�xp e rimen ta ti on ,

�abits � In sp ira ti on
in th e B e a u t y In d u s t r y
f Digital
The Influence o By Scott Hendry Pro
ximity London May 20
11
Contents
Introduction 04

Experimentation 08

Stuck in a Rut 14

Rediscovery 20

Men Care too 24

Summary 26

Conclusions 28

Sources & Thanks 29

 40’s
Introduction
Experimentation, habit and inspiration summarises how the beauty industry has
carefully nurtured its relationship with women over many years. But how has the
emergence of digital changed or reinforced the relationship between the beauty
consumer and brands?

H ow we learn, our influences, what

we buy, and how and what media
• How are they learning about

30’s
beauty products?
we consume have all changed over the past
• How are they introduced to their
20 years since the emergence of digital.1 first products?
As digital channels have matured • What experimentation are they
and developed, they have amplified, doing and what has influenced this
democratised and accelerated behaviours experimentation?
that have been happening offline for many
n ‘Stuck in a Rut’ – mid to late 20’s
years – think ‘friends chatting over coffee’
to early 40’s with established beauty
and sharing now happens on a larger scale
rituals. Because of the demands on
through Facebook or Mumsnet2. Yes, we
them from their family and work,
might talk about these topics slightly
beauty has become a lower focus.
differently, but we share a lot of what we
think and know to a much wider audience. • Has media and in particular, digital,
altered these rituals?
So, how has this amplified sharing,
content creation and access to information n Rediscovery – late 40’s to early 60’s

20’s
brought changes to women and their are rediscovering their inner youth and
relationship with the beauty industry? are trying to bring this to their outer self.

To answer this question we have looked at • How do they rediscover this ‘youth’
through beauty?
how digital is influencing women and their
experience in the world of beauty. But of • What are the influences they look to
course, women are not one homogeneous for help in developing their new look?
segment, so we have categorised our • Does digital allow them to be more
beauty consumer through three significant confident in finding a new look?
beauty life stages:
Finally we also delve into the evolving
n Experimentation – teenagers to world of male grooming. A relatively
early 20’s, learning and experimenting small segment within the beauty industry,
with their beauty rituals. but one that seems certain to grow.

Experimentation, Habits and Inspiration provides

an overview into some of the emergent behaviours and
trends happening through digital channels which are
influencing the beauty consumer now and in the future.

1
Consumers devote 6% of their media time to reading magazines, the beauty industry spends almost 45% of
04 its marketing budget on them. Kantar Media, October 2010; Samir Arora, Glam Media Presentation, October 2010 05
2
77M US women aged 18+ are on Facebook. Source: Facebook
 20’s
06 07
Experimentation
(Teenagers to early 20’s)
F or those in their early
twenties and younger, many
have only ever known a world where
the internet existed – they are truly,
digital natives.1
Embracing it first as content creators and
now as the first choice for sharing with
friends and the wider world, how is this
impacting their relationship with beauty
products in the digital world?
As they have grown up with digital
channels, more than any other
segment, they look to digital sources for
support. And while much of the discovery
and sharing of opinions on brands is done
offline (face-to-face & phone), growing
levels of online exchange are occurring.
1
7 7% of 13 to 16 year old European children have a social
network profile. Source: www.eukidsonline.net
08
Trying Before Buying
They are at a stage where they are eager
Real Time Reviews — L’Oréal’s Virtual Mirror
The Virtual Mirror allows women to take a digital photo and then, using the mirror
to change and experiment with their look. scan in different products, colours or shades using the touchscreen to match their skin
Beauty brands that embrace digital have tone or eye colour.
the opportunity to support them in the
discovery of a self-identity as well as build
their self-confidence safely through tools
offering low or no risk try before they buy.
Two similar themes build on this:
The wisdom of crowds – before
buying a product you can now go
online and check out whether the
product is right for you.
Real time reviews – using friends or
virtual tools to provide feedback on
your image and product choices. No
longer do you have to wait until you
purchase the product and use it.
It was originally designed as an in-store tool, but with growth in touch screen computers/
tablets this would seem to be an application that could be extended into the house.
Wisdom of Crowds — MopShots
Haircuts are submitted by anyone and then judged by fashion experts (bloggers,
tastemakers etc) before being uploaded to the site. Information such as where the
haircut was done, hair colour and style are provided and able to be searched.
While focused on haircuts, it’s another tool that can be easily adaptable
for personal colouring and cosmetics.
Source: Forrester 2009
09
 Wisdom of Crowds — Creating Your Image
Now you can ‘product test’ your image through a virtual focus group. Using a website
www.checkyourimage.com you can upload photos of your clothes, face etc and then
choose how many people you want to give feedback on for example your hair
and makeup style.
Interactive Magazine —
­­ Shisheido
Digital magazines are a growing trend across many industry segments and for the
beauty segment they seem an obvious opportunity. In Japan, Shisheido has an
interactive manga (a Japanese genre of cartoons, comic books, and animated films)
to connect with its young beauty consumers. Using a number of manga stories to talk
about health and beauty.
What beauty magazine across Europe or the US would develop a magazine without
photos of models promoting brands?
Does this translate across countries to a need for online environments to consider new
content styles for connecting with specific segments for example, girls just entering the
beauty sector?

