Revlon president and CEO resigns

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Posted 9:29AM on Saturday, February 16, 2002

NEW YORK - Revlon Inc. announced Friday that Jeffrey M. Nugent, its president and chief executive officer who came on board two years ago to spearhead the cosmetic giant's turnaround, has resigned. The announcement follows a report Friday in The Wall Street Journal that chairman Ronald Perelman planned to replace Nugent with Jack Stahl, who left his position last year as president and chief operating officer at Coca-Cola Co. In the news release, Revlon, the maker of such products as Flex shampoo and Almay makeup, did not reveal who Nugent's successor would be, only stating it would name a replacement soon. It noted that Nugent said that ``he accomplished the strategic goals set for him two years ago when he joined the company, and he decided to seek new business opportunities.'' Company officials could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday. During his tenure at Revlon, Nugent spearheaded a major cost-cutting effort, slashing general and administrative costs, consolidating manufacturing facilities and selling non-core assets. At the same time, the company developed new product lines such as skin toners that have Vitamin C. Revlon also established new terms with its U.S. retail partners, which offer incentives to reduce costly returns of merchandise. But while Nugent was good at making the company more efficient, some people familiar with his work said he may have not had a magic touch in revitalizing the brand. The $1.5 billion cosmetics giant, which has been struggling with a string of losses and declining sales, continues to lose ground to competitors like Cover Girl, from Procter & Gamble, and has been stumbling in how to advertise its message to the consumer. In 2000, Revlon parted ways with its spokesmodel Cindy Crawford, as part of a new strategy to seek out noncelebrity models. However, that proved short-lived, and Revlon is now back to shoring up its celebrity lineup, which includes most recently fashion model James King. Last month, Revlon dismissed its advertising agency Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners Inc., just weeks after launching a big advertising campaign, and handed over the advertising account to Deutsch Inc. ``Revlon is a brand for which consumers have a fond memory, but is in fact a memory. What they need to do is get someone who will reawaken Revlon as a brand that people want to buy,'' said Philip H. Kowalczyk, vice president of Kurt Salmon Associates, a retail consulting firm. He added that the company's advertising needs to focus on the benefits of the products. Revlon is slated to release fourth-quarter and year-end earnings on Feb. 25. Shares were down 9 cents to $3.80 per share on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.