Yesterday I wrote about the 1-2 competitive landscape for most industry’s. One I didn’t mention was P&G and L’Oreal. P&G is twice the size of L’Oreal and owns brands such as Pantene, Tide, Crest, Olay, Clairol, Wella, Sebastian, Bounty and Charmin (remember Mr. Whiffle?).

L’Oreal owns brands such as Garnier, Matrix, Redken, Pureology, L’Oreal Paris, Plentitude, Lancome, Preference, Excellence, Kiehl’s,  and Studio Line.

Together, they own the majority of the professional beauty retail and color products sold. However, their numbers dwarf those they do in retail.

It’s no wonder that most pro products are available in most retail and Internet outlets. Question is, is there really a distinction between pro and retail products? Do salon owners care that P&G and L’Oreal are crushing the industry?

Apparently many care more about ULTA. ULTA has more than 300 stores including their newest flagship in downtown Chicago on 3 levels. ULTA passed the $1 billion mark (Pantene does more than $2 billion alone). ULTA figured out how to put retail AND pro products into one store and glamorize the whole thing. ULTA carries virtually every brand of pro products plus thousands more in the retail sector.

So the battle cry is that if ULTA sells it, we don’t want it. Never mind that the same owners continue to use P&G and L’Oreal brands at the back bar which are among ULTA’s biggest vendors. And you know what’s even funnier? Most salon’s biggest selling retail line is Kerastase, another L’Oreal brand. And the other biggest selling brand? Bumble & Bumble, owned by Estee Lauder who also own Aveda, MAC, Clinique, and Origins.

Just recently P&G announced their newest CEO. His focus: Beauty. P&G wants to eat L’Oreal’s lunch. P&G claims that over $1 billion a year is lost in salon retail sales each year due to consumers buying salon products at retail. This is a strange statement coming from a company that makes its money in retail. Further, they want to increase their salon market share by 3 points equivalent to the $1 billion lost (they figure they will come in and clean up).

They have the money, resources, strategy, R&D, and people to do whatever they set to accomplish. The question becomes: What is the future of the salon industry? Will salon owners wake up, stand up and yell as loud as they can: THIS IS OUR BUSINESS AND STAY FAR AWAY FROM IT OR ELSE!

Or else what? Doing business with P&G and L’Oreal is tricky. They lure owners with massive education, trips to NY and LA, online seminars from the likes of Michael Cole, offer free back bar, free capes, free this, free that, and loyalty points. They spend money advertising so people will buy the products. It’s like a drug addict needing cocaine but knows the perils. How to wean the addict; how to wean the salon owner?

P&G’s 3% will become 6% and do you think L’Oreal is going to sit around doing nothing? The game changer moment is here and the future of our industry is at stake.

Where are we going to go from here? I have an idea for tomorrow.

Happy Tuesday!

Why does it seem every industry has two main competitors and one weaker third? Coke-Pepsi. McDonald’s-Burger King. Nabisco-Keebler. Bryer’s-Eddy’s. Kroger-Safeway. CVS/Pharmacy-Walgreen’s.

When it comes to drug stores, which store do you frequent most and why? Here are some variables you can select from:

Location

Price

Service

Decor

Sunday advertisements

Selection

Image

Products I want

Website

Downloadable coupons

Loyalty program

Last Friday night we went to the local market to buy lunch for Saturday. Ice cream sounded good so we bought a tub of Eddy’s light (amazing how they downsized it by 25% but kept the price the same) for $5.99. I knew it was expensive but we were there.

Sunday I saw Target advertise the same ice cream 3/$7 and Walgreen’s 2/$5. Does price or convenience matter to you on a Friday night?

Happy Monday!

You wake up in the morning, check your calendar and see that it’s someone’s birthday or anniversary coming up. That means you need to buy a card. The dreaded thought goes through your mind: when and where am I going to buy a card.

E-cards started out with a bang. Nothing to dread, no stamps to buy and no addresses to locate. Simple, direct and you knew the recipient got it on time.

But e-cards proved to be too impersonal. How funny is that? People are twittering about when they flush the toilet, brush their teeth and make their bed. But e-cards are too impersonal.

So that brings me to today’s question: Where do you buy greeting cards? And in order of importance, let’s add some bonus questions!

1. Are you brand sensitive (are you a Hallmark shopper?)?

2. Are you price sensitive (do you buy cards at the Dollar Store?)?

3. Do you buy because of convenience (closest place to buy a card)?

4. Finally, do you keep stamps at home or do you hope that the store you buy your card sells stamps?

Which reminds me, there are a lot of birthdays coming up! Max is turning (gulp) 53, Tony is turning (gulp) 55. I will need to buy a couple special cards.

Happy Wednesday!

