The Knowledge Issue 14 v2 - The King of Shaves Company Ltd

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CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENTWith the merger of Gillette into Procter & Gamble (and also the introduction ofmale ranges from L’Oreal, Hugo Boss and Hackett following closely on fromthe Clarins Men and Shisheido Men launches), there is definitely a wave ofactivity sweeping through the male health and beauty market.These relatively large investments ($57bn in the P&G case) areobviously being made with a view to making a profitable returndown the line. There is an expectation that the male market willprovide the profitable growth required by these corporations ata time when the female beauty business is literally ageing andmaturing and thus slowing down.All this is good news for KMI. Investment by the major corporationsis helping to grow awareness of male grooming products amongstconsumers and retailers alike. In this marketplace King of Shaveshas again grown its market share to record levels and enjoys thehighest growth rates of all brands in the sector. Later on in spring,King of Shaves samples will be introduced packaged in with thenew “The RZR” line of razors and blades. This range will be availablethrough Boots stores at first.In the fragrance market there are signs that it is maturing andgrowth is slowing down. High levels of new product introductions,price discounting and much media hype are required for salesmaintenance by all brands in the market. Ted Baker fragrances,which KMI has developed since 1998, are performing well and thenew introductions, Second Skin and Take 3 have had a gooduptake.range of deodorants will appear in spring to complement the line.The brand’s overall growth in 2005 will be over 20%.I hope you enjoy the various articles which give more detail on eachof KMI’s brands and also on the various geographic regions weoperate in. We are looking forward to another great year in 2005and would like to thank all our business partners, suppliers and customersfor their hard work in supporting us.After 14 issues of The Knowledge in this format we are going tobe taking a new direction with the next issue out in the summer.First of all there will be a substantial new look to the overall companybranding introduced in the next issue – the first major changeof corporate identity since 1997. Then there will be a change of formatand direction for The Knowledge itself. Both of these changesare highly exciting and will bring more life into an already highlydynamic newsletter! We look forward to bringing you this – sowatch this space!And before anybody asks…the answer is, “No, the new identity andbranding did not cost us £75m!”Continued innovation in product and packaging will remain the keyin this area and KMI is looking forward to coming to market in 2005with a raft of gift and value sets to enhance our Ted Baker consumeroffering alongside the launch of Ted’s new fragrance forwomen, Second Scent.There is further scope to grow the Fish range of hair styling andbody maintenance products. Three more styling products and aHITEN DAYAL | CHAIRMAN | HITEN@SHAVE.COM
KING’S COMMENTSShaving hit the headlines in February with the sale of Gillette for $57bn toProcter & Gamble. How does this affect King of Shaves?Well, for one thing, it identifies the value that companies areputting on shaving men and their various skincare needs. Thisis surely a good thing for King of Shaves, which is in the vanguardof ‘software development’ with our patented MagnaGelMME selling well; the re-launch of a multi-tasking King ofShaves Woman range, and in the near future, our revolutionary‘micro-ball-bearing’ enhanced AlphaGlide ALS.But this takeover also brings into sharp focus the importance of the‘hardware’ and the ‘R&B’ business. By R&B, I’m not talking Rhythmand Blues, but Razors & Blades! With nigh on 75% of Gillette’sannual profits coming from their R&B division, it is amply clear thatthis is a profitable market; one that I have been exploring over thepast two years. It is becoming ever clearer, that just as King ofShaves excels in shave software design, so it has a fantasticmarket opportunity to sell a hardware product that “Shaves asclose, lasts as long, but costs less per shave”. Not a disposable,nor a fancy multi-bladed vibrating razor either. Something that deliversthe King of Shaves, but not for a King’s ransom.I can’t really say more about this as we are at an advanced stageof negotiation with a variety of ‘hardware partners’, but later thisyear you will see our first steps to reduce the cost of shaving. Thiswill hopefully lead to us being recognised as a company as interestedin saving the shaver money, as giving him ‘The World’sBest’ shaving experience.Finally, we also have in hand a number of initiatives to ensure thatKMI continues to grow sales of its key King of Shaves, Ted Bakerand Fish brands – so watch this space!USA REPORTWhen americans speak, americanretailers have to listenThe US King of Shaves business is expanding on the men’sgrooming radar thanks to our guerrilla marketing tactics anda strong demographic of ‘loyal subjects.’ Customer emails andletters can attest to our quality and dedication. A company thatactually cares about its customers and upholds the integrityof the brand… we are a new species on the US landscape.Now we are gearing up for the arrival of our revamped King ofShaves Woman line. She’s new and blushes in pink, and is keento blow her competition out of the water. Women won’t be ableto keep their pants on, but rather opt for skirts to show offtheir perfectly smooth legs. Eight lovely ladies have alreadyproven this to us through our FHM ‘Queen of Shaves’ contest,where we searched for the girl with the smoothest act to follow.FHM readers were encouraged to vote for the ‘Queen’ who thengets to meet Jason Kidd, New Jersey Nets basketball superstarand King of Shaves spokesperson, at an exclusive event andbe featured in a future issue.We round out our media exposure with the 20th Century Fox FatAlbert movie radio promotion and screening. The nationwideradio promo gave callers the chance to win a gift pack teemingwith King of Shaves and XCD products; while a fun-filled day wascreated for 100 kids who got to watch an advance screening atPlanet Hollywood in New York City.The US business can be capricious, but perseveres. We are quietlymoulding the shaving and skincare market in our image andbefore long, competing brands won’t know where their shelfspace went!WILL KING | FOUNDER & CEO | WILL@SHAVE.COMFURTHER INFORMATION | PHIL@SHAVE.COM | WWW.SHAVE.COM/USA
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The Knowledge Issue 14 v2 - The King of Shaves Company Ltd

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