However, in the acquisition announcement, Coty made it clear that the company is not getting out of the nail color / nail care category.
Coty currently comprises nearly 50 brands and counts OPI and Sally Hanson among its ten ‘power brands,’ according to the company site. “Coty will continue to drive its leadership in the consumer and salon nail category as a key part of its growth strategy, however the Cutex business was not a focus-brand for Coty,” Patrice de Talhouët, Coty’s EVP and chief financial officer, tells the press.
Growing out the business.
Now, having the worldwide operations of Cutex, Revlon plans to grow the brand and will likely leverage its widely recognized nail polish removers (and bottles) to a distinct market advantage.
Though, that may not be the case. The company’s press release mentions that Revlon plans to redesign the current Cutex products. There will be line extensions into other categories too. And all of these updates will be made in the interest of consumer appeal, states the release.
“Cutex has been a consistent source of innovation, from its invention of liquid nail polish in 1917 to its popular nail polish removers widely used today,” points out Gianni Pieraccioni, executive vice president and COO of Revlon, in a press release about the deal.
“With this acquisition, Revlon continues to enhance our global brand portfolio and it provides us with a springboard to grow the Cutex brand worldwide,” he says. “We are excited to complete the global consolidation of the Cutex brand, as this will enable us to optimize the brand’s full potential.”
Going in a new direction?
The Cutex brand has been around for 100+ years, and is well known in the nail color and nail polish remover space. The current product portfolio includes, liquid polish remover, polish remover pads, sponge-in-jar remover, as well as gel polish remover.
Nail care, as a category is comparatively slow growing and innovation often follows from updates in other color or skin care categories. 5-free and eco-friendly polish and remover products are gaining in popularity, as are color correcting products. And there’s even been a bit of interesting activity toward commercial DIY nail polish in recent months. Which direction Revlon will take Cutex in isn’t clear, yet.