Head to toe - and everything in between: Neutrogena urges men to ditch the one-soap habit

30-Jun-2014 - Last updated on 03-Jul-2014 at 07:21 GMT

In what the brand is calling ‘a Canadian epidemic’, Neutrogena’s recent study revealed that 72% of men surveyed in Canada are washing their faces with the same soap product that they also use for the rest of their bodies.

This consumer behaviour trend, which was uncovered in a recently study carried out for the brand’s parent company Johnson & Johnson by Ipsos Reid, has been dubbed ‘junkface’ by the brand.

“It’s happening across the country – guys everywhere are suffering from ‘junkface’. Junkface is caused when the same bar of soap is used to clean [the whole body]”, the brand’s campaign asserts.

The anti-‘junkface’ marketing strategy comes as an effort to plug the brand’s Neutrogena Men facewash, pushing male consumers to begin investing in separate personal care products for the face to those used elsewhere, particularly the ‘junk’ area.

Widespread epidemic

Ipsos Reid carried out the survey for the brand, which was commissioned as part of Neutrogena’s new emphasis on targeting the lucrative and rising male grooming sector in the country, where sales rose 17% last year.

The study found the ‘junkface’ personal care behavior to be widespread, and accordingly the brand’s marketing campaign will be a multiplatform effort, with concerted digital advertising, and offline sampling events in gym changing rooms. The brand will initially focus on the 25- to 35-year-old male demographic.

“No man is immune,” Neutrogena states, and Ted Lachmansingh, group brand director at Johnson & Johnson, has noted that the campaign’s widely relevant appeal means it could be picked up globally.

Carving out a new niche for its products is a strong move by Neutrogena, meeting market research firm Euromonitor’s prediction for brand behaviour in Canada during this period.

“Most manufacturers are looking to reposition, remarket or change the image of their products, rather than develop product innovation,” its anaylsts have noted.

Canada showing some promise

Male grooming is increasingly a good bet for brands looking to grow within Canada, and is predicted to reach C$747 million by 2017, according to latest figures Euromonitor.

The firm also reckons the anti-aging and skin-whitening sectors are big business elsewhere in Canada’s skin care sector, with an increasing number of mature women and a rising immigrant population in the country fueling demand for the demographic-relevant products.