L'Oreal Paints $50M on 'Open' Hair Dye As It Looks to Reclaim No. 1 Spot - L'Oreal S.A - Brief Article

Brandweek, March 26, 2001 by Christine Bittar

L'Oreal, joining rivals in the fast-growing hair dye market, this summer will launch a new hair color, the 24 SKU L'Oreal Open line, backed by a $50 million campaign, per sources.

The unusually named Open will target women under 35 who have been quick to add brighter shades to their tresses. It is scheduled to land on store shelves by the end of summer, roughly the same time that several other entries are slated: Clairol's Herbal Essences, May-belline/Laboratories Garnier's Lumia and an expected entry from Revlon in the wake of that company's own repositioning.

Beauty giant L'Oreal lost its No. 1 slot in the hair color segment last year to Clairol. With the new line, L'Oreal has also signed new spokesmodels including Beyonce Knowles, from the Grammy-winning R&B group Destiny's Child (Brandweek, Feb. 26) and Jessica Alba, who will both be featured in ads for Feria, L'Oreal's funkiest and youngest-skewing hair dye.

Garnier, meanwhile, recently signed actress Sarah Jessica Parker for its Nutrisse hair color brand, leading to a 30% boost in sales. Gamier parent Maybelline, which will break new ads for its Smooth Results makeup brand next week featuring Melina Kanakaredes of NBC'S Providence fame, may use the actress to pitch the Lumia hair color brand as well.

Like other new entries, L'Oreal Open is a permanent hair color and will play up its shimmering effects, using a tag "Vibrantly natural hair color." The Level 3 color gel (rinse out colors are Level 2), will contain herbs like green tea and aloe and will boast 'A sensual Zen experience."

L'Oreal will continue to use its umbrella "Because I'm worth it" tagline. Open, which contains 3% ammonia, will have a price point of about $9 at mass, versus a similarly positioned Clairol Herbal Essences at $10, due a month earlier and which does not contain ammonia.