December 31, 2024, 3:55 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
Balea, the in-house beauty line from drugstore giant Dm, was born 28 years ago. But what makes the brand so successful, and who is actually behind it? STYLEBOOK examines the facts, figures – and one or two of the beauty brand’s secrets.
Aldi, Rossmann, Rewe – and even Dm have their own private brand as a cheaper alternative to the big-name brands. Balea was launched in 1995, and today, according to Dm, the care range comprises over 600 products. Shower gel, callus remover socks, dry shampoo – the list is long. There are now special beauty ranges for skin over 30 (Q10), 35 (Beauty Effect), the mid-40s (Beauty Therapy and Vital), and over 55 (Vital+). The decisive factor for the success of an in-store brand is probably its image: it should be affordable but must not look cheap.
Inexpensive but Not Cheap-Looking
Balea seems to have succeeded in this balancing act. The beauty brand has 822,000 followers on Instagram (as of 18.12.24). In 2019, the opinion research institute YouGov conducted a survey on the topic of “Which brand stands for good value for money?”. In the “Care and Cosmetics” category, Balea took first place with 48.3% of the votes – ahead of Nivea (38.7%).
The Nivea Rumour
There is still a persistent rumor on the Internet that the Nivea brand is actually behind Balea. It is fueled by the similarity of the two names, but Kerstin Erbe, Dm Managing Director for Product Management, emphasized to STYLEBOOK: “Balea is a private label of dm-Drogerie-Markt that has no connection to the Nivea brand.” Balea is a “made-up name.” But who makes the Balea products for Dm? There is still a lot of guesswork – and silence. “Our dm brand products are produced by experienced and renowned manufacturing partners” – that’s all Kerstin Erbe will reveal.
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Balea Is Also an International Hit
Normally, many trends spill over to us from Asia. However, Balea has not only managed to conquer the market in China, but the Dm beauty brand has also been available in South Korea since 2019. In Europe, Balea is available in 13 countries: Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria and North Macedonia.
Founded by Prof. Götz W. Werner in Karlsruhe in 1973, the Dm drugstore chain now has 3,862 stores and generated sales of 9.04 billion euros in Germany in the 2020/2021 financial year and 12,265 billion euros in Europe as a whole. In 2018, the trade magazine Werben & Verkaufen reported that Dm generates a third of its turnover with its own brands alone. However, Kerstin Erbe would neither confirm nor deny this when asked. On February 8, 2022, Dm founder Götz Werner passed away at the age of 78.