Top Alberto man takes up US job

Tom Monaghan, general manager of haircare company Alberto Culver, is leaving to take up a senior position in the US. The company refuses to confirm his move but it is known that Monaghan will take up his new post in mid-August.

Alberto Culver has brands such as Alberto Balsam shampoo and VO5 Hot Oil conditioner. The company is also about to launch its own range of permanent hair colour called VO5 Select Colour.

Since 1994, the company’s shampoo and hair conditioner brands, Alberto Balsam and Alberto VO5, have consistently been losing market share in competition with brand leaders such as Procter & Gamble’s Pantene Pro-V. Only the Alberto VO5 styling range has shown any increase, going up from 12.3 per cent value share for the 12 months ended June 1994, to 12.7 per cent for the 12 months ended June 1996 (IRI InfoScan).

In May this year, the company branched out into the body wash market by launching Alberto VO5 Naturals Plus Hair & Body Shampoo. The product, in three variants, was launched in the US to gain a bigger slice of the shower gel sector which had sales of $297m (195m) in the year ended February 25.