75 year history of providing high quality cosmetics, skin care, personal care and fragrance products at affordable prices

Established in 1932 by Charles and Joseph Revson and Charles Lachmann (nail polish supplier) Mission: To emerge as the dominant cosmetics and personal care firm by appealing to young trendy, health conscious and older women Products sold in more than 100 countries (China, France, Italy, New Zealand). In 1996, entered Chinese market. Products: (Put Pictures in Presentation) Cosmetics Revlon Hair Flex, Frost & Glow Beauty Tools Expert Effect Fragrance Charlie Deodorants Almay Skin Care Ultima II

 Consolidation: consolidated sales and marketing functions to reduce operational costs

Liquidation: closed three manufacturing plants

Redundancy: reduced workforce Divestiture: Closed in-house advertising division; Colorama brand of cosmetics sold to LOreal

Baby Boomers
Aging population Change in proportion of racial and ethnic population (African American, Hispanic).

There is a large market gap in Asian countries. Latin American is also a great growth opportunity Brand-loyal customers High disposable income Consumption patterns and rates have not changed Women active in workforce

Teen Market Men also using personal care products (skin creams) Use of animal testing Gas prices are high and rising, leaving less disposable income Value of dollar dropped

K-Mart Walmart Avon (door-to-door selling) P&G (Hair Care Pantene; Skin Care Gillette; Fragrance Lacoste; Cosmetics Max Factor) Estee Lauder LOreal Unilever Retailers selling their own brands (Gap, Banana Republic, Victorias Secret) Others (Urban Decay, and specialty stores Bath and Body, Body Shop, Sephora

Change in management (Charles Revson to Michel Bergerac). More focus on pharmaceutical side and brought health care products. Company was losing grounds in cosmetics led to a leveraged buyout by Ronald Perelman, who again focused on cosmetics and sold health care line. David Kennedy, who was selected as Chairman and CEO in 2006, decided to cut 164 jobs in February 2006. During 2006 and 2007 he decided to cut 250 jobs which was almost 8% of the total workforce. Two vice president positions were eliminated due to which the marketing head and executives leading international divisions have to report directly to Kennedy. The restructuring will cost them $29 million but will save $34 million annually due to reduced expenses.

Product: Revlon started with only one product nail enamel. Manufacturing differentiation: made with pigments instead of dyes. So they could market large number of colour options to consumers quickly. After WWII, it expanded product lines with the introduction of manicure and pedicure instruments. Later, fragrance line also introduced with Charlie. Place/Distribution: limited distribution only professional salons carried Revlon products. Later also available in drug stores and department stores. Acquisition of Bionature S.A. enhanced distribution capabilities Promotion: 1960s featured American Look campaign. Price: was available to mass market with affordable prices

The primary customers of Revlon are mass merchandisers and chain drug stores such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, CVS. Revlons products are also sold through its Web sites. Revlon spent almost $120 million on advertising in 2006. A large brand, Vital Radiance, not received well by the market reason: 1) competitors were already selling such products like Walmart 2) it was over priced

Globalization has enabled the company to reduce their production facilities which are now centralized to cover core regions. The company has production facilities in Oxford, New Jersey, China. Several plants of the company have ISO-9000 certification which shows their commitment to quality manufacturing standards. The Revlon Phoenix Site Distribution Centre handles components, raw materials and finished stocks of cosmetics and personal care products.

New product development is the primary objective of Revlon. Despite financial struggles, kept launching and/or reintroducing new product lines (Eg. Ultima II, Charlie) Revlon spent $24.4 million on research and development efforts in 2006.

Faced losses for 8 consecutive years and struggling with debt. It is now trying to reduce debt by issuing stock Revlon long term debt was almost $2.3 billion at the end of 2006. Their sales decreased from $1332.3 million in 2005 to $1331.4 in 2006. Their net loss was $251.3 million in 2006 which was higher than 2005. Also their current and total assets decreased while their current and total liabilities increased from 2005 to 2006.