For over 70 years, Carma Labs has quietly produced Carmex® lip balm. But in a category defined by new entries and the growing influence of national retailers, third generation ownership realized that the company needed growth to remain viable. Bolin was hired in 2006 and has become the virtual marketing department for the Carmex brand.

• A few SKUs drove much of the volume, but didn’t leverage trends
• Distribution, in-store display and packaging were less than optimized
• Carmex has a small but passionate group of brand loyalists
• Lip balm is an impulse purchase

Bolin focused the company with a goal of doubling in size by 2010. We identified opportunities for innovation and developed a new product pipeline. Expanded distribution focused on impulse locations. We refined brand positioning and developed offline and online marketing programs to increase consumer engagement.

Successful launches of 9 new SKUs led to market share increases and overall sales growth of 60%. Carmex is now the #1 selling lip care brand (in units) at Walgreens, and is growing faster than any other major brand in the category.