Johnson Products Company (JPC), one of the nation’s most trusted names in African American hair care, culminated two days of Hollywood-style events with the naming of the four Grand Prize winners of The Great Model Search this past weekend at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The Great Model Search winners are: Jenise Durham of Lawrenceville, GA; Jahminah Harris of Detroit, Michigan; Nicole Hill of Pensacola, Florida; and Hamidah Ahmad of Zion, Illinois. The models, all selected by a panel of celebrity judges after a nationwide search, were awarded $5,000 cash, a modeling contract and an opportunity to be the new faces of JPC’s Gentle Treatment® and Ultra Sheen® brands.
The festivities not only celebrated fresh new faces, but new ownership. The crowning of the finalists was preceded by a special tribute to JPC founders, George and Joan Johnson. In his remarks, Mr. Johnson paid tribute to his mentor, Samuel B. Fuller, founder of Fuller Products Company, where he and John Johnson of Ebony magazine both got their starts. He then ceremonially passed the baton to the new JPC owners, Eric and Renee Brown, the husband and wife management team. The couple has extensive experience in the hair care business and formerly worked with the Pro-Line Corporation founded by Renee Brown’s father, Comer Cottrell. The Browns purchased JPC from Procter & Gamble on March 31, 2009–reclaiming Johnson Products Company’s position as a minority-owned business.
“I am extremely happy to know that the brands of Johnson Products are back in the hands of people who understand the black consumer market and care about the brands,” said JPC founder, George Ellis Johnson, 83. “I am confident that Johnson Products is now poised to serve the African American community’s hair care needs to the fullest.”
The judges, representing the worlds of entertainment, style and sports, included: actress Wendy Raquel Robinson, (The Game), actor Rockmond Dunbar (Soul Food), radio legend, Lee Bailey (EUR), Jocelyn Amador, editor-in-chief, Sophisticate’s Black Hair Styles And Care Guide, Wun “The Shot” Versher (Harlem Globetrotters), and Gene A. Washington, former Director of Football Operations with the National Football League.
Other celebrities in attendance included Don Cornelius, former Soul Train host and founder of Don Cornelius Productions Inc.; KJLH radio personality Kevin Nash, who served as the Master of Ceremonies; and rapper Mann (Dijon Williams), who performed his hit single “Text.”
“The Great Model Search is a legacy promotion that we modernized with the use of today’s technology and leveraged it to engage the African American consumer as well as create excitement and brand awareness,” explains Renee Brown, JPC executive vice-president. “The new Johnson Products Company will provide us with a platform to bring product innovations and promotions such as the Johnson Products Great Model Search to a unique multicultural consumer group,” says JPC CEO, Eric Brown.
All of the national finalists who competed in The Great Model Search have been invited to New York to be involved in the next phase of the promotion, a professional photo shoot. These eight elite contestants will be photographed and evaluated for the many packaging, advertising and promotional opportunities planned for JPC’s new product launch later this year.
Keeping with JPC tradition, the next Great Model Search presented by JPC will be for men. The Great Model Search for “Us Men” will launch in February of 2011, coinciding with the market introduction of JPC’s new Ultra Sheen men’s line.
For more information, visit www.JohnsonProducts.com or www.TheGreatModelSearch.com.
Source: Johnson Products Company
