• Brandweek, Monday, May 18, 2009 11 AM

Procter & Gamble is targeting men who fall somewhere between "metrosexual and Neanderthal," as its market strategy external relations manager Glenn Williams puts it, and it's not alone. Dial and Unilever, among others, are also targeting the "everyday guy" who equates good grooming with success and confidence, Elaine Wong reports.

Several years ago, P&G researchers discovered that men used their significant other's shower products, but secretly longed for their own. Old Spice body wash was born. And earlier this month, P&G introduced Old Spice Ever Clear, an antiperspirant that bills itself as allowing guys' "self-confidence to rise faster than a condominium tower in Dubai."

Beiersdorf, meanwhile, is introducing what it calls the first body wash, shampoo and shaving cream combination in July behind its Nivea brand. Henkel is gearing up for the debut of Dial for Men "Magnetic," which it calls the first phermone-infused body wash that offers "attraction enhancing" benefits. And Unilever's Axe has created a men's hair care line and recently introduced Axe Instinct in body spray form.

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