Elizabeth Arden cut fragrance in favor of skin care and make

Elizabeth Arden plans to slim down the fragrance segment of its Elizabeth Arden brand and build the business by focusing on skin care and color cosmetics.

At the Piper Jaffray Consumer Conference in New York, CEO E Scott Beattie said the Elizabeth Arden brand enjoys great awareness and has tremendous potential for growth.

Brand expansion plans

Over the next five years, Beattie plans to transform the Elizabeth Arden brand from a $600m operation to a $1bn business.

He said the challenge is twofold. Firstly, Elizabeth Arden must modernize the 100 year-old brand and make it relevant to a “new generation of consumers” and secondly, the company must have consistent execution across the whole global platform.

Explaining the nuts and bolts of the brand expansion plan, Beattie said the product mix within the Elizabeth Arden brand will be changed in pursuit of growth.

Product mix changes

The plan is to wrench up the skin care share from 44 to 50 percent, increase the color cosmetics share from 16 to 20 percent and cut the share from fragrance from 40 to 30 percent.

Beattie explained the strategy, saying travel retail and Asia are its fastest growing markets and these are also very strong skin care markets.

Going forward, Beattie said the Prevage cosmeceutical offering, developed in partnership with Allergan, will be rolled out on a more consistent basis globally. He said Ceramide, its biggest skin care brand, has been doing well, especially in Asia, and Intervene, which is now a smaller brand, is poised to be a growth driver.

In color cosmetics, Arden plans to improve its offering by leveraging off skin care. Being largely focused on foundation, there is plenty of potential for crossover and Beattie said the company will be tying in its skin care technology.

Meanwhile, Beattie said the company plans to reduce the proportion of fragrance in the Elizabeth Arden brand by narrowing its product offering. He said Arden would spend more across fewer brands.