Beiersdorf – New Corporate Website

By Andrea | Published: July 21, 2009

Beiersdorf New Corporate Site – (Think NIVEA and La Prairie)

Insight by Andrea

Intrigued by what they called an “artistically and technically new concept” online,  I went to check the new Beiersdorf corporate site. To my surprise the content is amazing and really shows the that they are solid and serious company based on strong R&D and product development. However, I found the navigation challenging and the choice of a large background images very overpowering. They may work for the homepage, but not for the subpages where we are supposed to read the content.

They offer a wealth of information specially images and videos. It is really worth taking a look at their history. The company was founded in 1890 and in 1911 Nivea was born. It was the "first stable skin cream based on a water-in-oil emulsion", using the emulsifying agent Eucerit" (also basis for Eucerin).

The Beiersdorf Classics Cinema presents a great evolution of personal care ads throughout last century, starting in Germany 1920. In addition, their media library has 23 pages of print ads that are worth checking.

Given the incredible revival of brands, and the search for meaning, autenthicity and value, Beiersdorf has a great shot at further establishing itself as a household brand in the US for our generation, as it is already in many global markets.

Do you know what NIVEA means? Snow – derived from the Latin word "nix, nivis".

Excerpt from Happi:

Skin is always in, but so is the Internet. As a result, Beiersdorf has a new online presence. As of July 20, the global beauty marketer presents an “artistically and technically new concept” on its website, www.Beiersdorf.com, according to the company. 

 

 Beiersdorf.com

 

 

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Lancome and Mass Collaboration – Baby Steps

By Leah | Published: July 15, 2009

Lancome and Mass Collaboration

Insight by Leah

Lancome is again releasing The Pout a Porter lipstick – the brand has in the past teamed up with rising designers to create a lipstick that reflects their own personal style signature.  In the past, Lancome has teamed up with Behnaz Sarafpour, Proenza Schouler, Peter Som and Thakoon, much to the delight of both the brand’s and designer’s fans.  Lancome is now working with Chris Benz on a new lipstick that will be featured on all the models in his September 2009 runway show – but this time, the beauty brand reached out to consumers to help name the lipstick.  The contest was open to anyone, and Lancome and Chris Benz accepted submissions on the Chris Benz Facebook page and received over 1,000 entries.  This is an excellent example (and initial first step for Lancome) of engaging stakeholders – no doubt both Lancome fans and Chris Benz fans will feel a connection to the lipstick, and Lancome is banking on this collaboration with its consumers to drive sales of the latest Pout a Porter release.  As well, using the Facebook fan page provides an easy venue for Lancome to communicate with a younger, diverse audience than may typically purchase some its products.  All in all, a great first step for Lancome in opening up the process.  It will be interesting to see if more companies (and Lancome) continue to engage consumers in additional product development steps – brand stakeholders (and that includes everyone from company employees to consumers) are invaluable resources for feedback on everything from packaging to ingredients to advertisements, and more companies would be wise to engage them before product releases.

Excerpt from Second City Style Blog:

Big news! The Pout a Porter lipstick series by Lancome is back! The skincare and cosmetics brand has already teamed up four times with some of the most influential emerging designers to create a lipstick that embodies their particular style. The previous four lipsticks in this collection were collaborations with designers Behnaz Sarafpour, Proenza Schouler, Peter Som, and Thakoon. So far the limited edition lipsticks have been a huge success with all four selling out quickly once they hit stores. One Proenza Pink lipstick even sold for $122 on eBay!

Link to blog post

Link to Chris Benz Facebook Fan Page

 Chris Benz for Lancome

 

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BellaSugar.com Product Reviews

By Leah | Published: July 8, 2009

 BellaSugar.com Product Reviews

Shared by Leah

As we all know, beauty purchases tend to be one of those "high involvement" categories for most women – it’s as important what you think as what other people are saying about the product.  Thus, the importance of product reviews for the beauty industry.  Bellasugar.com has a section of their website specifically dedicated to product reviews provided by their editors and, more importantly, by their readers.  Additionally, Bellasugar.com has even highlighted for site visitors who are the most active reviewers and who are the most trusted reviewers.  Further, the site has made it easy to search for either a specific product with easy to browse categories or the best and worst reviewed products, and even points out for readers a product review of the day (check out this one on Cetaphil Daily Cleanser).  All this incredible content begs the question – what is the beauty industry, and specifically the beauty companies, doing to engage these active reviewers and to connect with sites like Bellasugar.com?  These product review forums are the perfect venue for companies to engage their stakeholders, broaden a fan base, receive valuable insights (check out the people who slammed the L’Oreal Vive Pro Line, which unfortunately for L’Oreal now appears as one of the worst reviewed products) and get feedback before an expensive product launch.

