My confidence in OBJ and its long term business development strategy has only strengthened with time. In my view the interest shown by an increasing number of the world's leading players is not only testament to a solid business model adopted with some great foresight a number of years ago, but most integral to this success is of course the evolving core platform technology offerings that are now accompanied by significant endorsement.
- While the market may have some idea about a gimmicky eye wand that has been clinically proven and soft launched* to provide enhanced performance benefits when used in conjunction with a SK-II and Olay branded eye care product, I'm not yet convinced the market fully appreciates the microarray film technology which has been optimized to specifically target and enhance the delivery performance of the key active ingredients in those two eye care formulations, are the same target actives used in the majority of products across P&G's entire multibillion dollar SK-II and Olay global brand portfolios.
- While the market may have some idea about OBJ exceeding Gillette's in-shave performance requirements, I'm not yet convinced it fully appreciates the real depth of P&G's consumer knowledge and the true marketing prowess of this global behemoth...
- While the market may have some idea about OBJ exceeding those in-shave performance requirements, I'm not yet convinced it fully appreciates the significance of the performance benefits produced by OBJ's micro-array film technology at a cost to Gillette of only $0.001c per blade.
- While the market may have some idea about the growth potential for men's skin care products, I'm not yet convinced it fully appreciates that new skin care product marketing campaigns directed at men can be fraught with danger when in fact it is predominantly woman who are in charge of the shopping and for the minority of those (men) who do make their own purchases women remain the major influence in deciding which products their men purchase...
In addition to almost every product within P&G's SK-II and Olay existing brand franchises anyone not quite following the four points noted above need only add, Gillette+Olay and Gillette+SK-II to the mix in order to arrive at 2 in 1 shaving product initiatives for men across Gillette's multibillion dollar product range... On first impression one might think, but who cares when OBJ is already partnering SK-II, Olay and Gillette, how on earth will this benefit OBJ's bottom line, but in reality the bigger picture is staring us all in the face... And, to present one example, if you're keen on becoming the dominant leader in the men's skin care segment with a strategy that guarantees successful market penetration even where existing growth opportunity appears to be non-existent ie such as targeting old fashion types such as myself who shave quite regularly but have no particular interest in purchasing skin care products for men, P&G are about to change the rules of the game...
We could go on for hours discussing some of the more intricate pieces of a puzzle that has installed a lot of my own confidence in OBJ over the years. Topics such as IoT (no reference to questionable ASX coys exploiting the same ticker code) and what relevance OBJ have in this space or even the simple fact that the term itself, Internet of Things was first coined at P&G back in 1999 by Olay brand manager, Kevin Ashton. We could also discuss topics related to Nasdaq listed ChromaDex and OBJ's direct relevance to the following extracted from a letter by that Company's CEO earlier this year;
"In November [2015], we made one of the most significant announcements in our history -a joint development agreement with The Procter & Gamble Company (“P&G”) whereby P&G will have exclusive rights to NIAGEN®for use in specific multi-billion dollar consumer product fields for both existing and new P&G branded products. This agreement positions NIAGEN®to be included in a number of P&G products, some of which are among the highest volume consumer products in the world."
However, when we find ourselves getting too immersed in details relating to only one of the Company's current partnering activities, unbeknownst to some existing or prospective OBJ investors is the reality that material developments with potential near term candidates such as Pfizer, Coty, Reckitt Benckiser, and GSK, etc could emerge at any time.
Given the winking face emoji is used to imply or suggest a form of flirtation with the reader, this comment was actually formed on the basis of a conversation I had earlier in the year with Jeff in relation to RB being keen to launch a new product offering from Nurofen before Christmas. For further clarity the conversation was specifically centered around the following information from a Company presentation released to the market on 07/03/2016 and at one point following a brief absence during the meeting Glyn was quick to interject with the assertion that the Company were not aware of RB's commercial intentions, which I appreciate was entirely appropriate given his responsibility for navigating shareholder communications...
However, while OBJ's Advanced Packaging Solutions being incorporated into any new product offerings under the Nurofen brand as one of Reckitt Benckiser's new product launch initiatives for H2 2016 has never been formally confirmed by either RB or OBJ, the latest RB Investor Presentation makes no secret of the brands which currently form part of its new initiatives for H2 2016...
I was initially surprised about the additional performance shares but probably more intrigued about the date of the AGM being brought forward by a month. I don't support the theory that Directors wish to dish out a bundle of free shares to themselves without acceptable or sufficient reason but appreciate those expressing reservation in regards to the rewards not being aligned to share holder interests, particularly over the past couple of years, however contrary to the sluggish price performance, partnering activities have increased quite significantly during the same period and the Company is clearly being steered in the right direction so I really don't have any personal issue passing those resolutions.
OBJ Price at posting:
7.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
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