University graduate Stu Jolley has already sold his male grooming product into Boots
During summer 2008 Cardiff University student Stu Jolley was camping with friends in the south of France. When the campsite's showers stopped working the group had to make do with a packet of pink baby wipes. "That's when the penny dropped. I realised there was nothing marketed towards men," he says.
With part of his student loan Jolley had a prototype made: a larger than average wipe with a masculine smell. He trademarked the brand name Wingman. "I wanted to create a male brand with scope for complementary ranges such as shower gels and deodorants, and Wingman is a cool word that young guys are familiar with," he explains. Jolley took the wipes to music festivals and sat by the shower line. "The queues were huge and a lot of the guys were miserable because they wanted to get along to see the next band. I tested demand and managed to sell 1,100 wipes."
His big break came when he featured in the BBC2 series, Britain's Next Big Thing, which went behind the scenes of retailing following several products from prototype to finished article on the shopfloor. After pitching to Boots, Jolley's product launched in 264 of its stores last October.
Is he worried that a big brand might copy his idea? "You can never patent a wipe. But we have first-mover advantage and a nice story behind the brand to give it the foundations to grow."
