King of Shaves

King of Shaves is a British-based shaving, skin care and grooming brand. The founder, Will King, set-up the company in 1993, producing the company’s first product ‘Original Shaving Oil’.

Background

Born August 18th 1965, Will King, the founder & CEO of KMI, the company that owns King of Shaves was made redundant in the early 1990's from his marketing job with Fountainhead Communications (previously Hedges Wright Creative). He had always experienced problems with shaving, and in 1992, whilst at home, created a shaving oil product that eased the pain, rash and burn he suffered whilst shaving. Following a visit to a Henley-on-Thames based chemist which sold essential oils, he experimented with them until he arrived at the formulation for his first shaving oil, finding that using an oil to shave gave him a smooth shave but without aggravating his skin. King had graduated with a 2:2 Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Portsmouth Polytechnic, having initially wanted to study Ship Science & Yacht Design at Southampton University.

King then approached London department store Harrods and after faxing owner Al-Fayed direct, secured his personal agreement to stock the new product. He then hand-filled 9,600 bottles in his kitchen. The process, which took two weeks, coincided with the annual Wimbledon tennis championships in London. King recalls watching the tournament as he filled the bottles using a 'gunk pump' that dispensed 2ml per stroke, supplied to him by a friend in the yacht building industry.

At first Harrods (Knightsbridge, London) sold one shaving oil every two weeks and the company's first year sales (1993-4) were £300. Now, in 2008, the King of Shaves brand is stocked in approximately 30,000 stores worldwide including the USA, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South America. It is estimated that one King of Shaves product is sold every 3.5 seconds. The company states that annual (group) wholesale turnover is forecast to be £25 million in 2008 (£13.9 million in 2007).

In recent press articles, King describes KMI as a 'boutique P&G" (P&G, or Procter & Gamble, is the huge US FMCG firm that owns brands like Gillette, Duracell and Braun. His motto is 'Enthuse, Exceed, Enjoy'.

King incorporated KMI (Knowledge & Merchandising Inc. Ltd.) on April 13th 1993. It is this company which owns the King of Shaves brand, along with other 'premium-mass' toiletries brands. Initially running the company from his home in Chalfont St. Giles, he was joined by Herbie Dayal (also a founding shareholder, previously with Booz.Allen & Hamilton and Matrix Management Consulting) as full-time Chairman in 1995, as well as Andy Hill, their first employee (now Managing Director). Hill met King when he rented him a snowboard in December 1993 in Val d'Isere.

Brands: The company now owns, licenses and promotes other brands in the male and female grooming markets including Ted Baker (fine fragrances & premium toiletries), Fish & AngelFish (cult hairstyling lines for men & women), Patently Obvious (a green 'clean without compromise') toiletries & skincare and in 2007 licensed Hed Kandi beauty from Ministry of Sound. In 2008, it also purchased Floraroma Ltd. from Joanne Sinclair (see below). Individual King of Shaves brands include KOS.PRO (Salon Professional), K2 (Technical Shave & Skincare), XCD (Skin Enhancing Skincare) & KU (Young Men's Skincare) as well as King of Shaves Woman. According to IRI, the brand was the second largest selling shaving preparations brand by value in the UK to the end of May 2008.

Razors & Blades: The company launched its first system razor, the Azor, under the King of Shaves brand in June 2008. Described as a 'hybrid synergy' system razor, and designed to bring together the best of system razors & disposable razors, King claims the Azor "shaves closer, longer, for less". It features an internationally patented TST (Touch Skin Technology) elastomeric Reflex 'living' or 'active' hinge to 'positively push' the cartridge against the skin for a closer, more comfortable shave, the skin pre-tensioner (or 'beard bumper') is integrated into the handle, and not thus thrown away unnecessarily with the cartridge, and the handle comes with three 'Endurium' coated four bladed replacement cartridge. The company deliberately took the decision to launch a razor with fewer blades than Gillette's Fusion (5 blades) as it believes there was no proven shaving benefit with any more than 4 blades. Founder King has been quoted as wanting to "dial down the blade count - we're not in a blade count arms race". He also coined the phrase "ecoptimised" meaning that the way the Azor is made, uses as little energy, material and resource as possible. Using a car analogy, he describes the Azor as a "Toyota Prius" or "Tesla" and Gillette's Fusion as a "GM Hummer". Launching the Azor into the UK market during the UK's so called 'credit crunch' or economic slowdown he believes will position the brand as one which delivers "more to you, not to them." The UK razor & blades market is worth cUK£320m (IRI April 2008), KMI are targeting a 25% market share of this market within 5 years, committing £35m on marketing between 2008-12. Apart from Gillette (P&G) and Wilkinson Sword (Energizer Holdings), other branded razor competitors are Bic, Supermax and American Safety Razor (ASR - a private label manufacturer owned by UK private equity firm, Lion Capital).

