07.02.23
Santa Barbara, CA
www.olaplex.com
Sales: $704 million
Key Personnel: JuE Wong, president and chief executive officer; Eric Tiziani, chief financial officer; John Duffy, general counsel; Charlotte Watson, chief marketing officer; Tiffany Walden, chief operating officer; Juliane Park, chief transformation officer; John Keppeler, chief revenue officer
Major Products: Hair care products including shampoos, conditioners and treatments
New Product: LashBond, No. 4 D Dry Shampoo
Comments: Sales increased nearly 18% last year to $704 million. US sales rose 15.4% and international sales jumped nearly 21%.
By channel, professional rose 16% to more than $300 million; specialty retail soared nearly 34% to more than $235 million and D2C was up 3% to more than $168 million. All great news, but Q4 revealed weakness for the hair strengthening brand. Fourth quarter fell more than 25% to about $131 million.
At least some of the decline can be attributed to lawsuits filed late last year and in February 2023. In both cases, plaintiffs charged that certain ingredients used in some Olaplex products caused irritation or posed a hazard to consumers, and that the company engaged in misrepresentation with respect to those products.
Specifically, the February lawsuit, filed by 28 women, claims products caused hair loss, blisters and other conditions. After the lawsuit was filed, dozens of consumers joined the suit. Olaplex is determined to vigorously defend itself in court.
Sales continue to go south in 2023, but CEO JuE Wong isn’t pulling her hair out…yet. Q1 sales fell nearly 39% to about $114 million. In a statement, Wong said:
“While we recognize that we are in the early stages of this plan achieving its intended results, we remain confident that our competitive differentiators and the execution of our priorities will enable Olaplex to return to consistent and sustained sales growth at continued top-tier profitability in the future.”
As part of its reset, she told analysts that one of its priorities is building out its PR capabilities. “By leveraging our social channels, we have been proactively distributing content focused on correcting misinformation about Olaplex in the market.”
In a personnel move, John Keppeler was appointed chief revenue officer and Nabanita Choudhury is the new senior vice president, global D2C.
www.olaplex.com
Sales: $704 million
Key Personnel: JuE Wong, president and chief executive officer; Eric Tiziani, chief financial officer; John Duffy, general counsel; Charlotte Watson, chief marketing officer; Tiffany Walden, chief operating officer; Juliane Park, chief transformation officer; John Keppeler, chief revenue officer
Major Products: Hair care products including shampoos, conditioners and treatments
New Product: LashBond, No. 4 D Dry Shampoo
Comments: Sales increased nearly 18% last year to $704 million. US sales rose 15.4% and international sales jumped nearly 21%.
By channel, professional rose 16% to more than $300 million; specialty retail soared nearly 34% to more than $235 million and D2C was up 3% to more than $168 million. All great news, but Q4 revealed weakness for the hair strengthening brand. Fourth quarter fell more than 25% to about $131 million.
At least some of the decline can be attributed to lawsuits filed late last year and in February 2023. In both cases, plaintiffs charged that certain ingredients used in some Olaplex products caused irritation or posed a hazard to consumers, and that the company engaged in misrepresentation with respect to those products.
Specifically, the February lawsuit, filed by 28 women, claims products caused hair loss, blisters and other conditions. After the lawsuit was filed, dozens of consumers joined the suit. Olaplex is determined to vigorously defend itself in court.
Sales continue to go south in 2023, but CEO JuE Wong isn’t pulling her hair out…yet. Q1 sales fell nearly 39% to about $114 million. In a statement, Wong said:
“While we recognize that we are in the early stages of this plan achieving its intended results, we remain confident that our competitive differentiators and the execution of our priorities will enable Olaplex to return to consistent and sustained sales growth at continued top-tier profitability in the future.”
As part of its reset, she told analysts that one of its priorities is building out its PR capabilities. “By leveraging our social channels, we have been proactively distributing content focused on correcting misinformation about Olaplex in the market.”
In a personnel move, John Keppeler was appointed chief revenue officer and Nabanita Choudhury is the new senior vice president, global D2C.