Suave

For the exclusive use of M. Dass, 2015.

Harvard Business School

9-585-019

Rev. October 19, 1994

SUAVE

We are doing one-third of what we can to aggressively promote this brand. Suave

has become the old, reliable brand that has taken a back seat to Finesse. This brand is a

marketer’s dream. It just needs to get the attention it deserves. The upside for Suave is

tremendous.

Tom Kuykendall, group brand manager for Suave, had joined the Consumer Products

division of Helene Curtis just one month earlier, in January 1984. His views on the fiscal 1985 1

advertising campaign for Suave shampoo were in sharp contrast to those of Ellen Vallera, who had

served for seven years as brand manager:

Suave is not underadvertised. We cannot afford to spend any more money

on advertising because Suave is a price brand. With its low margins we do not have

much money to play around with. Any increase in advertising will require an

increase in price. That would jeopardize our position as the number one shampoo in

unit volume, and we could lose our trade support.

The debate had culminated in two media plans. The original plan was to increase the

advertising budget 30%, to $7.8 million; $7.1 million would be divided between daytime and primetime television, with $700,000 spent on Suave’s first print campaign. The more recent proposal placed

all television advertising in prime time, resulting in a total budget of $10.2 million.

Bob Thomas, vice president of marketing, was considering these two plans. He felt the

brand was “at a watershed.” Through October 1983, sales of Suave shampoo had been only 2%

ahead of the previous year and 2% below plan. Unit sales share had declined from 12.2% in 1982 to

11.5% in 1983, and operating margin percentages had fallen. Furthermore, it had been learned that

Gillette was test marketing White Rain, a new low-priced shampoo, and that Hazel Bishop Industries

would soon introduce a line of three low-priced shampoos. Other major...