Job Title: Senior Brand Manager, NIVEA : Smith & Nephew UK & Commonwealth
In Britain and the Commonwealth, the Nivea brand was positioned as a General Purpose Skin Care line – all-in-one Cleansing & Moisturising, for both Face and Body. By 1986 the brand was in decline. The Body Shop was booming. Nivea had to defend its ‘natural’ heritage as well as generate growth.
It needed to evolve into Specific Purpose Skin Care to remain more sophisticated than mass competitors and it clearly needed a structure of sub-brands. Just one phone call to Germany was needed to start the process of bringing the British Nivea brand closer towards European Nivea and a new brand architecture was agreed. Nivea has since grown to be the world’s no.1 Skin Care brand.
NIVEA®, was created in 1911 by the German company Beiersdorf. At that time it was a breakthrough in science. It was the first stable oil in water cream in the world and was therefore considered to be the beginning of modern cosmetics. In accordance with the terms imposed on Germany at the end of World War II, the rights to the NIVEA brand were expropriated in many countries, including the UK and Ireland. Smith & Nephew acquired the trade mark for the U.K & commonwealth countries.
