Word: culver
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...pink jungle of the toiletries business, Leonard H. Lavin, 43, president of Chicago's Alberto-Culver Co., aims for no less than "the elimination of all competition." While such a goal seems unlikely to all but Lavin, his stalking tactics in only eight years have changed Alberto-Culver from a one-product company (Alberto VO5 hair conditioner) to a rising threat in the industry, with sales last year of $57 million from 14 national brands...
...past month Alberto-Culver has brought out three new products: a skin lotion, a shampoo concentrate and an aerosol antiseptic spray that hardens to form a "bandage." This week Alberto-Culver begins test-marketing its New Dawn hair-coloring shampoo for fading women and Mighty White toothpaste, with toy cutouts on the box, for the children's market. Launching products is costly, but markups on toiletries are so high that Alberto-Culver last year earned 68.1% on invested capital. Profits were $2,300,000. So far this year, sales are up 48% and profits...
...Lavin's successful strategy is to work with a small staff for the sake of maneuverability (only four top executives make the decisions) and to create products for specific markets, launch them rapidly with a minimum of expensive test-marketing, advertise them relentlessly. Creating VO5 hair spray, Alberto-Culver methodically listed 18 qualities that women said they wanted in a spray, then rated all the competitors, point by point, and set out to make VO5 score higher. Though Alberto-Culver was twelve years late in the market, VO5 now has the biggest share...
Almost from the moment that his chemists start to work on a new product, Lavin's advertising men are preparing saturation campaigns. Even before Alberto-Culver finished developing its Subdue dandruff shampoo, the admen had filmed the TV commercials. If test audiences respond enthusiastically to the commercials, Lavin brings out the product. At times Lavin has put more than 50% of his sales into advertising, this year will invest well over $30 million. Television will...
...production before the product succumbs to newer, better or flashier things. The race to get to the consumer first has forced companies to shorten their product development time, and in some cases has actually made the product secondary in the sweat to sell it. Chicago's Alberto-Culver was so eager to beat Procter & Gamble's Head and Shoulders shampoo to market that it filmed the TV commercials for its Subdue shampoo even before it had developed the product...