Nivea - Managing an Umbrella Brand

The 120-year old, Hamburg (Germany) based Beiersdorf has often been credited for meticulously building the Nivea brand into the world's number one personal care brand. According to a survey conducted by A C Nielsen in the late 1990s, the brand had a 15% share in the global skin care products market.

While Nivea had always been the company's star performer, the 1990s were a period of phenomenal growth for the brand. By successfully extending what was essentially a 'one-product wonder' into many different product categories, Beiersdorf had silenced many critics of its umbrella branding decisions.

In addition to Eucerit, the cream contained glycerin, citric acid, oil of rose and extract of lily of the valley (fragrant bell-shaped white flowers). Prior to the introduction of this cream, skin care creams were prepared using animal and vegetable fats.

Such creams decomposed as the fats lost their freshness. The mild, sweet-smelling product introduced by Beiersdorf, with its stable, long-lasting formula was thus a revolutionary product for cosmetic buyers. Troplowitz named this product Nivea, based on the Latin world 'nivius' (meaning snow-white). Before Nivea, skin creams were targeted primarily at women from the upper strata of society.