I’m glad I was a kid when I was a kid. I could eat any snack item guilt free since there was no labeling information way back then.

Hostess cherry and apple pies were among my favorites. The corner bites were the best. Little did I know that each pie was 480 calories, contained more than an ounce of sugar and had 55% of daily saturated fat. Heck, that was my dessert for lunch!

Kit Kat’s were also one of my favorites. One was never enough. Once we had a Kit Kat party and ate a dozen. We were done with Kit Kat’s for a while after that. Calories and fat content? Too scary to write about.

Salty snacks. Yum. Crunchy potato chips. Yum. So what if they are 10gm of fat per ounce. Back in the day, no one knew what an ounce of chips was. We only knew the size of the bags-small, medium or large. The One-Pounder’s barely lasted two days.

Snacks in a vending machine are also fun to eat. It’s sort of like a secret place to shop, sneak a snack and then feel guilty while eating it. My favorite vending snack was Marshmallow Pies.

OK, enough of me. What about you? I’m looking for your favorite gum, candy bar, salty snack, and bar (energy or protein). Thanks for sharing.

Happy Tuesday!

I was invited by ACS (American Cancer Society) to attend their first CEO conference and dinner held in Chicago. Approximately 25 CEO’s participated and I was the sole CEO representing Michigan (most were from IL). More about this in a minute.

I arrived in Chicago a day early to detail with one of our BE’s, Marie. We visited a dozen or so salons. Many of them already converted to Kemon, a couple scheduled demo’s and a couple the owner wasn’t in. We toured the Oakbrook and La Grange suburbs.

Salons ranged in size from 1600 sq.ft. in a strip center to 15,000 sq. ft. in a stand-alone building. Overall, I found the salon owners and hairdressers friendly and excited to be working with Kemon and TNG. Other than location, I didn’t see much difference between their salons and the ones here in Michigan.

Downtown was exciting as always except for the 10.25% sales tax. Ouch! There were more people wandering downtown than the entire downtown of Detroit in a month. I got to run the lakeshore and if you haven’t been there, this is the best part of the city. Miles and miles of paths and every imaginable activity is available; there’s even a restaurant serving up breakfast, lunch and dinner all with waterfront views.

Bars, restaurants and hotels were busy at 10:00 on a Thursday night. The city is alive and well. It’s exactly what we yearn for here in Detroit. Perhaps one day.

The CEO conference was excellent. I got to chat and meet several CEO’s from companies such as Walgreen’s, AT&T, United Airlines and DeVry. I learned for instance that Walgreen’s has 285,000 employees and over the past 10 years has raised $17 million for ACS. AT&T has 300,000 employees, United has more than 200,000 and here I am with less than 300. But hey, in 10 years we raised over $1.5 million.

It was interesting to get their perspective on cancer, wellness and health care. We all have the same issues. At least ACS is moving forward and bringing these issues to the forefront. If we could do that in Detroit with actual follow-through, who knows what could happen; there might even be people walking the streets!

Happy Monday!

Quickie of the day: What is more important for your survival: food or water?

If you answered food, how many days can the average person live without eating?

If you answered water, how many days can the average person live without drinking water?

And speaking of water, what percentage of the world water supply is sea water (contains salt)?

I’m off to Chicago to detail salons and then I am invited to the ACS CEO conference. I am looking forward to hearing about new technology ACS researchers have come up with and what the future holds. I know cancer cures have been a tough climb.

OK, here are your answers!

Food: 21 days

Water: 3 days

Sea Water: 97% (that’s right, only 3% of the world’s water is drinkable without major filtration).

Happy Wednesday-Friday!

Detroit might not have won the Cup Friday night but we did get the Red Bull Air Races. Red Bull has made so much money that they can sponsor air races and just about anything else they want to.

The Red Bull story is fascinating. You can read it online. Against all odds, this one ex-business guy learned about an energy drink from Japan and for three years tried to get approved from the Austrian government to sell it. It tasted awful, was eight times more expensive than Coke and had no previous market to sell into. The one thing it had on its side: energy boosting power and an alternative to other products.

The billionaire will never spend all his money regardless how many cans he consumes. But fame in this business like many others can be fleeting. Red Bull has lost market share for the past few years to upstarts such as Monster and the red hot 5 Hour Energy. Coke, Pepsi and others all have their own brands.

I know some people that consume several of these a day. Monster alone has more than 12 teaspoons of sugar. At least 5 Hour Energy is sugar-free.

What is your favorite energy drink? And why? And what is going to be the next hot drink category?

Happy Tuesday!

We absolutely love must haves. We will even kill intentionally or unintentionally to get must haves-remember the incident at walmart?

People will wait in line for hours and even days to get must have tickets. People will call a radio station a thousand times to be the lucky caller to get must have tickets. People must have the newest CD, movie release, or book that just came out.

