Men’s Grooming Brands Have A Man Problem

A search for grooming products in the men’s sector unearths some brand and product names that would fit perfectly in the console of an unnecessarily loud sports car: Bearded Bastard, Ab Crew, Hair Arousal Wax, Suavecito, Uppercut, Combat-Ready Balm, and so on. Men’s beauty is one of the fastest-growing categories — sales in the market have increased 5 percent each year since 2010 and were worth $47.17 billion in 2015, according to Business of Fashion. Yet, despite positive numbers, it remains one of the most difficult categories to market. Dr. Lars Perner, a Ph.D. in marketing who teaches consumer psychology at the University of Southern California, says that while most products benefit tremendously from word of mouth and environmental factors (i.e. seeing your friend or other influential person with something and wanting it), this category doesn’t work that way. “The problem here is these are products that are usually consumed in private,” Perner says. “These are things you use in your bathroom so it means you don’t really get to see the brands that other people are using.” That’s what makes branding and packaging in this space so crucial. Read more at Racked.