Armed with a healthy portfolio of brands and strong retailer partnerships, Gina Boswell, Unilever’s Executive Vice President North America Personal Care, is proud.Seeing that she’s steered Unilever into the leadership position in hair care, a fete that knocked Procter & Gamble down from the spot it’s held for more than a decade, who wouldn’t be?

“The fact that we’re driving over half the growth is a particular point of pride,” Gina said, noting that there weren’t necessarily weaknesses in the overall hair care category, which includes shampoo, conditioner and styling, “but there was white space.” And Gina and her team took advantage of the opportunities they saw.

“The hair category is continuing to move toward specialty, expert brands versus one-size fits all. There’s the belief that it’s much harder for one brand to meet all consumer needs.”

Unilever’s mass hair care brands­—Tresemmé, Nexxus, Dove, Suave, Clear, Axe, Motions and Just For Me—each played a unique role in meeting consumer and retailer needs. For example, the launch of Clear, the first mass market hair care line to treat scalp and hair needs for women, is what helped Unilever take the top spot.

“We’ve turned the discussion to the scalp because that creates the right foundation,” Gina said.

Suave, she continued, is one of Unilever’s most successful hair care brands: 1-in-2 households contains a bottle of Suave. Its most recent Keratin versions keep the brand on trend, as it is “just on the cusp” of being the leading hair care brand, edging out Pantene. Year to date, sales of Suave are up 8%, Gina said.

Tresemmé remains the category’s leading styling brand (its Split Remedy franchise became an instant hit), while Dove continues to solidify expertise in dry and damaged hair.

Hair care sales at mass generate approximately $6 billion annually, Gina said, with Unilever accounting for $2 billion. And while the acquisition of Alberto-Culver “certainly provided a big bump up” the ranks, the combination of organic and acquisition growth is what pushed Unilever to its current place.

“While the category is growing faster than in recent past—it’s ticked up from 1.5% to 3.5%. However, retailers want us to develop the category even further.”

Gina attributes part of Unilever’s success in overtaking the leadership position to strong communication at shelf.

“Retailers really want to have the story of incrementality. They want the high levels of penetration and brands that go the extra mile. Our portfolio is strong. Our brand benefits and equities deliver for both consumers and customers. What’s helping the retail environment is that we are bringing beauty to life at shelf–especially when it comes to eye appeal.”

Two examples include merchandising Clear on backlit displays and with education at point of sale to hook consumers. For Axe, shelf blades aim to capture consumers’ attention amid the daunting number of products in the hair care aisle.

Reaching the No. 1 position is one thing, maintaining it is another.

“We completely respect and admire our competition and recognize that achieving this leadership position was challenging. By focusing on our expert brand, ensuring the pipeline is full of differentiated innovation, keeping a keen eye on brand equity and maximizing our hair care portfolio we are not only very excited about what’s to come we are confident we will develop the market. And with this dedication, everyone wins.”