Olay Olay is an American skin care line. It is one of the top skin care retail brands in the world, except for Japan, and is one of Procter & Gamble's multi-billion dollar brands. For the 2009 fiscal year ended June 30, Olay accounted for an estimated $2.8 billion of P&G's $79 billion in revenue. Early days Olay originated in South Africa as Oil of Olay. Graham Wulff (1916-2008), an ex-Unilever chemist from Durban, started it in 1949. The name "Oil of Olay" was chosen by Wulff as a spin on the word "lanolin", a key ingredient. It was unique in the early days because it was a pink fluid rather than a cream, packaged in a heavy glass bottle. Wulff and his marketing partner, Jack Lowe, a former copywriter, had tested the product on their wives and friends and were confident in its uniqueness and quality. Olay's marketing was also unique, since it was never described as a moisturizer, nor even as beauty fluid. Nowhere on the packaging did it say what the product actually did. Print adverts used copy such as “Share the secret of a younger looking you” and talked about the „beauty secret‟ of oil of Olay. Other adverts were written as personal messages to the reader from a fictitious advice columnist named Margaret Merril. They ran in Readers’ Digest and newspapers and often looked like editorials. Wulff and Lowe, who ran the company under the banner of Adams National Industries (ANI), did not sell the product to the trade, but waited for pharmacies to ask for it based on consumer requests. As the company began to market the product internationally, it was decided to modify the name of the product in each country so it would sound pleasing and realistic to consumers. This led to the introduction of Oil of Ulay (UK and Ireland), Oil of Ulan (Australia) and Oil of Olaz (France, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany). In 1970, ANI opened a test market in USA (Chicago), and was expanding into northern Germany. 1970–1985 Richardson Merrell Inc (later Richardson-Vicks Inc) acquired ANI in November 1970. RVI capitalized the "Oil" and added the sub-name "Beauty Fluid" to help protect the trade mark. They further added a sales force and created TV advertising. The company extended the product range to include items such as Night of Ulay and Beauty Cleanser, and expanded into more countries (Spain, France, Germany) The result of Richardson Merrell‟s efforts was a dramatic increase in sales. However, as with many brands, the business was not managed uniformly so there were differences in performance between the countries. 1985–2005 RVI was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 1985. P&G greatly expanded Olay both in lineup and internationally. Olay became one of P&G‟s billion dollar brands in 2003. Since then, the range has been expanded to include a full range of hypoallergenic variants, cleansers and creams with the aim of meeting the full range of skincare needs, whatever the user's age or skin type. The brand also includes soap, and body wash. Olay Cosmetics was launched in 1996 but discontinued in 2001. Name change In 1999, it was decided to unify the brand under a global name. Thus, Oil of Ulan and Ulay became Olay on a worldwide basis, except in German-speaking regions and Italy, where it remained Oil of Olaz. In the Netherlands and Belgium, it was renamed just Olaz. Today The Olay brand has expanded into a range of other products grouped in “boutiques” including Complete, Total Effects, Professional, Regenerist, Quench (North America), White Radiance (Asia) and Olay Vitamins (USA). Olay is the market leader in many countries including USA, UK, and China. Olay has extended its heritage as a moisturizer to stay looking young, to formally creating the “anti-aging” category in mass stores with the launch of Total Effects in 1999. Active Hydrating Formula, generally the least expensive variety, bears the closest resemblance to the pink "Oil of Olay" marketed in the US before the P&G acquisition. The launch was almost double the typical price of a mass market moisturizer at the time. Today, there are numerous products in market more expensive than Olay. Olay Regenerist was the best performing anti-aging cream in a 2006 test done by a consumer association. In August 2007, Olay was launched in India. Olay‟s current slogan is "Challenge what's possible", which was changed from "Love the skin you're in". Since 2010, "Oil of OLAZ" is called only "OLAZ" in German-speaking countries. Slogan : "Olaz läßt Sie strahlen." (lit: "Olaz lets you shine.") The Olay/Olaz brand is known for animal testing, according to a list published by PETA. Oral-B Oral-B Type Oral hygiene Procter & Owner Gamble Country United States Introduced 1938 Markets Worldwide Oral-B (Official website) Website The Oral-B brand is a worldwide leader in the over $5 billion brushing market. Part of the Procter & Gamble Company since 2006, the Oral-B brand includes manual and power toothbrushes for children and adults, oral irrigators, oral care centers and interdental products, such as dental floss. Oral-B toothbrushes are used by more dentists than any other brand worldwide. Oral-B CrossAction Pro-Health Toothbrush & Essential Floss Oral-B is a popular brand of oral hygiene products, including toothbrushes, toothpastes, mouthwashes and dental floss. Oral-B was first marketed in 1938 by Procter & Gamble Gillette (brand) . Gillette Type Safety razors Owner Procter & Gamble Country Boston, Massachusetts, United States Introduced 1855 Markets Worldwide Previous owners The Gillette Company Website Gillette (Official website) Gillette is a brand of Procter & Gamble currently used for safety razors, among other personal care products. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was one of several brands originally owned by The Gillette Company, a leading global supplier of products under various brands, which was merged into P&G in 2005. The original Gillette Company was founded by King Camp Gillette in 1895 as a safety razor manufacturer. On October 1, 2005, Procter & Gamble finalized its merger with The Gillette Company. As a result of this merger, the Gillette Company no longer exists. Its last day of market trading— symbol G on the New York Stock Exchange—was September 30, 2005. The merger created the world's largest personal care and household products company. In addition to Gillette, the company marketed under Braun, Duracell and Oral-B, among others, have also been maintained by P&G. The Gillette company slogan is "The Best a Man Can Get". The Gillette Company's assets were initially incorporated into a P&G unit known internally as "Global Gillette". In July 2007, Global Gillette was dissolved and incorporated into Procter & Gamble's other two main divisions, Procter & Gamble Beauty and Procter & Gamble Household Care. Gillette's brands and products were divided between the two accordingly. Trademark The Gillette brand is synonymous with shaving and personal care products. As such, trademark protection becomes invaluable to distinguish a company's products and services from its competition to the public. King Gillette sought protection of his fledgling business for safety razors when he applied for the trademarks for razors and razor blades, soap, and shaving brushes on Wednesday, May 27, 1908. King C. Gillette filed trademark applications with the USPTO simultaneously in separate goods and services classes. King C. Gillette filed trademark applications under the early company name, Gillette Safety Razor Company, and while trademark applications were filed at the same time, each registration was granted on a different date. Registration for the Gillette trademark was assigned to razors and razor blades and was granted on October 13, 1908 with a serial number 71034984. Trademark for soap was awarded on September 29, 1908, with serial number 71034985, for shaving brushes on September 1, 1908 with 71034986. First use for this early Gillette trademark is declared as May 16, 1908. All 3 trademarks for the Gillette diamond are expired. Older products Gillette double-edged safety razor series See also: King Camp Gillette Double-edged safety razors The first safety razor using the new disposable blade, were introduced around 1902. Gillette maintained a limited range of models of this new type razor until 1934 and the introduction of the "Aristocrat". The great innovation of this new model was the "Twist to Open", or TTO design, which made blade changing much easier than it had been previously, wherein the razor head had to be detached from the handle. 1947 saw the introduction of the new "Super Speed" model, also a TTO design. This was updated in 1954, with different versions being produced to shave more closely—the degree of closeness being marked by the color of the handle tip. In 1958, the first "adjustable" razor was produced. This allowed for an adjustment of the blade to increase the closeness of the shave. The model, in various versions, remained in production until 1986. The Super Speed razor was again redesigned in 1966 and given a black resin coated metal handle. It remained in production until 1986. A companion model, "The Knack", with a longer plastic handle, was produced from 1966 to 1976. Newer products Gillette Fusion HydraGel is a new version in the Gillette shaving gel series. HydraGel offers a richer, smoother texture, a cleaner shave, and even less irritation or razor burn. Gillette Fusion ProGlide Power is a newer product version, and causes less razor burn due to the featured low-resistance shaving. Trac II was the world's first two-blade razor, debuting in 1971. Gillette claimed that the second blade cut the number of strokes required and reduced facial irritation.