M&A: In March 2008 KMI acquired the entire issued share capital of Floraroma Ltd., which owns a number of primarily women's toiletries brands including Phil Smith, Delicious Beauty, Dead Sea Source, Little Me, Derma-Mum and Floracologie. This company continues to be run by founder Joanne Sinclair and Sales Director, Michelle Doolan.

Other: KMI's headquarters are in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England. There is an office in New York, USA. KMI directly employs approximately 50 people.

Competition

Main competitors include Global Gillette, Wilkinson Sword, Nivea, L’Oréal and Brylcreem.

tores in the UK and USA

King of Shaves is sold internationally at the company's web site and through retailers worldwide. The brand's principle markets are the UK, the USA, Australia and New Zealand).

Brands

King of Shaves (shaving and skincare for men)

King of Shaves Woman (shaving)

King of Deos (deodorant for men and women)

KOS.PRO (professional range of styling, shave and skin care products for men only available from salons / barbers)

KOS K2 (shaving and skincare for men)

KOS XCD (shaving and skincare for men)

Patently Obvious (antibacterial, biodegradable personal cleaning products)

Ted Baker Fine Fragrances (fragrances and skincare for men and women)

Ted Baker Bodywear (hair, skin and body care for men and women)

Fish Hair Styling (hair care for men)

Angelfish (hair care and styling for women)

Hed Styling (hair care for men)

KUth (shaving and skincare for teenagers and young men)

ponsorships

King of Shaves sponsored John Terry, England and Chelsea football (soccer) captain between April 2006 - June 2008. (Terry featured in a 2006 UK television advertisement for the brand), as well as Shelley Rudman, Olympic skeleton Silver medalist (Britain's only medalist at the 2006 winter games). Rudman's sponsorship deal runs through the Winter Olympics in Vancouver 2010. King of Shaves also sponsored Kristan Bromley, another British skeleton athlete, for two years in the build-up to the 2006 games.

King of Shaves also sponsored a P1 Offshore Powerboat for the 2006-2007 season. Piloted by James Sheppard and Craig Wilson, the King of Shaves powerboat won the World title in that season. Sheppard had also won the Honda F4 Offshore Powerboat Championships partnered by navigator Neil Sinclair in 2001,2002, 2003 & 2004.

The company also sponsors a Young Blades, a grass-roots programme for young sports people in the UK, it was a Platinum Sponsor of the Gipsy Moth IV project, between 1998-2000 and 2006-2008 it was the primary sponsor of Cowes Dinghy Week, and also funds local community-based initiatives.

References

1. http://www.shave.com/ Website for King of Shaves

2. http://www.xcdskn.com/ Website for the King of Shaves XCD range

3. http://www.prweek.com/uk/search/?fuseaction=PRW.Search.Results&lstJournalCodes=PRW&sSearchPhrase=king+of+shaves

4. http://www.kingofdefenders.com/ King of Shaves online game featuring John Terry

5. http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20070428090802mbynews.html

6. http://www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=9164

7. http://www.chelsea.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=65256

8. http://www.fishsoho.com/ Website for KMI brand Fish

9. http://www.tedbaker.co.uk/ Website for Ted Baker (who KMI produces fragrances and other products for)

10. http://www.shave.com/site/docs/sponsorship/community/index.stm

11. http://www.getahed.com/ Website for KMI brand HED Styling

12. http://www.angelfishsoho.com/ Website for KMI brand Angelfish

13. http://www.ciao.co.uk/Reviews/King_of_Shaves_Alphagel_Shaving_Gel__70875

14. http://www.shave.com/site/docs/sponsorship/johnterry/index.stm

15. http://www.shave.com/manifesto for the KO magazine page

16. http://www.kospro.co.uk/ Microsite for KOS.PRO range

17. http://www.patentlyobvious.co.uk/ Website for KMI brand Patently Obvious