Industry Perspectives: Danielle Pergament on Beauty Writing for Print
Beauty Editor Danielle Pergament advises up-and-coming
Beauty Editor Danielle Pergament advises up-and-coming
Introducing the newest Beauty Industry Essentials module: Beauty Media
What is the Beauty Department Like at Allure Magazine? We unlock the mystery of the magazine’s popular department and the roles involved.
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It’s critical to consider various customer scenarios, situations, and lifestyles while planning future launches. In this article, we will use clean products as a branding example.
It’s critical to consider the whole scope of what clean and sustainable really entails. Clean is more than just a list of ingredients to avoid—it involves much more than that.
You’ll have clean formulation requirements. You will list out what ingredients you like to use and what you prefer not to. It’s more of an educational opportunity than a condemnation of any ingredients.
Essentially, you’ll choose not to use certain ingredients because you believe there are better alternatives out there. But what about the formulation process? How are your ingredients incorporated? What methods do you use to take customers behind the scenes?
Also, how are you involving customers in the testing process to ensure that goods are truly appropriate for a wide range of skin tones and textures? As a company, how do you think about language? Because businesses must be conscious not only in terms of visual diversity but also in terms of language.
Some brands have pledged not to use phrases like “poreless” or “flawless” in their marketing. And, more lately, anti-aging or ageless has been added to the list. This is because they want to ensure that the language and imagery are truly driving a positive customer experience. These brands are normalizing things that should be normalized, such as skincare and self-care.
This open debate about sustainable, clean, and conscious beauty is extremely important because the customer deserves to know. They also need to know which brands are they buying into—which organizations they are supporting.
The industry will continue to evolve in this direction. It is more vital than ever for brands to be as transparent as possible about who they are and what they stand for so that their customers are not confused.
Beauty education sources you can use to help you bridge insights and anticipate trends.
Jeanne Grey, founder of GreyLayers says that cosmetics and beauty as a whole can change one’s personality. “When I was little, I used to observe my mom and how she got ready in the morning and completely transform from a completely simple person into somebody different. I saw how her personality changed along with that and I thought that was amazing. I wanted to grow up and see how I can do that for other people as well,” explains Grey.
Grey says about beginning her career as a social media beauty expert, “My advice to the younger me would be to just be you and just let things flow. And eventually, with experience, all the trial and errors counted in too, everything will just work out.”
The most common mistake that Grey has seen in the beauty industry is people not being prepared prior to getting into the career. She says, “You have to treat this career as you would any other career, being a lawyer, a doctor, any important one.” She also emphasizes being business savvy and professional. “This industry, especially because it is an easy play, you know playing with cosmetics, products and different kinds of experiences, you easily forget to be professional.”
One of the ways Grey has found success in her career is by putting together case studies. These case studies are reports of a certain niche project that she’s done in the past. “For instance, as an influencer, I have done projects for a lot of hospitality brands,” says Grey. In order to land a gig with a beauty brand, Grey creates a slideshow that ties in her hospitality background of traveling and creating content. She then combines beauty into that by showing them that she was able to use beauty products throughout her trip. “I highlight how I was able to create that and capture my audience at the same time.”
In 2016, the global beauty and personal care industry was valued at almost $444 billion. This dollar amount includes skincare, haircare, color cosmetics, fragrances, and other beauty-related products. This is a very large and profitable industry. Growth is predicted to be positive over the next five years.
So, who are the biggest names in the beauty and personal care industry? Let’s take a look at the top five companies by retail sales volume.
1. The L’Oréal Group is a French corporation that owns L’Oréal and Lancome. For additional information, visit the L’Oréal Group’s website. You’d be surprised at what you’d find, as they’re likely to own one or two of your favorite brands.
2. Procter & Gamble is an American company that makes excellent drugstore items, such as Oil of Olay.
3. Unilever is a large multinational company with a unique history. The company is from both the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. They also sell products like Dove all around the world.
4. Colgate-Palmolive is an American company focusing on drugstore beauty and personal care products such as Irish Spring.
5. The Estée Lauder Companies has an extensive luxury portfolio. Tom Ford beauty goods are owned and distributed by this American corporation.
In 2016, the L’Oréal Group took the #1 spot in the beauty and personal care industry. Even though they already have a strong portfolio, they continue to acquire or purchase exciting new brands. For example, they’ve purchased high-growth brands like IT Cosmetics and Urban Decay in recent years.
Hannah Bronfman, founder of HBFIT sits down with us and provides advice on how to get a career in the beauty industry and push yourself out of your comfort zone
“I think the advice that I would give to my younger self would be don’t feel awkward about cold calling and reaching out blind,” says Hannah Bronfman, founder of HBFIT. “I think there’s something to be said about a go-getter and someone who knows what they want and how to get it, or at least how they think they know how to get it.”
