Armor All Betting $5 Million Campaign It Can Crack Car Wash, Polish Market

Armor All Products Corp. said it will enter the car wash and polish market with a $5 million national ad campaign for products it believes will clean up in a field analysts say is confused with dozens of products.

Consumers now see a shelf full of pastes, liquids and foams that promise the best wash and wax ever, but few have familiar names on their label, according to Jack Sullivan, an analyst at Van Kasper & Co., a San Francisco brokerage firm.

But Irvine-based Armor All, which claims that its Armor All Protectant is the nation’s best-selling car care product, is betting that its name will be familiar enough to help it quickly capture 20% of an annual sales market of $250 million.

John F. Schueller, executive vice president of operations and finance, said company studies show that 84% of all U.S. adults are aware of Armor All Protectant, used for rubber, vinyl and plastic surfaces.

And financially, Armor All is viewed as a winner--sales for the fiscal year ended March 31 totaled $107 million, with earnings of $17 million. McKesson Corp. in San Francisco owns about 80% of the company, which was spun off in a public offering last year.

The protectant, with its striking black, orange and yellow label, has had prominent shelf space down the aisle from waxes for 17 years. Now, containers of Armor All Wax--in paste, liquid and a pressurized can--and Armor All Wash will compete for the shelf space held by popular brands such as Turtle Wax, Rain Dance and Blue Coral.

Armor All has been a perennial big-time advertiser and has a $6 million annual budget for its protectant this year, Schueller said.