Infomercial’s are the best at relating to our compassionate need for must haves. We must have the food chopper, ginzu knife, bathtub caulker, exercise machine and whatever gizmo looks cool for the moment. Then UPS shows up, the gizmo is used once or twice and gently discarded in the must have dumpster.

Beauty companies understand the must have mentality as well. Women must have the same makeup, shoes, clothes and hair styles as celebrities. They must have the latest color, print, fabric and shoe style. After after they buy the must have products? They need more must have products.

And when we love something we eat, we must have the recipe. I think the typical person has at least one hundred must have recipes. After the initial emotional period of getting the must have recipe, most sit in a drawer or file box collecting dust and simply forgotten.

So after years of those requesting my must have recipe for chicken, I am finally going to spill the beans. But here’s the thing: this must have recipe can’t go into the dust bin, it’s just too good.

LG’s Famous Chicken Breasts

Marinade good for 5 lbs skinned, trimmed, pounded chicken breasts.

Good Seasons packet (1.5 oz.)

4 oz. lemon juice (fresh is best)

1 oz. dried oregano

1.5 oz. Lawry’s seasoned salt

2 oz. dry red wine

1/2 oz. black pepper.

Whisk ingredients until blended. Then add:

1 cup vegetable oil

Add marinade to chicken breasts and marinate covered overnight.

Fire up a grill on medium heat. Cook each side about 4 minutes. Let rest a couple minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Happy Monday!

The first summer picnic.

What was more fun? Preparing the menu. Packing up the picnic basket. Remembering the blanket and bug spray. Getting into the car and driving to the lake or park. Finding the perfect spot. Setting up the feast. Uncorking the wine or pulling a cold one out of the ice chest. No phones, no computers. Just nature.

The first summer picnic.

Mosquitos the size of bumble bees. Bumble bees the size of baseballs. Ants canny ability to not only spot food but zoom to food within seconds. More mosquitoes buzzing around, in fact, swarms of mosquitoes to the point that you have to run away.

Oh oh. There is the mini-van pulling up into the parking lot. Oh oh. The worse fears come true. Out pounces four kids that seem to have been locked up for a month. There’s the father opening up the back unloading. There’s the mother screaming to her kids. Oh oh. Even worse, the father is pulling out a stroller. Oh oh. Yes, it gets worse still. They find the table right next to the one we are sitting at. Now we got mosquitoes, bumble bees, ants and screaming kids.

The first summer picnic.

I think the Y generation is skipping the picnic scene. They were taken to numerous picnics as kids and if an analyst looked into their minds, they would find the picnics were a pain in the butt. So now they are missing out on one of summer’s greatest pleasures.

The first summer picnic.

We pack up our stuff and find another perfect spot. This one is away from the water and away from the bugs and away from the screaming kids. Baked fried chicken, crusty bread with olive oil and chunks of cheese, pasta salad, and homemade cookies. The sun is setting. The air is warm and quiet. Hey, this is fun.

The first summer picnic is taking place at TNG today. Chicken breasts have been marinating overnight and my homemade salad dressing is ready to go. Some will have a sandwich, some will have a salad and some like Jason M. will have both. We have Daniel scooping up giant ice cream cones with Moosetracks and caramel crunch ice cream. And what would a picnic be without pickles and chips?

If you are around at noon, stop by and join us. It’s in the parking lot with a great view of Haggerty Road. And if nothing else, at least you can say that you were at your first summer picnic.

Happy Friday!

Jon Jordan, beauty guy from WDIV Channel 4 taught me something new today. He likes to button only the middle button of a 3-button suit. I have always buttoned the top 2. Thanks to Jon, I am now fashionable.

Jon and I were on location at Andrew Marke salon in Macomb. In case you don’t know where Macomb is, don’t fret. I will let you know it’s in Michigan and even Southeastern Michigan. Think Partridge Creek and a mile north and you will find this very busy salon.

Dynamic yet truly understated co-owner Andy Bernard with the assistance of Jon did a Kemon color treatment on Lisa, a Hair For Success participant. The Channel 4 camera taped the entire process and Monday morning at 5AM (or thereabouts), Jon Jordan and Andy will unveil Lisa’s new look. Then Lisa will be ready to seek employment all fired up and looking beautiful.

All weekend long WDIV will be running promo spots for Hair For Success. And all day long on Monday they will be live at Andrew Marke and promoting the 30 participating salons on their website, clickondetroit.com.

Jon and I chatted while tape was rolling about Kemon, why PPD-free and ammonia-free color is creating buzz, and the prediction that 2000 women will show up on Monday. At $80 average per pop, we calculated a donation value of $160,000. WOW!

Turn on WDIV over the weekend and watch for us.

Happy Thursday!