• by Karl Greenberg , March 7, 2007

For the first time, Kimberly-Clark is extending its Huggies Little Swimmers disposable swimming pants by adding sunscreen lotions for kids.

The new product line includes three SPF 50 lotions and adhesive ultraviolet-B sun sensors that come in 24-count cartons. The sensor is the fruit of a partnership begun last year between K-C and SunHealth, a Naples, Fla.-based product development company specializing in sun protection. K-C inserted 20 million samples of the adhesive sensors in Little Swimmers packages last year and will do likewise this year.

Jacqueline Dube, associate brand manager for Little Swimmers, says K-C has an 80% market share for disposable swim pants and that the category, which K-C created in 1998, is worth $100 million per year across 50-odd countries. Parent Huggies has been a market leader in infant/baby toiletries since 2004.

Dube says the extension "made complete sense" since the Huggies brand equity is in keeping kids protected. The child's sunscreen category is also growing, noted Amy Attenberger, also associate manager for the brand. She says between 2005 and 2006, the sunscreen category grew 12%, with baby and child segments seeing 5-6% growth each year for several years.

Attenberger says the new kids sunscreen lineup will compete with Coppertone Kids and Banana Boat, which together constitute about 80% of an estimated $160-million-a-year U.S. market. "We are the leading swim pants brand, and Huggies is a brand that already offers a skin-care solution, so we felt it was a natural extension."

Dube says the company will launch a multimillion-dollar campaign from April through August composed of print, Internet and TV ads, online coupons, in-store promotions and product sampling.

The effort will not be for the sunscreen line alone but for all of Huggies Little Swimmers products, a tactic supported by joint displays in stores, she says. "It's going to be a one-stop shop, with all products grouped together, leveraging the strength of an established brand from a merchandising standpoint."

For now, she says, the sun care products are available in the U.S. only.