15 posts tagged “shaving bond”

I smiled at the Google News Alert I saw yesterday that announced RBS (The Royal Bank of Scotland) was to issue a 'Royal Bond' (corporate bond) with a coupon of 5.3% 'following' King of Shaves issuing our Shaving Bond, with a superior interest rate of 6% (which for bondholders, will be in effect higher, due to them receiving free products & gifts by way of thanking them for their participation).

You can read the release on ThisIsMoney.co.uk here - scroll down to the end of the article for the King of Shaves reference...

We're Champion Shavers, as well as Champion Savers!!!!

Applied for a King of Shaves Shaving Bond? If so, expect to receive one of these shortly! (original blog posting)

King of Shaves Shaving Bond Issue Closed. SUCCESSFULLY. Plus, only Gillette Fusion Ahead... (original blog post)

Yesterday was the final day for our innovative 'Friend Funded' King of Shaves Shaving Bond. I'm delighted that did we not only achieve the minimum amount (£500,000), but were substantially over the minimum. In due course, I will be blogging about this innovative fund raising project, which garnered c£1m worth of world-wide publicity and had many journalists, investor web-sites, bloggers & the twitterati commenting on it - whether it was 'genius' or 'would fail'.

Well, all I know is that in my personal opinion, it was extremely worthwhile and will, in time, be a way of genuine fund-raising that can be considered by SME's with strong reputations and great products or services.

I also received our latest sales data yesterday for the 4 weeks ending July 11th, which showed that our King of Shaves Azor was only outsold in this period by...Gillette Fusion Manual'. Given that compared to our competitors, Gillette & Wilkinson Sword, we have spent a fraction on marketing they have, and have not had to resort to an almost permanent half price on handle sales, well, I am very pleased.

Headline figures according to industry sources were (based on volume sales of handles):

1. Gillette: Fusion Manual 'standard', 114,000 handles (1 up)*.
2. Gillette: Fusion Manual 'Phenom', 83,300 handles (1 up).
3. King of Shaves Azor: 49,467 handles (3 up)**.
4. Gillette: Fusion Power 'Stealth': 46,630 handles (1 up).
5. Gillette: Mach3 Manual 'standard', 45,775 handles (1 up).
6. Wilkinson Sword Quattro Titanium Manual: 41,239 handles (1 up).
7. Gillette: Fusion Power 'Phenom': 37,220 handles (1 up).
8. Wilkinson Sword Quattro 'Precision Trimmer': 36,414 handles (1 up).
9. Gillette: Mach3 Turbo Manual: 32,893 (1 up).
10. Gillette Fusion Power 'standard': 28,235 handles (1 up) .

*1up means sold with 1 replacement cartridge. **Note, Azor is sold with 3 replacement cartridges, a 3 up. Great Value!

Whilst this is a great result, (after just 1 year in the market and c500,000 handles sold), we clearly have a challenge ahead of us, with all Gillette variants summed together totalling over 400,000 units sold in 1 month (normally it's about 250,000 handles, but this was a heavy month for Gillette & Wilkinson Sword promotions) and all Wilkinson Sword variants selling 110,000 (normally it's about 75,000).

Helping Shave & Save People with King of Shaves in the City of London. Shaving Bonds a Hit! (original blog post)

We've had our King of Shaves Azor Tourbus parked in Finsbury Avenue today (in the square, behind Broadgate) all day giving people the King of Shaves, and offering the opportunity to save, with our unique King of Shaves Shaving Bond.

Tim & Jenny, along with Simon Vingoe and our new marketing intern, Joe Asserton were here (very) early doors - from 7am, and as well as plenty of shaves, we've had a lot of interest in our bonds, with many people passing by having seen it advertised, or heard about it. Indeed, as soon as I arrived, I met a very nice Indian gentleman, who'd used our shaving oil for years, was fed up with NatWest, and 'signed up' for £3,000 worth. As I have said before, and I'll say again, our Shaving Bond issue is a way for us to connect with our King of Shaves consumers on many different levels, and them earning money whilst they shave, is just one of those.

