Justin Bieber to launch deodorant with Schmidt's Naturals | Advertising Age

Schmidt’s Naturals, fresh from launching a deodorant with Jane Goodall, is going a very different direction by inking a deal with Justin Bieber to launch a deodorant dubbed “Here + Now.”

The Bieber collaboration will launch globally both online and in physical stores this fall, said Schmidt’s CEO Michael Cammarata, making a bigger initial splash than the Goodall Lily of the Valley product, which started online and then moved into Whole Foods. Schmidt’s products have typically been sold online first, direct to consumer from Schmidt's website, before making their way into stores. Schmidt’s, acquired by Unilever in late 2017, will launch the Bieber scent as broadly as possible from the start.

Bieber and Goodall may seem like strange brand-fellows, but Cammarata sees the latest launch as a logical and important step for the natural deodorant brand.

“Here + Now has various meanings, but to me it’s about being present in daily life,” Cammarata says. “Schmidt’s started as a name, and it’s become more of a movement. We’ve proved natural does work. We don’t limit availability. We’re able to make natural products accessible. I think the partnership with Justin really shows the brand extends beyond a niche.”

Schmidt’s is also rolling out hemp-oil and CBD varieties this fall as it looks to tap just about every aspect of the market. More celebrity collaborations are down the road, Cammarata says.

He says Schmidt’s doubled sales last year and sees the acquisition by Unilever accelerating growth – giving lie to the suspicion that direct-to-consumer brands cash out when they envision their growth curves flattening.

Unilever has provided investment dollars and permitted global expansion in a year that might have taken five times as long as an independent, Cammarata says, or even had he stuck with his original plan of doing an initial public offering.

And Unilever executives stood out among strategic buyers who looked at the company by not only seeing Schmidt’s expansion plans as realistic, but even encouraging faster moves, he says.

United Talent Agency licensing agent Sid Kaufman and Bieber’s management helped put the deal together, Cammarata says. Other details will be released closer to the launch date in September or October, but he says the Bieber scent “is my favorite so far.”

 

 

 

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