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"In the cosmetic market, typically a product will have a surge in saleswhen introduced, but will then quickly taper off as consumers continually seekthe 'next big thing,'" says Gina Daines, Director of Marketing forKlein-Becker USA, maker of StriVectin-SD. "StriVectin is different.Word-of-mouth has made it more and more popular the longer it's on the market.Copycats and knock-offs haven't seemed to hurt its reputation; if anything,they have driven more people toward the real thing. There's only oneexplanation for this extraordinary and steady sales growth: people really lovethis product. It's become a staple in the skin-care regimen of millions ofwomen -- and men -- around the globe. As we like to say, if you have skin, youneed StriVectin."
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How important is word-of-mouth to StriVectin's success? Let's put it thisway: StriVectin was the first "niche brand" to be literally forced intonational distribution in high-end department stores simply by word of mouth.In other words, so many people called stores like Neiman Marcus,Bloomingdale's, and Saks Fifth Avenue that they were forced to carry it ontheir shelves. This opened up the prestige cosmetic market in ways no one everdreamed possible.
But StriVectin is more than just a really good skin cream with strongword-of-mouth ...it was the first topical cream to popularize the "peptiderevolution" that still holds true today.
"Now, virtually every new skin cream contains some kind of peptide," saysNathalie Chevreau, PhD, director of scientific affairs for Klein-Becker. "Butwhen it was introduced, the remarkable, patented polypeptide-based StriVectinformula really revolutionized the market as people saw that it did more thanjust moisturize the skin ...it actually transforms the way the skin looks."
Sales enjoyed a healthy spike in 2006 when France's leading consumermagazine (60 Millions de Consommateurs) named StriVectin as the best, mosteffective anti-wrinkle face cream, as judged by a panel of 264 Frenchwomen...beating the likes of Dior, Chanel, ROC, L'Oreal, Lancome and otherhigh-end (and French made) products costing as much as euro 142 (about $185)per ounce. Furthermore, in 2007 StriVectin won top honors at the 17th annual"Les Grands Prix Advantages de la Beaute" (Advantage's Grand Prix of Beauty)in Paris, competing against French cosmetic giants the likes of Lancome,ReVive, La Mer, Yves Rocher, and many others.
"The fact that an American cream from a relatively unknown company won tophonors in Paris -- twice -- was a huge ego boost for us," says Ms. Daines. "Weknew we had something special, but to win the hearts of the French, who areknown worldwide for their discerning tastes in cosmetics and beauty products,was certainly a fantastic accomplishment."
Capitalizing on StriVectin's runaway success, Klein-Becker developed acomprehensive line of specialized StriVectin formulations, including an eyecream, neck cream, hand cream, deep wrinkle serum, and instant wrinkle filler,to name but a few. However, the top-seller is still the original StriVectin-SD"stretch-mark cream turned anti-wrinkle phenomenon."
"People love the entire line, and probably our next most popular productis the Hydro-Thermal Deep Wrinkle Serum," Says Ms. Daines. "But the originalStriVectin cream still outsells it by about two to one. I don't think anyother StriVectin product will ever outsell the original. People just like ittoo much."
Dr. Chevreau sums it up: "People have told us that StriVectin is the oneskin cream they would want on a desert island. It's good for the entire body.Acne scars, burn scars, stretch marks, fine lines, wrinkles, crows' feet, darkunder eye circles, sagging skin anywhere on the body ...StriVectin is trulythe long-sought-after 'miracle cream.'"
So happy 5th birthday, StriVectin! Here's to many more.
SOURCE StriVectin
