Yon Woo: Refillable airless cosmetic packaging

By Andrea | Published: September 24, 2009

Yon Woo: Refillable airless cosmetic packaging
 

Insight by Andrea

Yon Woo is well known in the cosmetics industry for its airless packaging. This year they introduced a new concept of refillable packaging to HBA. Daniel Cha, explained that companies can now offer a high end packaging that can be easily refilled by replacing the inside of the container.  Bottles are easy to open and have a medical look and feel. This is a great option for skincare brands. One may think that high end and refill don’t go together, this is a great alternative for technology driven brands that want to avoid packaging waste.

Refillable Packaging2 Sizes

 

 

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Korres partners with J&J in the US

By Andrea | Published: September 15, 2009

Korres partners with J&J in the US

Insight by Andrea

Korres, an Athens  based, natural skin care line, distributed in 400 Sephora and Whole Food doors plus 2 stand-alone stores signed a licensing deal with J&J. Korres global sales are $85 million with 80% generated in Greece. Co-Founder George Korres believes J&J can take Korres to the next level. The deal gives full control to J&J in the US. According to the article published by WWD, J&J is tapping in prestige and Korres will not go mass. The deal also gives J&J rights to Kings and Queens, a lesser known brand owned by Korres. We have been seeing a strong trend of prestige brands experimenting with mass. On the other hand, CPG companies want to play on prestige grounds. The deal seems like a smart way for J&J to learn about the segment then decide what to do next. The risk lies with Korres by giving up full control. If it works, there will be lots of loyalties, if it doesn’t Korres may not mean much if 5 years. Let’s not forget how P&G just discontinued Max Factor. Having said that, we hope it is very successful for both parties as Korres offers fantastic products and amazing packaging.

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Tabu – Brand Revival

By Leah | Published: September 10, 2009

Insight by Leah

Tabu, that fragrance that reminds everyone of the 1970’s, recently won the best mass-market, drugstore, budget or direct-sell fragrance in the 9th Annual Basenotes Awards.  This Dana Classics fragrance has been going through somewhat of a brand revival, and has been mainly focused on building an online following (check out the Facebook page) to grab consumer focus.  As with any brand revival, it’s always difficult to tap into consumer memories, and to build a customer base off of select brand memories.  However, the Tabu approach has been interesting to date, and may eventually offer a model for other, older brands that want to reach a new audience.

A few things that Tabu can begin to do to expand their potential:

1. Listen to their consumers – it would be great for consumers to have an active forum where they could add comments and suggestions for the brand – on everything from packaging to slight fragrance changes.  These conversations can take place on a brand blog or even on the Facebook page.

2. Create or build a new compelling message to consumers – when reviving a brand, it’s not enough to "rest on your laurels."  Tabu needs to update their 1970’s image and tagline to be relevant for the current market.

3. Explore other distribution channels – despite some initial forays online, my guess would be that Tabu is still mainly sold through corner drugstores.  Why not open up to other channels including HSN or other online channels?

What are your thoughts on Tabu or on brand revival?

 

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Automated Retail: U*tique

By Andrea | Published: September 9, 2009

U*tique Automated Retail Outlet (a.k.a Luxury vending machines)

"I was asked to make the Ferrari of vending machines" – Russel Greenberg, Designer

Insight by Andrea

Vending machines have been a popular retail outlet in the United States and in Japan they can even speak (there is an estimated 1 machine for every 23 people in Japan). Recently there has been some in-roads by beauty companies in the space of automated retail. Proactiv Skin Care was spotted last year at Dallas Forth Worth Airport.

But now the Ferrari of vending machines is here. U*tique was created by Mara Siegel and designed by Russel Greenberg. The first automated outlet of this kind is currently operating at Fred Segal in Santa Monica and plans to expand to gyms, airports, hotels, night clubs – places where people could use a high-end beauty fix.  Brands currently available include Malin + Goetz, Clark’s Botanicals and Smashbox Cosmetics. Among other things, there is actually a little robot inside that delivers delicate items to customer’s hands, avoiding them from tumbling down like a pack of Cheetos.

One draw back pointed out by a review is that U*tique is not really a good tool for browsing and comparing as prices aren’t displayed anywhere.

"I had asked why the prices aren’t displayed with the items, you know like in vending machines, and was told that if I had to ask how much something cost then I probably shouldn’t be buying something from that machine." – Caroline C., Los Angeles. Yelp, 4/25/09

This was the only actual review of U*tique available online. Most of the coverage seemed to be straight from the press-release. I would have expected many more reviews of the product online by this point. The concept is really innovative and will definitely change they way we shop for beauty. It may however, be best if includes a good selection of reasonably priced, high quality products, to ensure more people use it more often.

Automated Retail Outlet (a.k.a Luxury)

Read more:

W Magazine

shoppingblog.com

Racked.com

Yelp Review

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JC Penney & Sephora: Is this the future of department store beauty retailing?

By Andrea | Published: September 8, 2009

JC Penney & Sephora: Is this the future of department store beauty retailing?

Insight by Andrea

Having lived in NYC for many years, I was surprised to see a Sephora as soon as I entered the new (and only) JC Penney store here (Manhattan Mall at 34th Street Herald Square). Given the current challenges experienced by manufacturers with the consolidation of department stores, this is an efficient way to simplify the process of selling beauty products. Perhaps the solution is a channel organized by an independent body or association to give all manufacturers a fair shot (instead of having their business depending on a few specialty retailers like Sephora or ULTA only). I don’t think we have found the right model yet, but this partnership is definitely a step in the right direction. I am surprised we haven’t seen more of these deals yet.

