Pert Plus: Personal Care Brand Renewal

CHRISTINA VEIDERS

PHOENIX — Pert Plus, marketed by Innovative Brands here, encompasses some trends taking place in personal care segments.

While regular shampoo sales are down 5.2% in supermarkets, Pert Plus is reported to be up 8% in dollar sales and 9% in units in all channels for the 52 weeks ending Jan. 25, 2009, according to Information Resources Inc., Chicago. This reverses double-digit declines prior to Procter & Gamble's sale of the brand to Innovative Brands in 2006.

The brand's relaunch under new ownership in 2007 is the result of a portfolio brand spinoff. Innovative Brands acquired Pert Plus from P&G when the company decided the brand, launched in the 1980s, had reached its maturity and no longer fit in with its strategic global plans.

Originally a six-item brand, Pert Plus now consists of 12 SKUs. Three botanical formulations — with eucalyptus and rosemary, tea tree oil and wild mint, and lavender and aloe vera — were added last year. Roanne Wallace, director of marketing for Innovative Brands, said some supermarket accounts experienced a 20% incremental lift with no cannibalization of the core products. Safeway and Meijer have done particularly well with the brand, she reported.

The brand began shipping four SKUs of Pert Plus for Men 3-in-1 product last month, capitalizing on the trend toward gender-specific personal care formulations for men. In this case, it is a 3-in-1 product that can be used as a body wash.

Pert Plus is viewed as particularly well positioned for supermarkets because it is a mainstream brand with multi-functional aspects of the 2-in-1 shampoos/conditioners. It saves time and is quick and easy, with good efficacy. The brand is for “consumers who want to look good and are interested in their appearance, but they have more important things to do than use multi-step regimens in the shower,” said Wallace.

Pert Plus is priced in the mid-tier range, $3.25-$3.50.