| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JUNE 28, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| INTERNATIONAL -- EUROPEAN COVER STORY
How Germany's Beiersdorf Succeeds with Its Own Style Stop in any Polish drugstore and ask the locals who makes Nivea, the moisturizer favored in Poland, and they'll probably tell you: "We do." That answer is music to the ears of Rolf Kunisch, CEO of Beiersdorf, the German company that has been making Nivea since 1912. Says Kunisch: "Polish people love Nivea...and think that it is the oldest Polish brand." Beiersdorf's marketing approach is decidedly different from L'Oreal's method of marketing French elegance or American fashion sense. "Don't try to copy someone," says Kunisch. "They can do their own business better than you can. Instead, try to change the game." That strategy certainly seems to be working in Poland, which remains one of Beiersdorf's fastest-growing markets. Then again, Beiersdorf has been in the game for a long time. According to Kunisch, the Hamburg-based company went international before World War I, exporting to places as far away as Buenos Aires. Today, Nivea is the top-selling skin-care brand in the world. Factory sales in 1998 brought in a smooth $1.59 billion. And according to A.C. Nielsen, Nivea holds 15% of the world market in skin-care products -- which includes everything from facial moisturizers to suntan lotions. BLACKHEAD-BUSTER. Beiersdorf was even early on the scene in Asia. Thirty years ago Nivea started a successful joint venture with Japan's Kao Corp., a large chemicals company, to enhance distribution of Nivea products in the Far East. Two years ago, Kao went to Beiersdorf with a major new product development, but the German partner almost passed on the opportunity. Kao wanted to market blackhead-removing nose strips. "Unfortunately, we laughed about it," Kunisch recalls. "The Kao guys showed it to us. We were very polite and said it was interesting. And we kind of thought, 'what nonsense.' That was the personal dumbness of two people -- including myself -- it was a lack of imagination." "A year later when I was in the States and saw it running out of stores and people celebrating nose-strip parties...we didn't laugh at all," says Kunisch. Beiersdorf quickly introduced Nivea Kao Biore Clear Up strips in Europe in the middle of 1998, snapping up sales of $37 million. Beiersdorf is more than just Nivea. The company was founded in 1882 with a patented bandage that promoted healing. Later it developed a self-adhesive bandage, and then a full line of products for wound care. Its brand name, Hansapflast, is as synonomous with wound care in Europe today as Band Aid is in the U.S. One bandage experiment led to an adhesive so strong that it had the unpleasant effect of taking the skin off when removed. So Beiersdorf marketed it as an industrial-strength adhesive film. Today it is called Tesa and is as well-known in Europe as Scotch Tape is in the U.S. No rip off there. By Karen Nickel Anhalt in Hamburg _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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 RELATED ITEMS L'Oreal: The Beauty of Global Branding (int'l edition) EUROPEAN COVER IMAGE: L'Oreal: The Beauty of Global Branding CHART: L'Oreal's Makeover TABLE: Across the Beauty Spectrum Where the Science Is More Than Skin-Deep (int'l edition) ONLINE ORIGINAL: L'Oreal's Owen-Jones: ``I Strive for Something I Never Totally Achieve'' ONLINE ORIGINAL: RESUME: Resume: Lindsay Owen-Jones ONLINE ORIGINAL: How Germany's Beiersdorf Succeeds with Its Own Style INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