I'm delighted to announce that anyone who applies for a Shaving Bond will also receive free my book about the King of Shaves story, being published by Headline Business Plus in September, likely to be 'Business Book of the Month' at a leading UK retailer, and it's called 'Building a Great Business in Tough Times: The King of Shaves Story'.

So, where there's King of Shaves, there's money to be earned, great shaves to be had, and a good read to boot (well, I've had a few journalist friends of mine read it - and they seem to rate it).

The opportunity to subscribe for a King of Shaves Shaving Bond expires on 31st July 2009, applications MUST have been received by our registrars, Equiniti by then.

Don't just shave - King of Shaves (& Save).

Andrew Stone (whom I met last year at a Sunday Times event) writes an article in today's Sunday Times which explains how funding has dried up for many small companies during this time of economic investment 'drought' and how companies are involving others in their growth.  This article neatly captures one of the key reasons behind our issuing our 'Shaving Bond', and although we aren't a cash-strapped start-up, when you're competing with the 'Big Boys', as Tesco would say "Every Little Helps'
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Andrew Stone, Sunday Times: Small firms search for Angel groups.

Where have all the angels gone? That is the question a growing number of ambitious but cash-strapped small firms are asking as they struggle to find investors.

Already hit by a slump in bank lending, they are now suffering as angel investors thin out, forcing them to delay expansion. The absence of angels is being made worse by the retreat of venture capitalists, creating a widening funding gap for firms.

Angel groups, which usually invest about £1 billion in British businesses each year, are expected to invest a third less this year, said Jenny Tooth of the British Business Angels Association, which is trying to recruit new investors.

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Read the full article here

A number of people who have emailed me following applying for our Shaving Bond have pointed out that the actual 'savings' for the bondholders will be considerably higher than the 6% cash per annum - with our provision of free product.  Like, between 9-12% per annum, if we supply product to a decent retail value free (which we fully intend on doing).

Which, of course - they will be!  Since we launched our innovative 'never done before' 'Shaving Bond', then some of the financial institutions seem to have also started increasing their savings rates - but without many of the benefits ours has (membership of an exclusive club of bondholders, free product, and who knows what other good stuff the team and I will work on offering - all bondholders will certainly receive a complimentary copy of my book out September 3rd on building a great brand in tough times - the King of Shaves Story - for example. 

So, by all means read some of the 'negative' comments posted on 'traditional' savings websites, but also take the time to look into our offer - as it really is a great one - it's about involving brand enthusiasts in our brand, in a way that is new, innovative, different and genuinely worthwhile.  We're trailblazing, and I'm delighted about that (plus, last week, we had our biggest ever sales of Azors & replacement cartridges ;-)

Reuters lead with King of Shaves Innovative Shaving Bond Issue. (original blog post)

(from Reuters - link to article here)

LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - King of Shaves, a British shaving products firm, has invited customers to invest in a 5 million pounds ($8.21 million) bond, showing companies are capitalising on a surge in retail investor demand for such fixed income assets.

Institutional investors have already gobbled up some 200 billion euros ($280.4 billion) of corporate bonds issued in the first half of the year and now retail investors have worked up an appetite too.

King of Shaves' bond is tiny, but a string of big European companies, including oil company BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research), car maker Volkswagen (VOWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), Italian oil company ENI (ENI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) and France's EDF (EDF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) have issued several billions of euros in bonds, partly aimed at small investors and more issues of this kind are expected...

King of Shaves. Our Shaving Bond & Our Reputation. (original blog post)

I'm writing this whilst attending the NACDS 'Marketplace' convention in Boston USA, where we're introducing the Azor to US buyers from major drugstores. The show's pretty quiet, but we've had plenty of appointments, and we've had a great reception to it. Sales in the UK are very strong - this week will probably be our biggest sales week ever - helped, no doubt, by the huge publicity surrounding our Shaving Bond issue.

I wanted to restate again why we decided to issue this innovative savings bond to the general public, and explain in greater depth my rationale, as a couple of recent articles in what I'll call the 'serious' investment sector have questioned us actually doing it, indeed cited it as more risky (than in my opinion) it is. A typical article - this one is on the Investors Chronicle website - can be read here.

