Sara Lee to delay Dim’s UK launch

Sara Lee Intimates, owner of Playtex and Gossard, has scrapped plans to launch premium French underwear brand Dim in the UK this summer.

Instead, the &£3m to &£4m marketing budget set aside for the launch (MW July 22, 2004) will be used to push the Wonderbra and Playtex brands. Dim, aimed at 25- to 35-year-olds, will still launch as planned in Ireland through Sara Lee’s Playtex division, which is run separately to the Gossard and Berlei brands. It is now not expected to hit UK shelves until summer 2006.

Playtex marketing director Herve Bailly confirms: “[The delay] has nothing to do with Dim, the launch of which was fully finalised and looking quite promising, but we felt we needed to invest more heavily in Wonderbra and Playtex.”

Bailly, who moved to join the UK division in January last year (MW November 27, 2003) was previously marketing director for the Dim brand, which is available across mainland Europe.

He says the launch of Dim in Ireland would act as a real-life testing ground for the brand in the UK. In Ireland, only the women’s lingerie range is being introduced; the range in Europe includes men’s underwear and swim-wear. Marketing support will include a television campaign and press advertising created by Publicis. Media buying is being handled by the Media Planning Group.

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