We’re proud to number Lubrizol among our suppliers, not only because of the superior products it brings to market, but because it’s one of the true leaders in the industry.  That was recognized by Chemical & Engineering News, which has spotlighted Lubrizol as its Company Of The Year for 2009.

As their article puts it,

The most impressive performance among chemical companies last year was Lubrizol’s. Looking at the firm’s results, one would hardly know a recession was going on. Its earnings for the first three quarters increased 67%, to $385 million, on sales of $3.4 billion. Executives expect earnings to increase 78% for the full year and hit a company record. James L. Hambrick, Lubrizol’s CEO, credits his employees. “It’s not an exaggeration for me to tell you that every single person in our company did more with less this year,” he told analysts in October.

What makes this even more impressive are the companies also in the running for the title; worthy and statured firms, all of them.  Lubrizol made the best of tough times in the industry, setting itself up for success as the economy rebounds.

This SpecialChem post spotlights one of the notable growth areas in personal care specialties, men’s grooming products, growing at a strong rate despite the struggles of other sectors, due to four basic factors:

…the ongoing rise of middle-class sectors in fast growing nations such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China; the Internet and similar technology providing enhanced access to new consumer bases outside wealthy industrialized regions; marketers’ increasingly sophisticated appeals to men, including creating or repositioning brands that flatter the male sense of national and/or ethnic identity; and the universal appeal of naturally or organically formulated toiletries that satisfy growing consumer consciousness regarding environmentalism and potential health problems originating from chemical-laden products.

 

The projected total market?

Within five years, the global market for all male-consumed grooming products is forecast to mushroom to $85 billion, compared to $28 billion for male-specific products.

What makes it an innovation story?  Simply the fact that this segment was a scarce fraction of itself just a decade ago. 

Thanks to the wherewithal and vision of manufacturers and marketers alike, it’s now an engine for growth worldwide, thanks to plentiful new products and inventive appeals that have revolutionized men’s attitudes toward personal grooming.

The conservatively upbeat outlook for this year is tempered by the obvious slowness in other areas of the economy that affect the chemical industry, though the personal care products category has been a bright spot.  The overall business declined by 6.2% in 2009, its second drop following a 4.7% fall in 2008.

We’d like to think that made the personal care sector stand out isn’t just the power of consumer demand — though we obviously can’t begin to discount that.  Some of the credit, according to industry pundits and analysts, goes to the the very qualities we rely upon for our own success here at Coast Southwest (but which are certainly not exclusive to us): a high degree of customer engagement, leading to partnered innovation resulting in strong product offerings in these burgeoning segments. 

These product categories are intensively competitive, and demand constant development of new formulations, new ideas and new approaches.  That takes imagination, communication and collaboration, on an intense level.  Just because a given category is accelerating is no guarantee of success; indeed, that situation presents its own challenges and potential for missteps.  And just because the analytics and predictions indicate an upswing, where 2010 will really succeed or fail is “on the ground” — through the continual effort and focus of the people making the breakthroughs and connections necessary to drive that success.

Simplistic?  Maybe.  But it’s interesting how, time and again, success or failure comes back to these evergreen basics.