Firstly, King of Shaves has been established over sixteen years. Earlier this year, my board and I took the decision to demerge the company from its parent - KMI - along with taking on an inward investment of c£4m. This was done solely so my management team and I could focus on growing the brand, nationally and internationally and allowed my business partner, Herbie, to do exactly the same with KMI Brands - a company that owns or licenses a portfolio of successful brands.

The success of a brand like King of Shaves is entirely reputation based. Every day, over a million men shave with our products - shaving gels, serums & oils - and of course with our razor. If our products don't perform, and deliver a great shave, then simply put, people won't buy them again. However, the overall demand for King of Shaves, reflected in our market share data published by IRI Infoscan, is substantially up. Within 12 months, we've garnered approximately 10% system razor handle market share, and built on our 12% market share of shaving preparations.

Men, and women, enjoy using our products - they buy tens of thousands of them each week, and our brand has grown every year, over the past sixteen years.

So, why did I issue the 'Shaving Bond'? For two reasons:

Firstly, to "involve" fans - evangelists - enthusiasts - of King of Shaves in a way that could help us (spend more money on marketing) and help them (save money over the duration of the bond). Almost everyone I spoke to about the idea prior to the launch loved it, and in many cases, it has been reported very positively.

Secondly, because it simply seemed like a good idea - the sort of thing a consumer facing, challenger brand would do, to continue its growth in a different, exciting & engaging way. It would get the brand publicity - mostly positive - some, of course, negative - and bring us to a wider awareness. The cost of actually issuing the shaving bond, including legal fees & press advertisements has been a substantial six figure sum - an amount the company is more than capable of investing, alongside our more 'conventional' press & poster ads featuring the 'Better because it Bends' strapline.

Most emails I've received - I would say 99% - have been positive. People seem to be excited about the issue, they want to be part of our success story, and feel they can play a part.

I have made it clear that I'm not after someone's 'life savings' - I am no financial shyster - no Bernard Madoff or Allen Stanford. It's no Ponzi scheme. No ficticious 'Certificates of Deposit' drawn on a bank in the Caribbean with unbelievable rates of return.

This is about involving people in a way that maybe is as much about fun, as raising funds. My ideal would be for between 500 to 5,000 adults, each investing £1,000 apiece, and who understand the risks associated with the Bond issue, as explicitly pointed out on our website. 6% seemed about the 'right' interest level to pay, and with us issuing free product over the bond's duration, the real money saved will of course be more than this. The bond has been professionally laid out by BDO in association with our lawyers, Memery Crystal, and we have followed to the letter guidelines that need to be adhered to regarding this sort of savings/investment opportunity.

Indeed, until you tick the boxes to signify you have read and understood the bond issue, you can't apply. I'm sure some people - massive fans of King of Shaves - will apply without reading the t's and c's, but of course I recommend that everyone who applies reads them, and understands there is a risk associated with the issue.

I can't predict what the future holds - but I can confidently assert that men's beards will continue to grow, if they don't want to grow a beard, they need to shave, and choosing King of Shaves products delivers a great shave.

Whether we raise £500,000 or £5m - I don't mind. We may not even raise £500,000 - the minimum amount. Who knows! It's not been done before, in this way. But, what I do care about passionately, and have done so since the 'get-go' with King of Shaves, is people having trust in our brand's reputation - whether that's in the shaving, or saving, sector and realise that this is a serious way to make some money, whilst helping my team and I continue to build a British brand, largely manufactured in the UK, and sold world-wide.

If you've read this blog post, please do read all the press articles associated with our Shaving Bond. The good, and the bad. And then, make your own mind up whether it's for you. It's your decision.

According to Google Analytics, our King of Shaves Shaving Bond has had visits from people in 423* cities, towns & villages all over the UK.

*Sunday 28th June 2009.

King of Shaves Shaving Bond Advertisements in the Mail on Sunday, The Sunday Times & The Sunday Telegraph (original blog post)