 

 

 

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Lauren Luke – Case Study

By Leah | Published: July 8, 2009

 Lauren Luke Case Study

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For those of you who live and breathe make-up and social media as we do here at TheNhuch.com, Lauren Luke is dream-come-true success story.  A little background on Luke – she first began selling make-up brushes, eyeshadows and more on eBay, and soon found that she was bombarded with questions about use and application tips from her customers.  Since make-up is one of those "easier to show you than tell you" products, Luke began creating make-up tutorials on YouTube, and soon became an overnight sensation.  Luke’s video tutorial on singer Leona Lewis’ green, heavily lined cat eyes from Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” video is considered Luke’s breakthrough video – it alone has almost 3 million views.  As well, she has launched her own make-up line, By Lauren Luke, that is available on her own website, and will soon be available through Sephora.com and in Sephora’s new flagship store in Times Square.  Affirming how important social media has been for her, Luke admits that she was initially contacted by her make-up line partners through Facebook.  Perhaps most importantly, Luke continually interacts with her stakeholders – fans, consumers, and business partners – by responding to comments, emails, inquiries and feedback.  As she states "That’s the good thing about it (YouTube) — people can tell me what they want and I’ll see if it’s doable."  For Lauren Luke, having these interactions is her way of giving back.  For us at TheNhuch.com, it’s a perfect, winning example of mass collaboration.

Lauren Luke YouTube Channel

Lauren Luke Facebook page

Lauren Luke on Twitter

 

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Brand Relaunch: Lander Personal Products

By Andrea | Published: July 7, 2009

Grand Brands Celebrates Overseas Lander Launch

Shared by Andrea

There seems to be a wave of brand revivals recently and perhaps this is a very interesting way to break through the industry clutter. I believe it probably makes more sense to invest in relaunching existing brands, with a solid equity (or at least some equity), than building a brand from scratch. Lander is the latest example in the personal care segment. The brand was acquired by Grand Brands LLC and given the success of the recent relaunch, it will soon be introducing additional products and expanding internationally.

The relaunch included a rebranding of the adult bath line adult products have been redesigned and interestingly it looks a lot like Kiehl’s (a L’Oreal owned brand that was founded in 1851). The logo at glance reminds me of Land’s End, but the inclusion of "since 1920" in the logo plus the use of print in the front of label makes it visually very close to Kiehl’s. Clearly this shows the brand’s intention to look more upscale in the mass segment. The rest of the range seems to still have the old packaging (the baby shampoo actually looks a lot like J&J old baby shampoo packaging). It almost feels like Lander is a private label. As far as the web presence, the site offers very little information about products and where to shop. In addition, it has no visible community/social elements inviting customers to participate or share feedback about the new line. Just because it is mass, it doesn’t mean people don’t want to participate, contribute and collaborate. This relaunch is a great opportunity to "re-engage" existing customers and attract a new generation of users online – all they need to do is to reach out and leverage the brand equity they licensed.

 

Excerpt from Beauty Packaging: 

Launder, a newly re-launched personal care line from Grand Brands, LLC, is set to expand. According to the company, due to the success of its initial launch, including successful overseas sales, it will be launching a second phase of the brand name products. The phase includes the brand’s new adult shampoo and conditioner, kid’s dental rinse and new additions to Lander adult oral care and skin care lines.

….

The Lander brand has been on American store shelves since 1920 and is known for its value and quality. These well-established, but newly re-launched products, which are all manufactured in the U.S., are available in major drug and value-focused retail chains across North America.

Lander New Adult LineKiehl's

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Temptalia Asks You

By Andrea | Published: June 30, 2009

Blogs provide free research for Marketers: "Temptalia Asks You"

Shared by Andrea

Blogs are great resources for marketers. Temptalia, besides having a constant stream of comments on its posts, also asks direct questions to its reader base. There were 39 responses to the question “What role does packaging play in your purchases?” posted on June 26th. Many said that packaging is very important, but functionality and simplicity seemed to be a common theme. However, product quality is still more important.  The following brands were mentioned as great examples of packaging: MAC, YSL, Guerlain and Benefit. Product development, marketing and sales teams should be monitoring the most active blogs in their categories in order to take advantage of these free outputs that are direct results of mass collaboration. Visit Temptalia to review the 39 responses.

