Jack Black Founders Jeff Dandurand, Curran Dandurand and Emily Dalton
Jack Black celebrates its fifteen-year anniversary this month. Jack Black’s understanding of the male consumer and ability to capture customer loyalty has earned the brand the #1 ranking as the best-selling men’s grooming brand in many large, national prestige retailers and independent stores. Since launching 10 products in 2000, Jack Blackhas grown to now offer more than 70 products and continues to lead the men’s grooming category by remaining privately-owned, quality-driven and true to its roots.
Jack Black Co-Founders Curran Dandurand and Emily Dalton left their corporate careers at large, global beauty companies to explore possible solutions for a big issue: no premium brand truly met the grooming needs of men. The two women, along with Jeff Dandurand, founded the brand with the belief that men deserve high-quality skin care, but do not want the fuss of excessive products and time in front of the mirror. Thus, they embarked on a mission to help pioneer the U.S. prestige men’s skin care market by offering high-quality, efficacious products to help men look and feel better.
“Fifteen years ago, men were becoming more interested in taking care of themselves and we felt there was a need in the market for a line of exceptional products that really resonated with ‘the guy’s guy,'” explains Emily Dalton, Co-Founder and Executive Vice President. “Through our dedication to providing men with simple, superior grooming products that deliver real results and our unique marketing campaigns, we now lead the growth in the U.S prestige men’s grooming category.”
From its humble beginnings where the founders were working from their homes, the company now operates in a 27,000 square-foot warehouse and office facility in Texas. Reflecting on the early years, Co-Founder Jeff Dandurand spent every day cold-calling trying to open accounts; “Every day I would get asked by Emily and Curran, ‘Did you open any accounts today?’ Day after day, week after week the same answer, ‘not today but I know we will soon!’ A few years later we reached a milestone: we received at least one order every day for the whole year.”
Through numerous collaborations and partnerships, including with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, JetBlue and professional sports teams from the NFL, NBA and MLB, Jack Black has built a widespread distribution network that engages consumers and appeals to men who would otherwise never think of using skin care products.
“We knew we had to overcome the false perception among some men that it was somehow not manly to take care of your skin, to have healthy skin. Our strategy was to develop the brand’s following with uber-masculine men, like those in the military, football players and other athletes, to help change that mindset,” notes Curran Dandurand, Co-Founder. “We are excited to have come so far since the early days when we put our combined entire life savings on the line and set out to build not only a new brand, but to develop a market segment that was under-served. When we started it was just the three of us working out of our homes. We now employ more than 45 people and our brand is sold in all 50 states and more than 20 international markets.”
Jack Black’s extensive product line of superior grooming and skincare products welcomes a new seven-piece hair care line launching in spring 2015, which will include Double-Header Shampoo + Conditioner, one of the first two-in-one shampoo/conditioner products to be offered by a prestige brand. True to Jack Black’s style, the launch will make a bold statement as they unveil with new emerald green packaging to complement Jack Black’s famous cobalt blue.
For more information about Jack Black, please visit www.getJackBlack.com.
