and Easter just around the corner, the cross-promotion could boost sales for local FTD florists at one of the busiest times of the year for flower sellers.
“It might bring in people who don't normally buy flowers, but since they're going to be free, they'll say: "What the heck. I'll stop in and pick some up,” said Gregory Knue, a Cincinnati area FTD florist.
Mr. Knue, who owns Peter Gregory Florist — formerly Peter Herb Florist — at 9214 Floral Ave. in Blue Ash, said: “You never know what that can turn into down the road. If they're satisfied with the free flowers, then hopefully, they'll call again in the future.”
The free bouquets, provided by FTD, will come with P&G's mini-lipstick product samples attached.
“Since color and flowers are most often associated with the arrival of spring, we wanted to show women that we care by making their spring a little more special,” said Marc Pritchard, vice president and general manager of P&G cosmetics.
No purchase is necessary for the bouquets and lipstick samples, but you must visit an FTD floral shop to get them.
The Oil of Olay cosmetics line, which also features a 24-color nail-polish collection, 18 powder eye shadows and six powder blushes, is aimed at women ages 25 to 50 who are concerned about skin care.
P&G is hoping the line, in development for seven years, will be especially attractive to Oil of Olay's customer base for skin-care products.
Oil of Olay is the No. 1 skin-care line in the United States.
With the official launch of the new makeup line, P&G hopes to regain much of the market share it has lost in recent years in cosmetics.
Industry experts say P&G is projecting $300 million in annual sales for its new cosmetics line, which would place it among the top five mass-market brands.
P&G already has the top-selling brand — Cover Girl — but its second-biggest brand — Max Factor — has fallen out of the top five.
With all the attention focused on the new Oil of Olay launch, it might seem that P&G is neglecting its other cosmetics brands.
Not so.
The company said it is preparing this month to introduce a reformulated version of No. 1 Cover Girl's three most popular mascaras — Natural Lash Darkener, Professional and Super Thick Lash — all redesigned to be smudge- and smear-proof.
The reformulated mascaras will be promoted through a massive print, TV and direct-marketing campaign.
The company already has launched a new Cover Girl nail polish — Crackle Lacquer — which is designed to create the textured look that is predicted to be hot this year.
Cover Girl also will feature new “shimmer” powders for summer, and recently signed Grammy award-winning artist Brandy to a modeling con tract to promote the products.
As for Max Factor, the brand is going back to the makeup-artist heritage from which it sprung during the “Golden Age” of movies.
P&G has begun targeting the brand to women whom it describes as “movie enthusiasts” with a series of Hollywood tie-ins, including a cross-promotion last fall with the Titanic video release.
P&G will cross-promote its Max Factor Diva Collection with four romantic movie classics from Warner Home Video: Casablanca, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Bridges of Madison County and Bonnie and Clyde.
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