The “Fierce Marketing War” in the Shampoo and Body Soap Industry

The “shampoo and body soap industry” created by marketing

In this day and age, it is not only young people who carefully select shampoos and body soaps.

This realization came to fruition when a FRIDAY reporter visited a drugstore in Tokyo. The store was crowded with housewives and office workers on their way home from work at 6 pm. When she looked at the shampoo section, she saw a middle-aged man in a suit. He rummaged through several products, and after some deliberation, he put P&G’s “h&s for men” shampoo for men (launched in 2001) in his basket and headed for the cash register. Kensuke Kanzaki, a researcher on cleaning and an expert on consumer goods, said.

I have been using this product for about five years. Men secrete more sebum than women and use hair styling products more often. For this reason, many of the men’s shampoos sold as men’s shampoos are specialized in providing a refreshing feeling, scalp care, and care for age-related odors. I tried various products for a while, and ‘h&s for men’ was the most dandruff-suppressing product among them.”

In recent years, men’s products have been attracting attention not only for shampoos but also for body soaps. Kao’s “Men’s Biore ONE” (launched in 2006) is an excellent product that can wash hair, face, and body all in one.

The main target is working men. They are busy and find it troublesome to use separate shampoos, face washes, and body soaps. That’s what we focused on with Men’s Biore ONE. In terms of individual categories, there are other shampoos and body soaps with excellent cleansing power, but they cannot match the appeal of having everything in one package. Shampoos and body soaps are an industry where marketing power is more important than product performance.

The shampoo and body soap industry in Japan itself is an industry created by marketing. Economic journalist Takai Naoyuki explains.

Japan’s first shampoo was Kao Shampoo, launched by Kao in 1932. The catchphrase at the time was ‘Once a week, even if you are tired. Then, in 1955, after the war, when Kao launched the powdered “Kao Feather Shampoo,” the catchphrase read, “Wash your hair once every five days! ‘”

Little by little, Kao sent out copy that encouraged consumers to wash their hair more frequently, emphasizing the importance of its products. However, around 1970, the penetration rate of indoor baths was about 50%. People went to the public bath only about three times a week.

At that time, people who went to public baths washed their hair only twice a week at most, and suffered from dandruff and itchiness. In 1970, we launched Merit, a long-selling shampoo that is still the best-selling product in the industry today, as a remedy for these problems. After achieving success with its anti-itch and anti-dandruff products, Kao turned its attention to the quality of hair as its next step. In 1976, Kao introduced the concept of “cuticle care,” which became the original of the popular “Essential” series.