Make it Easy to Share Products, Virtually

Brands providing guidance or support and utilising the inherent social sharing
behaviour of this group will drive deeper engagement with them and have the potential
to build long standing loyalty. Particularly those offering women the capability:
n To provide Product Recommendations – Sharing with friends the products
that interest them.
Key Takeouts –
Experimentation Be a facilitator
Percent of segment
Teenagers 45% who share a conversation of existing behaviours:
Adults 26%
everyday about a Beauty product

50% • Product reviews and tips from

people they trust – help make social
40% media a peer-to-peer search tool for
them
30%
• Make it easy for them to share
20% content

10% • Allow them to interact with the

product, virtually
0%
Teenagers Adults • They change looks and experiment
Source: Keller Fay Group 2010
heavily. Use digital channels to
amplify this behaviour
•  mbrace digital as an enabler to
E
n To listen to others for Product Advice – Women also listen to friends and allow this audience to build a beauty
family for tips and advice on products identity and self confidence

n To use Social Media – Use the channels they are engaging with on a daily basis.
Provide relevance and value in these channels and make it easy for them to share and
experience the products and with the opportunity to gain traction.
10 11
12
40s
’
20’s to
13
Stuck in a Rut
(Late 20’s to early 40’s)

T raditionally viewed as the group most strongly

entrenched in their beauty ritual, they are likely to
have clear views on what beauty products work for them.
But they are also the group who go through significant
change from being single, ‘all about my looks’, to motherhood,
‘I simply don’t have the time to focus on that’.

Source: Microsoft Advertising 2010

“I feel under pressure
to look as good as I can” While many ‘At Home Mums’ see social media as the main outlet away from
the kids and an essential connection with the outside world. In becoming a mother,
“I feel under pressure to look as good as I can” a growing sense of losing their identity can occur. Many also fear losing touch with
what are the current beauty trends and this is a stage where they can too easily drop
% who agree or agree strongly, by
% whogender,
agreeageorand
agree strongly, by gender, age
social grade
out of the beauty sector.
Brands that can empower women to get their self-identity back through providing
careful guidance, easily digestible content and engagement can overcome this barrier.

Engagement — Digital Launch of New Products

Mama Mio a UK based skincare brand, launched a new waist shaping serum using
a debut song by the band Belle and the Buttons called ‘Check Me Out’. Seeded via
music blogs and social networks (MySpace & Facebook) and with no media spend.
While the number of views on YouTube (46,000+) and Facebook fans (8,000+)
doesn’t necessarily suggest large scale cut through, it points to a way brands will be
looking to build awareness and engagement in the future.

