ROC EXPANDS LINE AND PRICE RANGE
NEW YORK — RoC, the skin care line that helped push mass price points to a new high in 1999, is expanding its product line — and price range — this year. Rolling out in March are two new stockkeeping units. One is aimed at firming the face and the other is designed to smooth thighs of cellulite. Each will sell for a suggested retail price of $20, $2 more than RoC’s premium-priced anti-wrinkle line currently on shelves.
The new formulas, like RoC’s 13 other sku’s, are designed to bring science and technology to mass consumers.
Protient Actif Pur Daily Firming Treatment, for example, combines tyrosine, a protein-building block found in the human body, with dimethylaminoethanol or DMAE, a firming nutrient found in fish. The result is protient, formulated by Johnson & Johnson, the brand’s parent, to firm and tone the face.
According to Tanya Berman, group product director for RoC skin care, the product has been designed to provide immediate results.
“A woman will see improved definition and contouring of her face and a more alert appearance in an hour,” Berman said. Berman helped J&J launch RoC to the U.S. mass market in September 1999. RoC was previously available only in Europe. The brand was founded in France in 1957.
“Protient Actif Pur supports the skin. Other products contain temporary firming agents,” Berman added.
Firming Treatment broadens the demographic generally targeted by facial treatments since it addresses self-conscious teens with hectic schedules, Berman noted. Yet is also speaks to more mature women looking to hide circles and folds in their skin. An Eye Contour Gel is also offered with the protient technology.
Much of RoC’s success can be attributed to the popularity of its anti-age products, which use retinol, a pure form of vitamin A, as its active ingredient. RoC will capitalize on this success with its other new 2001 sku, Retinol Actif Pur Anti-Cellulite Treatment. The new entry marks the mass channel’s first product with an anticellulite claim. According to RoC’s packaging, Retinol Actif Pur Anti-Cellulite Treatment reduces cellulite by 39 percent in as little as eight weeks.
While Berman refused to comment on RoC’s annual sales, industry sources estimate the 13-sku line generates approximately $30 million in wholesale volume. The two new sku’s, industry sources estimate, will generate approximately $8 million in first-year wholesale sales.
Both Retinol Actif Pur Anti-Cellulite treatment and Protient Actif Pur Daily Firming Treatment will be supported by TV and print campaigns beginning in April and May, respectively.