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Research and Markets: Burt's Bees Case Study: Retaining Brand Values In Natural Personal Care Following Acquisition

DUBLIN, Ireland-(Business Wire)-October 2, 2008 - Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/0d04ee/burts_bees_case_s) has announced the addition of the "Burt's Bees Case Study: Retaining Brand Values In Natural Personal Care Following Acquisition" report to their offering.

Introduction

This report on Burt’s Bees forms part of Datamonitor’s case studies series, which explores business practices across a variety of disciplines and business sectors. It looks at how Burt’s Bees is planning to retain its original business focus following its acquisition by the bleach giant Clorox.

Reasons to Purchase

Gain insight into the methods used by important industry players to give them a competitive edge
Identify specific areas for operational improvements
Capitalize on the knowledge of experienced companies when entering a new niche or market

Key Topics Covered:

Introduction
The natural personal care market is a key growth segment
Large companies are looking to capitalize on the growing natural and ethical segment by purchasing successful natural personal care players
Colgate-Palmolive and LOreal have recently purchased natural personal care companies
Clorox follows their lead by purchasing Burt’s Bees, in order to improve its natural focus
The purchase price far exceeds Burt’s sales, showing how much the company believes in Burt’s future sales potential
The company also produces a green Clorox line, which has caused criticism that it is jumping on the bandwagon
The sale of Burt’s caused criticism from Burt’s core enthusiasts
Critics fear the sale will dilute Burt’s ethical focus
But Burt’s plans to operate as a separate entity in order to retain original ethical philosophy
The company continues to self-regulate its products to assure consumers that their naturalness is authentic, which could reassure critics of the sale
Burt’s markets its ethical business through novel initiatives
The company relied on grass roots level marketing prior to its acquisition, including touring the US with the Bee-utify Your World tour
Post acquisition, the company has utilized Clorox’s extensive marketing budget by forming a national campaign, clamping down on natural products that aren’t natural
The company forms a national print campaign to promote real natural products
Burt’s chaired a meeting with the NPA to attempt to form industry standards on natural products
Burt’s new product introductions are well aligned with consumer and product trends in the industry as a whole
The popular pomegranate ingredient is used in some of Burt’s products
The company has added an anti-aging range with on-trend antioxidant ingredients
Burt’s has also developed a men’s range to capture this growing market