Successes

Situation:

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is a popular adage that often impedes innovative thought and action. Kirk’s classic Original Coco Castile Bar Soap had been a trusted bar soap in American families for generations since its’ 1839 origins. In traditional conventional strongholds like mass and drug stores, Kirk’s often offered the only natural bar option. By 2017, however, the natural floodgates had opened and Kirk’s outdated packaging no longer looked as natural next to its often savvier competition.

Solution:

The family who owns Kirk’s Natural also owns The Grandpa Soap Co and South of France Natural Body Care. Vicky Neilson had been a trusted consultant for several years when she encouraged a brand refresh – no formula updates would be needed for a bar made with 100% pure coconut oil and only 5 ingredients but very careful tweaks to the brand image, logo and language would be critical to growing Kirk’s in the 21st century.

One year later the “new look” debuted with both a sigh of relief and applause from retailers and consumers alike. Simultaneously, Vicky replaced low-performing shampoo, body wash and hand wash forms with a 3-in-1 multi-tasking product scented with essential oils and launched an innovative, all natural odor neutralizing hand wash. The new tagline “Simple Clean for Generations” says it all.

Situation:

Since 1878, one iconic ingredient, 100% plant-based Pine Tar, had been the impetus behind the longevity and popularity of The Grandpa Soap Company. But by 2016, the natural channel which formed the bulk of its sales was seeing growth from new and innovative ingredients and even Pine Tar was losing market share. But how to drive growth while maintaining the integrity of its Midwestern heritage?

Solution:

Vicky Neilson took a hard look at the bar collection which included both high potential but underused ingredients like oatmeal and witch hazel as well as past favorites more suited to a limited edition than a core item. She also introduced on-trend ingredients like Charcoal and Rose Clay, always ensuring that new key ingredients remained true to the heartland heritage.

Packaging was revitalized to reflect its apothecary roots and each item pairs hard-working ingredients with benefits clearly stated on the front packaging panel. Vicky instituted a multi-year development plan to ensure both retailers and consumers, always looking for the next thing, would remain engaged and eager for the next product introduction.

To celebrate the one year anniversary of the restage, a new collection of Haircare products was launched targeting four key consumer needs. The following year, a collection of Body Cleansers each with unique formula attributes launched to great acclaim from retailers and consumers alike.

Situation:

South of France had been a pioneer in natural personal care, marketing its bar and hand soap products through both the natural and conventional grocery channels. But by 2012, the brand was losing ground to hotter, more aggressive upstarts. Now owned by a private equity firm looking to groom the company for eventual sale, it was clear that the product line was not sufficiently competitive to attract prospective buyers.

Solution:

When Vicky Neilson was brought in to turn around the brand, a two-three year time horizon was envisioned for sale of the company. Vicky convinced the owners that a major overhaul of both the bar and hand soap forms was essential, and she set out to create new sizes, packaging, graphics, scents, and pricing.

Six months into the overhaul, the owners decided to move up the timetable for selling the company. Vicky now had two roles, both of them crucial: speed up the restaging schedule to “ASAP,” while serving as corporate officer in presentations to potential buyers of the company.

She was successful in both roles. The company was sold six months later and, thanks to Vicky’s restaging, the new owners now enjoy the #6 bar and #6 hand soap in the natural category.

Situation:

Once a major player in the prestige fragrance channel, the Givenchy name had fallen victim to a promotional “gift with purchase” strategy, and was losing share in the U.S. market. To retailers, as well as to its own LVMH sales team, the heat was all being generated by its sibling designer brands — Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs, and Kenneth Cole. The challenge was to inject the still-viable Givenchy brand with enough new sizzle to get both the sales team and retailers excited.

Solution:

Convinced there was still plenty of life in the Givenchy name, Vicky Neilson set out to change its trajectory. Understanding realized that the Paris-based development team lacked direct experience in the U.S. market, she worked closely with them to create products and promotional strategies that could excite both the sales team and the retailers. Concurrently, she forged new relationships with buyers and merchandisers, as well as with corporate sales teams.

As a result of these efforts and partnerships, six new fragrances were launched in just three years. One of these — Very Irresistible Givenchy — is widely credited with putting Givenchy back on the map. Another — Amarige D’Amour — was successfully positioned as a wedding fragrance, through extensive co-marketing with other Givenchy licensing groups.

Situation:

Having pioneered the idea of fast fashion, Limited Brands (now L Brands) set out to recreate their “speed-to-market” model in the personal care arena. Despite lack of experience in the category, they entered into a joint venture — Gryphon Development — with the aim of creating a new specialty retail channel.

Solution:

In her key role as Gryphon’s brand management director, Vicky Neilson rose to the challenge of compressing the traditional brand development timeframe from years to months. Working closely with dozens of manufacturers, she eliminated silos and partnered with cross-functional team members to create a new development road map that allowed Gryphon to launch entire collections every six to nine months.

Drawing on both her operational and retail mindsets, Vicky was instrumental in instituting the first speed-to-market model for the personal care category, anticipating by a full decade its adoption by the rest of the industry. The model brought dozens of new specialty products to market for both Victoria’s Secret Beauty and Bath & Body Works.

Situation:

Despite their success at launching multiple new personal care products, Gryphon had never developed brands outside The Limited’s family of retail brands. This was to change dramatically when they were presented with the opportunity to create customized bath and body products for The Disney Store.

Solution:

Fresh from the success of first Victoria’s Secret Beauty and then Bath & Body Works, Vicky Neilson took on the challenge of creating a unique niche within Disney — both its stores and theme parks. Charged with conceptualizing and executing unprecedented new products for children, she collaborated with Disney’s retail merchants, none of whom had previous experience in the personal care category.

Working with a bare-bones staff, she pressed into service a number of first-time vendors — many of them niche manufacturers who had never before worked in personal care. Adding these to her lengthy list of sub-contractors, she drove the rapid development of packaging, scents, and formulas to create 169 new SKUs in just nine months. The result was three unique collections — for infants, toddlers, and tweens — all targeting parents and grandparents, all under the Disney brand.