Event Buzz: Sun Care/Personal Care, Oral & Baby 8/19/2015
Sunless tanning products – particularly prestige items – are gaining in popularity among consumers and are helping retailers offset the seasonality of the sun care category, according to attendees of ECRM’s Sun Care and Personal Care, Oral & Baby events last month in Tampa, Fla.
“The biggest challenge is that you are helpless against the weather,” said one seller during ECRM’s event debriefings – one-on-one interviews between ECRM staff and buyer and seller attendees. “Sales are directly impacted by how nice it is outside.”
Indeed, this was one issue discussed by Scott Avers, Customer Development manager for Coppertone/Bayer Healthcare during the ECRM/Drug Store News webcast on Sun Care Promotional Practices held this past May. “You can have the best feature ads in the world, but if the weather doesn’t cooperate it diminishes sales.”
One way to help mitigate the weather factor, in addition to sunless tanning products, is focusing on a steady ad presence versus occasional low-price offers, according to Avers. By keeping consistent promotions, when the weather is cooperating, your brand is front-of-mind.
New innovations also help drive sales in the Sun Care category, and there were plenty mentioned by attendees at the event. One of these innovations, from Banana Boat, an Edgewell Personal Care brand, won this year’s Drug Store News/ECRM Best New Product Award in the Sun Care category for its 6 oz. SunComfort SPF 30 Lotion, which allows sand to easily brush off as it moisturizes and protects skin.
Another innovator, E.T. Browne Drug Co., was named the finalist with its Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Eventone Suncare SPF 30 Sunscreen Lotion, which has technology it says helps prevent dark spots, uneven skin tone and premature aging, and provides 80 minute water/sweat resistance and UVA/UVB Broad Spectrum protection.
Kids Play
Niche players with licensed products aimed at kids are another trend mentioned at the Sun Care event, and one that garnered a few comments, not surprisingly, is tied to the major media brands of Marvel, Disney, and Universal. Actor Hugh Jackman, in an effort to get families to take sun protection more seriously, earlier this year teamed up with business partner Chris Clarke to launch a new line of products called Pure Sun Defense.
“Sun protection wasn’t as prominent for my generation and it’s important we emphasize its value for the next,” said Jackman, who was initially diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma in November 2013 and has since used his personal social media to emphasize the importance of wearing sunscreen. “I’m a father and want my children – all kids, really – to protect themselves against the health risk of skin cancer, since it’s so easy to do so.”
According to the company, most of the leading sun protection brands have limited products designed for children and no single brand is marketing specifically to children ages 3-14, the demographic that is actually driving category growth and awareness. The new products are available in a 6-oz spray and 8-oz tube with a suggested retail price of $5.98 for either, and sold at Walmart and Target nationwide.
To further engage children about the benefits of early sunscreen use, Pure Sun Defense forged partnerships with Marvel, Disney and Universal studios that bring favorite characters to sun care, including The Avengers, Spider-Man, Despicable Me, Frozen and Princesses (see photos).
Baby Comfy Care won this year’s Drug Store News/ECRM Best Product Award in the personal care, oral and baby category for its Deluxe Safety Nail Clipper at ECRM’s Personal Care, Oral and Baby event from July 12 to 15. St. Louis-based Handi-Craft Co. was named as the finalist for the Dr. Brown’s Options Baby Bottle.
ECRM New Baby & Infant Show
Because of this increased growth of the category, ECRM has launched a new Baby & Infant event, to be held July 11 to 13 at the Rosen Centre hotel in Orlando, and has expanded coverage beyond personal care to include general merchandise categories such as furniture, accessories, playtime & learning tools, toys, and safety and health-related items such as digital monitors.
