People often wonder what is the future of beauty retail with the advent of online and pharmacies. Yesterday I happened to find myself in front on the Kiehl’s flagship store in the East Village (NY) on my way to an art supply store. I needed a gift for a friend and found the gorgeous Jeff Koons limited edition of the Creme de Corps. Beautiful & colorful tulip design plus all proceeds going to the Koons Family Institute (Koon’s son was abducted by his ex-wife which inspired him to fight for children’s rights). The staff was beyond kind and extremely helpful. She asked me what samples would my friend like, put the Creme de Corps in a beautiful box filled with dry flowers and surrounded by deluxe samples (I even got extra samples of the new Rosa Artica and Double Strength Deep Wrinkle Filler, the latter being my new best friend). 

So on the future of retail? Old fashioned experience & value: friendly staff, free product trial and (above all) pamper me. I will schlep there because they made me feel like a million dollars for less than $50.

Photo via vanityfair.com

This is a slow but sure trend that has been developing in the last 24 months. Brands have started to allocate marketing dollars to produce content similar to magazines (beyond a plain blog).

Are brands becoming publishers? Or shall we call them self-publishers? Well it depends. Dolce & Gabanna seems to have been one of the first with the launch of Swide, a site that focus mostly in promoting their own brand with all kinds of interesting and behind the scenes content. It also covers other fun and witty info ranging from style, faces and life – full of live and sexyness. Check out this post about a video made for Kiehl’s ("I LOVE YOU" directed by Stephen Blaise). Earlier this year (around February 2010) LVMH closed eLuxury.com and relaunched as Nowness, an online magazine, completely independent from a content standpoint, focusing on showcasing the most creative and international content about fashion, art, culture and travel with a luxury angle (very posh and great sources of insipiration). 

Liz Claiborne Inc is the latest brand to join the publishing bandwagon with the launch of The Highlow, a magazine style site that aims to celebrate the democratization of fashion. It reads like a not-overproduced fashion blog, written by a really nice girl (Felicity Loughrey) with an easygoing voice and fashion insights. The great plus for us are the industry headlines posted under ‘the thread’. They intend to keep the conent editorially independent as their mission is to start conversation and dialogue with people, and not make it read like an ad.

These are great examples of how content creation and marketing are evolving (and blending?) to create engagement and dialog. There are many ways to do it. It all depends on the brand’s comfort level and strategy. I personally think Swide is a great example as it is not shy about self-promoting by giving fans what they want, an opportunity to see more behind the scenes – how D&G do things, what the designers like and ultimately what they think. Fans want to be part of, identify with, belong to brands and have a say. Can magazines connect with readers the same way (and how are they going to make up for these repurposed budgets)? Who will be the first in beauty to do it? I bet it will be a haircare company.

Sources: WWD.com

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.