When you cold call someone and you have a heart and soul behind what you’re trying to achieve, that comes through. Maybe the first time, the person doesn’t answer the email but emails them again. Persistence is key.
A specific area of the beauty industry that’s changed via technology is the booking platforms. Hannah says a lot of these companies have created their own SaaS products, which is a statistical analytics system that is like the brain of a lot of these apps. Whether it’s Glam Squad, the Glamm app, Style Seat, all of these programs and technologies have created a new way that people interact with beauty and the way that beauty is booked for the professional and the consumer.
It’s brought the beauty world to a full on-demand system just like everything else that we see. So I think technology has an impact on the product and the way it’s designed.
Every single brand is trying to recreate the lipstick or foundation, lotions, gels that finish matte or true match a color, or lipstick that looks blue, but it’s going to turn bright pink. I think everyone’s trying to do this kind of surprise and delight using technology to help create a different product that hasn’t been to the market yet, says Hannah.
To prepare for an interview, you can do a few things differently. One, do your research, know who you’re being interviewed by, and know the trajectory of their career.
For the company that you’re interviewing for, know their past big product launches and what has gone on in the news.
Consider: Have they raised money? Have they been acquired? Did they go through a recall?
“Those are things that you want to know before an interview. And I think some other things that you can do is, always, if you’re going into a beauty meeting, wear lipstick, wear eye shadow, nothing that’s flashy, but something that says you’re an enthusiast,” Hanna explains. “And always be polite, take your time when you’re speaking. It comes off a lot better when you don’t say the word like or um.”
This article will discuss two aspects of the marketing process: analyzing sales over time and collecting feedback. These details are crucial since you want to know whether your product is a success or not.
Because you’re continuously attempting to improve your customer service, gathering feedback is critical. When it comes to client connection building, the first thing to remember is to make sure you’re offering customers what we call “perceived value” in marketing, which is an essential concept.
Perceived value relates to a customer’s internal assessment of whether a product is worth the price you’re asking. This value is in terms of both money and the time and effort it takes to obtain it. As a result, you’re continually striving to make sure you’re in sync with your customers’ perceptions of value. It would be best if you also kept in mind that customers sometimes misjudge value and cost.
Consider how a rare ingredient for a scent or a special pigment for a cosmetic will significantly increase the price of your product. If your customer doesn’t value the unique ingredient, you’re not going to pay for it because it doesn’t match their perceived value. This area is where you should get input regularly.
You must ensure that your assessment of your proposition’s value correlates to the customer’s sense of value. You’ll do this because you want to build long-term connections with your customers. The main objective of marketing is to increase consumer loyalty. You strive to gain and build long-term relationships with your customers.
Repeat customers are more likely to generate more profits for your business. The 80/20 rule in marketing suggests that 20% of your clients account for 80% of your profits, which is a significant amount of money. You should make a considerable effort to cultivate long-term customers.
To do so, you must first figure out what their needs and wants are. A customer’s need is something they can’t live without. Customers crave or desire something based on their personality, culture, or society. Marketers of beauty products and fragrances tend to focus on wants rather than needs. To establish a devoted customer base, you’ll need to concentrate on this topic.
Attracting customers and keeping customers are two separate matters. Customer relationship management (CRM) is how businesses tackle this critical issue of customer relationships. CRM encapsulates the marketing process. It’s the method of establishing and keeping profitable customer relationships by providing superior value and satisfaction to all of your customers.
We’re in for a really big change. Things are changing before our eyes now; the retail experience is totally different from what it used to be. We’re also going to see a lot of movement.
The people that are going to be successful are the ones that are aware of how people are shopping. Hopefully, people will go back into the store, but a lot is happening online. But how do you sell makeup online? You’ve got to be creative.
One piece of advice to anyone that wants to be an entrepreneur — because who doesn’t want to work for themselves — is to make sure you have something or an idea that is better than anything out there. Bobbi Brown, a makeup artist/author/entrepreneur says “It’s got to be new. It’s got to be better. Make sure you know you’re going to be working 24 hours a day. You never stop thinking about it.”
I also recommend working for a company. Go work for a big company, because then you’ll know what you don’t want to do. You’ll learn how to act, how to arrive on time, and how to write spreadsheets. The more you know, the better you do. There’s no rush.
Brown says there are three traits he loves to see when people want to get into the beauty industry. Number one: energy. You need to have good and positive energy.
You also need to be really curious. I don’t care what you know. I care what you want to know.
The third thing, which everyone says, is passion. You have to love what you do. You have to love the industry you’re in.