Temptalia Asks You 

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Guccifragrances.com

By Andrea | Published: June 29, 2009

Guccifragrances.com – Launches this week

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WWD announced that Gucci will be launching an internet portal dedicated to its fragrances this week. Guccifragrances.com is supposed to go live today and will include an e-commerce component. According to Frida Giannini, creative director for the brand, aside from smelling the fragrances, visitors will be involved on a rich media experience and will be able to share that experience with friends. I confess that I am intrigued by how Gucci will be leveraging the social web tools to promote its fragrances. Will they have a Facebook and Twitter account? There is a Facebook page for Flora Gucci with 661 fans (but no posts). I wonder if high end brands that choose to be on Facebook and Twitter will actually engage and respond to customers online or, if they will just broadcast information and expect conversations to take place from there.

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ELuxury: Fashion Publisher

By Andrea | Published: June 28, 2009

   ELuxury: from E-commerce to Fashion Publisher

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After 10 years selling LVMH brands like Marc Jacobs and Emilio Pucci, online e-tailer eLuxury, shuts down its commerce functionality and relaunches today as a ’social media’ site devoted to the world of luxury. I wondering what they mean by a ‘social media’ site. Perhaps they didn’t want to call it a blog or a social network, but we shall see how it will shape up once they start adding content by their global team of curators, contributors and users. My take is that they are going to have a very well designed blog in which readers will be able to comment and vote on the content in addition to having accounts on Twitter and Facebook. For now, eLuxury will feature a quote of the day on the homepage and collect emails (sign up to be an insider).

This is a very interesting move by LVMH in which the advertiser becomes the publisher and therefore a potential competitor to the traditional publications that depended heavily on LVMH advertising dollars. It will be interesting to see who will win the battle for attention. I already signed up to become an insider and can’t wait to see what comes next on eLuxury! 

 

 
eLuxury

Twitter Followers: 3,655 (since May 2008) Facebook Fans: 1,155           What people are saying on Twitter right now about the new eLuxury:

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Social Media Boosts Business

By Leah | Published: June 26, 2009

Social Media Boosts Business

Insight by Leah

More and more companies are discovering the value and power of social media, and are increasingly engaging consumers through Facebook and Twitter.  This article highlights how Astral Brands, parent company of Pur Minerals and Aloette Cosmetics, invited its network of franchises, consultants and customers to become fans of the brands as part of its 31st anniversary celebration.  The result – 3,000 people became Facebook fans in May alone.  Astral is taking an open approach with its customers and independent consultants, and creating an inclusive environment for its community – Facebook fans receive updates on upcoming products, sales, trends and other beauty advice as well as an opportunity to provide the company with feedback.  This strategy no doubt results in greater consumer-brand engagement and increased consumer confidence in the Pur Minerals and Aloette Cosmetics brands.  As well, recent studies of consumer engagement/friend recommendations and beauty products have indicated that consumers are significantly more likely to make a purchase based on a reference from a friend/influencer.  It’s a smart move by Astral Brands and we’ll look to see if more beauty companies follow this lead. 

Pur Minerals Facebook Fan Page

Aloette Cosmetics Facebook Fan Page

Excerpt from Beauty Packaging Magazine:

These days, it’s all about being online. Astral Brands, the parent company of cosmetics brands Pur Minerals and Aloette Cosmetics, is pairing the power of email and social media to raise awareness and boost sales of its expanding cosmetics lines.  Read the complete Beauty Packaging article.

 

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TB-Gate

By Andrea | Published: June 25, 2009

Total Beauty Media CEO Outlook Caused Uproar in the Blogging Community

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In light of potential regulation by the FTC on bloggers, Total Beauty Media CEO Emrah Kovacoglu wrote an article that was distributed on their June newsletter called: “Beauty brands should not be working with bloggers…directly, anyway”.  The article created a massive reaction in the beauty blogging community as he made some strong statements about bloggers receiving incentives from companies, not following journalistic standards, and their fear of producing bad reviews. After carefully reading it twice my take was that he was mainly using the FTC news to make a case for the Total Beauty Sneak Peek program in which they act as a middle man playing a buffering role in the community. The beauty of the very dynamic blogging community is their freedom to pick and choose what they want to review and how they want to review it. Readers are savvy and the best blogs will be the most successful. It is not the role of Total Beauty Media to determine what standards they should follow and help enforce it. There is space for beauty blog directories and aggregation online, but not for creating a force that will help ‘control’ them…glossies operate in controlled environments, not blogs.

Reaction from Bloggers (First published on Bionic-Beauty.com):

Response from Total Beauty Media CEO: Emrah Kovacoglu – CEO Total Beauty Media posted a 8.27 minute video responding to what he called a: “dialog generated from the CEO’s Outlook in the June issue of Total Beauty Insider”. The video was seen 252 times and no comments were posted.

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