Source: nVision 2010

Engagement & Support

Pre-Motherhood women are already an important group to the beauty industry.
Any brand that can connect and build deeper engagement with this group at a key
life stage, have the opportunity to build longer-term loyalty, simply by becoming part
of their beauty ritual.
14 15
 Support — By Lauren Luke This suggests some women are starting to buy cosmetics and beauty products
online. It is in its relevant infancy, but some brands are now embracing this.
Lauren Luke is a former taxi-dispatcher from South Shields, UK. Her meteoric rise
within the beauty industry highlights how she identified and tapped into an essential
consumer insight, trust. eCommerce — Max Factor UK
By delivering authenticity, trustworthiness and a regime that isn’t just for
supermodels, but for ‘you’, Lauren Luke has become a phenomenal success.
Using simple down-to-earth tutorials delivering the celebrity look for the everyday women;
combined with the reach offered through digital channels, she has built a brand with over
100 million views via YouTube as well as selling her own cosmetic range and books.

Is this the audience most likely

to be open to eCommerce as
they know the products they
like and are time challenged?

Key Takeouts — Stuck in a Rut

eCommerce
• For pre-motherhood — while they are more likely to be set in their beauty ritual, the
opportunity exists for brands to use real reviews and tap into the trust to overcome existing
Both of these audiences are significant online buyers as evidenced by studies from the routines. But it needs to go deeper than a friendly trustworthy face, brands need to be able
US and most digitally advanced countries. to deliver deep engagement through a community of real people.
• For ‘At Home Mums’ — possibly a more challenging target – there is still the opportunity to
recognise that while they are less beauty focused they are still a woman first, and their outlet
to the adult world is the internet, particularly social media. Tap into these insights and the
opportunity exists to inspire them to treat themselves.

Source: Forrester 2010

16 17
18
40’s to
60’
s
19
Rediscovery As she is going through a period of rediscovery, brands need to deliver authenticity.
Just consider the success of Dove’s ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’. Similar to the other
audiences the importance of real reviews by real people should not be underestimated.1
(Late 40’s to early 60’s) This allows her to not only see if a product is good, but also if it feels right.

I n the age of ‘defect intolerance’, those aged over 50 are no longer willing
to be considered past their use-by date. Just consider the pressure French
women aged 55 plus must feel!

Consumer Reviews — Clinique Facebook Page

Clinique’s global Facebook page offers everything from eCommerce to a virtual skin
consultation, carefully underpinned by the 800,000 plus community who rate and
review their beauty products and help deliver brand authenticity.
Source: Future Foundation 2010

Traditionally perceived as a segment to be less beauty focused and also less digitally
literate this is the audience with the least content focused towards their needs. But they
are also the most economically powerful groups.1

While the inner self feels young,

Key Takeouts
they look in the mirror and realise
– Rediscovery
they have to invest a little extra time
to make the outer, match it.
• Offer Guidance –
Tips and tools
For many they have been using the same products and beauty rituals. But with that provide support
more disposable income available, changing skin needs and an overall new look
often required, it’s a time when they will consider something new. But in an industry • Build Confidence –
designed for younger women, it can be incredibly intimidating to step back into the Give them the confidence
beauty department. of others expertise,
whether that is experts or
Authenticity real people’s reviews.
Digital’s role is to offer guidance and build confidence for this audience. Allowing them
to re-enter the beauty market and enable her to establish new rituals that suit her needs.
This is done through tools that allow her to identify solutions which will work to meet
her changing needs.
1 46 percent indicate that the presence of reviews positively influence purchase intent and they also increase
20 average time on site by up to 30 seconds longer than those without reviews). “Through the Eyes of the Consumer:
21
1 (50+ year olds own four-fifths of the UK’s wealth Source: Neil Boorman ‘It’s All Their Fault’, April 2010). 2010 Consumer Shopping Habits Survey,” ChannelAdvisor, August 31, 2010.
Me n C a r e
Men Care too Content — The Grooming Lounge
The growth in smart phones and the utility provided by apps highlights the opportunity

Male Grooming
W hile male grooming is embryonic in comparison to the female beauty
industry in many ways, it’s a segment being tapped into by bloggers,
influencers and to a lesser degree by brands.
for brands to connect with consumers. Apps are becoming like ‘cards in your wallet’. To
find a place on your phone they need to deliver some additional value that warrant their
place – whether it be exclusivity, simplicity or value – so it is vital brands to find a niche
which builds on the key insights around the audience.
Grooming Lounge’s “Send A Tip” app is designed to help out the friend or colleague
who needs a little grooming help. The app highlights how Grooming Lounge have
tapped into the male psyche around grooming.

