Cosmetics Vision Speaker

Will King reveals the secrets to cracking the illusive men’s grooming category

By Simon Pitman

- Last updated on GMT

Will King, founder of King of Shaves
Will King, founder of King of Shaves

Related tags Cosmetics vision Shaving

As the founder of UK men’s grooming brand King of Shaves, Will King knows the ins and outs of this unpredictable category. And at next month’s Cosmetics Vision he will open up on what men really want out of their grooming products.

Cosmetics Vision​ will be taking place in Cannes, south of France, from March 5th​ to 7th​, and will feature networking opportunities with some of the leading names in the industry, together with a comprehensive speaker programme featuring Will King.

King’s presentation will be during the afternoon session on March 6th​ and is titled: ‘One man among many : The King Of Shaves reveals what men want – and how to give it to them’.

Having built up one of the most successful men’s shaving brands in the UK, and now expanding his empire globally, King will reveal how he took on a market that was almost monopolized by a couple of key players in the early 90s and shook it up.

So what’s the absolute golden rule to getting it right in this category?

"Whether the economy is booming or dooming, if a business is a great business it will survive.  In times of economic stress, people seek out either best product, best value or best service.  Note ‘best’.  Anything that is sort of OK, alright, will just about do – won’t survive,”​ King told Cosmetics Design in an exclusive interview ahead of his presentation.

“Anything that is just ‘a brand’ without a reason to exist or a ‘just about OK formula’ will die.  Survival of the fittest always applies!”

The men’s grooming market seems to be a particularly tough one to crack, not only because conveying a message that resonates is challenging, but also because the market has been largely cornered by the bigger players.

“The men’s sector is basically a monopoly disguised as a duopoly with apparent competition, especially in the high performance razor and blades sector.  We live in a world of globalized multi-nationals & massive interconnectivity, so it’s no surprise that P&G, Unilever, L’Oreal and Beiersdorf dominate men’s toiletries,”​ King said.

Innovation, innovation, innovation...

But King believes that innovation has been lacking in the men’s grooming segment, which is why he has stepped in with the newly launched Hyperglide, which is claimed to be the first ever blade to negate the need for shaving foam.

“To succeed in this sector, we have massively innovated with our superhydrophilic cartridge lubrication system, making lubestrips obsolete, leapfrogging our competitors.  The only way we’ll really deliver volume is by simply selling the best products,”​ said King of the new product launch.

And this is how King believes he will keep King of Shaves ahead of the game, by focusing on providing the most forward-thinking and innovative products in the category.

“Innovation is key.  Embrace change as a constant, make simplicity your ultimate sophistication, and you’ll be on your way.  Don’t innovate?  Die.”​  

Attending the Cosmetics Vision Event

The Cosmetics Vision event features various networking opportunities, a round-table industry discussion and a two-day conference programme with some of the biggest names in the industry, including besides Will King, will also include the world’s only beauty futurologist, Jeanine Recckio, and Dr. Liliana George, executive director of corporate innovation and sustainability at Estée Lauder.

Read more here: http://www.cosmeticsvisionevent.com/Content/Cosmetics-Vision-is-the-ultimate-event-connecting-leaders-in-cosmetics-design/1/#yK1hmMLIDidwEOKo.99

The event will take place at the Martinez Hotel, in Cannes, south of France, between March 5 -7, and anyone wishing to know more about being a part of this must-attend event can click here​ .

Related topics Market Trends Cosmetics Vision 2014

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