Better late than never, Nivea brand in Canada is finally climbing aboard the alpha hydroxy acid (aha) bandwagon.

aha is a generic term referring to several related acids that act as exfoliants by speeding up the skin’s natural shedding process.

Specifically, ahas stimulate exfoliation by breaking up the so-called intercellular glue that causes surface skin cells to stick together.

In the past two years, most major makers of consumer skincare brands have introduced products containing ahas.

Nivea Visage

This week, Smith & Nephew of Lachine, Que., which distributes and markets Nivea in Canada, will begin rolling out two aha-based products as part of the Canadian launch of Nivea Visage.

Nivea Visage, available in Europe since the 1960s and in the u.s. since 1987, is an upscale line extension to Nivea brand.

Both brands are owned by Beiersdorf of Hamburg, Germany.

Nivea Visage comprises nine facial products, including the two new aha-based formulations, Inner Beauty Daytime Renewal Treatment and Inner Beauty Nighttime Renewal Creme.

Beiersdorf introduced the aha-based formulations to Nivea Visage earlier this year. The u.s. product launch took place in the spring.

Barbara Trueman Grant, senior product manager with Smith & Nephew, says Smith & Nephew is eager to begin shipping the aha-based formulations in Canada.

Caught on

Trueman Grant says consumers have caught on to the benefits of aha, adding if a skincare brand stakes its reputation on being at the forefront of research and development, it needs to contain an aha formulation in its product roster.

The introduction of the Nivea Visage brand in Canada at the same time major skin care lines are coming under consumer pressure to introduce aha-based products is no coincidence, Trueman Grant says.

She says Beiersdorf’s strategy is to position Nivea Visage as the ‘brand we will focus on for new technologies’ such as aha.

Thus, Trueman Grant says if Beiersdorf were to have an aha-based product in Canada, it had to introduce Nivea Visage.

She says the original Nivea brand, which contains six products including a body moisturizer, will not get an aha formulation in its product line up.

TV spot

On Oct. 31, Smith & Nephew will debut a 30-second tv spot introducing Nivea Visage to Canadian consumers.

The spot will focus on a specific product, Anti-Wrinkle Creme with Vitamin E.

The campaign will also include print ads focussing on the two Inner Beauty products containing aha.

The print ads will appear in the November and December issues of major English- and French-language women’s magazines.

A couponing and sampling initiative, comprising inserts in the two women’s magazines and a direct mail drop in early 1995, will round out the marketing effort.

Canderm Pharmacal of St. Laurent, Que. was the first company to launch an aha-based product in Canada.

In 1991, it began distributing Neostrata AHA Skin Smoothing Cream to the dermatological market. Two years later, it launched the product to consumers.

Avon launched anew containing aha in 1991 in the u.s.

In Canada, it launched a similar product in 1993 under the Nova Perfection Complex banner.

Other major brands offering aha formulations include Elizabeth Arden, Channel, Estee Lauder, Mary Kay, Maybelline and L’Oreal.

This fall, Warner-Welcome will join the fray with the launch of an aha formulation for its Lubriderm hand and body lotion.