Source: nVision 2010

Content & Confidence

Though in comparison to men’s beliefs and needs it feels like a market that
is relatively untouched.
The content men are consuming is focused around cool brands and latest trends,
influenced heavily by offline magazines (lads mags) which invest in lists of new and
what is best.
With the majority of material online is dominated by professional and amateur bloggers
filling a void currently not taken by male grooming brands. Brands have an opportunity
to deliver content which sits within the lifestyle to grooming ritual, tapping into a man’s
need to look good and a greater focus on the outer body.
In particular, men are often uncomfortable asking what skin products they should be
using and when. Providing tools that offer men the confidence and anonimity to know
which are the best products for them and even buy them online can be an easy way to
tap into this market.

Much of the content is delivered using

Key Takeouts –
a light-hearted, humorous approach Even Men Care
with a lot focused on making you more
attractive to the opposite sex, which is a •  rovide men with the confidence to know which are
P
the right products
very different motivation to women.
•  ap into an ever increasing need to look good and their
T
overall comfort with digital channels and eCommerce
•  ecognise the different motivations between men
R
and women.

24 25
Summary
LIFE STAGE EXPERIMENTATION STUCK IN A RUT INSPIRATION MEN CARE TOO

Teenagers to Late Twenties Late Forties Twenties

Early Twenties to Early Forties to Early Sixties & Thirties

Aid discovery of self-identity & Offer Support Provide authenticity and help Deliver Content
Role of Digital
self-confidence. & Engagement rediscovery of beauty needs & Confidence

• Make it easy for them
to share content
Key Takeouts • Allow virtual product interaction
• Social media is a P2P search tool
for them.
• Build trust through deeper
engagement to overcome
existing rituals
• For ‘at home mums’ treats may be
the way into reigniting their need
for beauty products.
• Tips & Tools that provide
guidance in trying new
products
• Use experts and reviews by peers
to build confidence.
• Understand the different
motivations between men
and women in their beauty.

Example L’Oréal’s Virtual Mirror By Lauren Luke SuperSavvyMe – Tried & Tested Grooming Lounge

26 27
 Conclusions Sources Thanks
• Beyond 2020: The Future of Health Thanks to all the Proximity London team,
The relationship between beauty brands and women is changing, but for many brands and Beauty. Future Foundation. in particular Mark, Kate, Jo, Claire, Nicola,
they have been slower to embrace digital channels than might be expected. Nyig, Jocelyn & Jeremy (Proximity Asia).
• Marketing through the Ages:
For some groups, it feels as though they have yet to be fully considered by brands; Do consumer age segments matter –
the 50 plus women and men, in particular. Though this probably mirrors what is happening and, if so, how? Future Foundation. Contacts
in the physical world. Simply based on changing demographics and internet penetration • Health, Beauty and Food. Simon Bond, Chief Innovation Officer,
(over 50’s) and opportunity for growth (male grooming) it seems they can’t be ignored for nVision Summer 2010. Proximity Worldwide,
much longer. simon.bond@proximityworld.com
• Talk to Youth The Way They Talk
The key will lie in listening to these audiences, in both the on and offline worlds and identifying to Each Other. Josh Bernoff et al. Mark Iremonger, Head of Planning,
profitable niches that brands can play a part in delivering additional and valuable utility. • The Innovation Report – November Proximity London,
For now this utility is about harnessing content for your everyday beauty and grooming consumer 2010. eConsultancy. iremonger.m@proximitylondon.com
– reviews, tips and tutorials seem obvious quick wins. • By Lauren Luke. WARC.com 2009 Scott Hendry, Planning Director,
Finally, whether all of the online content will turn into significant growth in digital commerce • Springwise. Various 2009 to 2011 Proximity London,
will depend on whether women turn from the store to the estore. • Trendwatching. Various 2010 to 2011 hendry.s@proximitylondon.com

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