In 2006 JC Penney started opening Sephora stores-within-stores to offer its customers with a wide range of prestigious beauty products. This was the alternative found by JC Penney to overcome failed attempts to build a cosmetics business since 1980s. It is also a creative way to improve its image and attract younger consumers. There are 140 Sephora locations, in prominent areas of the JC Penney stores. They are smaller stores (1,500 sq feet) than the stand-alone locations and offer a limited selection of products – about 50 brands including Nars, Bare Escentuals, Stila, Smashbox, Peter Thomas Roth, Korres and Caudalie, Clarisonic, Fekkai, Ojon; and fragrance offerings from Dior, DKNY, Aquolina and Sean John and Sephora own collection.

sephora manhattan mall

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Courtesy of racked.com
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Sally Hershberger: Launches Luxe Layers exclusive on HSN

By Andrea | Published: September 4, 2009

Celebrity Hairstylist – Sally Hershberger, launching Luxe Layers exclusive on HSN

Insight by Andrea

Sally Hershberger, is not only an ubber celebrity hairstylist known for creating the famous Meg Ryan’s signature shag in 1995, co-creating John Frieda’s Sheer Blonde product collection and charging $800 for a haircut. Besides a talent for shaggy, natural hair with movement, she actually has a great personality, is very low-key and most importantly offers professional grade products at affordable prices, very in-line with what old masters have done (Vidal Sasson, Charles Worthington, and John Frieda) And great for times when people are watching their wallet. Products are available at Walgreens, Target, ULTA Beauty, Shopper’s Drugmart. On September 8th, Sally’s range will debut at HSN with the Luxe Layers Blow Out Gel, "for an everyday, salon-perfect blow dry at home".

Sally demo the product to a group of beauty bloggers at an exclusive blogger event at her stylish Downtown New York salon yesterday. Sally and her team talked about products and she even styled a few lucky bloggers and showed how to create a great within a few minutes (I even got my hair snipped by her to finish the look – very cool!). 

Besides doing celebrity hair, she has launched the Shagg denim line, been a judge at Shear Genius, launched a haircare line, started Tweeting, reaching out to bloggers, Facebook fans and  the community (Girl Scouts), and next week she will be touching millions on HSN. What is next for Sally? If she continues to innovate and engage with her audience I believe she will become one of the first female household names in the haircare industry. 

 Luxe Layers

 

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The September Issue (of Vogue) – Excellent documentary. But what about beauty?

By Andrea | Published: September 1, 2009

The September Issue (of Vogue) – Excellent documentary. But what about beauty?

Insight by Andrea

I really enjoyed watching The September Issue. It is a great documentary. Well written, shot and edited. Anna Wintour is featured as much more human than I expected. Plus it really makes a hero out of Grace Coddington, the creative director who started her career at American Vogue at the same time as Anna Wintour (about 20 years ago). The movie clearly features the passion and obsession for fashion that drives Vogue, but I was surprised to see how little interest Anna showed at the beauty editor’s story for the most important issue of the year. It was probably a few seconds of the movie and it seemed totally disconnected from the rest of the stories. Granted the hair/make up/nail statements are made automatically through the photo shoots, but my feeling is that from an editorial standpoint it is included as a by the way, to perhaps please advertisers, but not to feature products in the same way as fashion pieces. Most brands spend thousands in PR agencies to be featured in Vogue, so they can tell their retailers about it. I suggest that this money is repurposed into better products and more innovative campaigns that truly engage with customers instead of focusing on a little mention lost in a thick glossy that will probably be missed by most readers.  

The September Issue 

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What are people saying about Shiseido on Twitter now?

By Andrea | Published: August 17, 2009

What are people saying about Shiseido on Twitter now?

Insight by Andrea

There are lot of deals. But it looks like skincare is the favorite topic. By the way, why isn’t Shiseido making khols anymore?The new images for Maquillage are out. Someone is finding the products expensive. Have you searched for your brand on Twitter? If you don’t use Twitterdeck, just go to search.twitter.com and type any brand to get a feel for what is being said about it in real time. This is a good exercise to do on a regular basis. Even better is to designate someone in the organization to respond and engage with these customers.

  

 

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Hard Candy goes Wal-mart

By Andrea | Published: August 12, 2009

Recently a blogger was wondering what happened to Hard Candy, a very hip brand that used to be retailed at deparment and specialty stores. Happy.com broke the news that the brand is relaunching at Wal-mart, but not firm dates were revealed (Nouveau Cheap also commented on the news). Recently, Stila announced that it will be launching "Simply Stila" a lower end line starting at $7.99.  This clearly shows a trend towards mass, unlike the past few years when brands would always strive to go higher end. Elf has showed that great products at lower prices make a great business model. Personally I always believed that if you can make (and market) great products at lower costs, then keep the prices down – it makes everyone happy. Good products don’t necessarily have to be the most expensive ones sold at the poshest department stores. 

 

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Power of beauty blogs

By Leah | Published: July 30, 2009

 Power of Beauty Blogs

Insight by Leah

Konectors, a London-based organization that finds "connectors and mavens" that have both an online presence and the social networking power to influence product purchases on behalf of advertisers, recently released a report on the Top 50 Beauty Blogs.   It should come as no surprise that topping this list is Temptalia – a blog that we have highlighted as both engaging and insightful for its audience.  Two other blogs of note include Naturallycurly.com and Basenotes.  As noted in the report, these top 50 blogs receive over 2.8 million visitors per month, and beauty companies should realize that these visitors are actively responding to content and engaging in conversations about products.  Among the other things that Konector factored into their analysis was how the blogs used various social media networks to engage consumers on their blog, on Facebook, on Twitter and in particular, YouTube.  As Konector director, Kingsley Mauder, correctly notes, YouTube and images are increasingly important in beauty purchases.

Top 50 List

Konector Report Overview

 

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