I often think about social responsibility and how brands can stand out these days. I firmly believe that instead of governments, the private sector should be the main driver of social change (a combination of doing good and doing well). Social media enables people to share their opinions and advocate. Brands are trying to figure out how to use social media in order to create meaningful conversations. These conversations will be created, shared and multiplied if they are rooted in causes that are relevant and dear to their fans/advocates (shall we no longer call them customers or consumers?). 

So I was very glad that at the recent WWD CEO Summit (May 2010) there was a panel discussion about digital marketing that brought up the concept of relevancy to our industry. Panelists included B. Bonin Bough, global director of digital and social media at PepsiCo; Jory des Jardins, president, strategic alliances, and co-founder of BlogHer Inc.; Kevin Kells, national industry director of consumer packaged goods at Google Inc., and Fred Mossler of Zappos.com. 

The highlight, in my opinion, was introducing the audience to PepsiCo’s Refresh project, which is giving away $20 million to sponsor community projects driven by individuals, not organizations. PepsiCo reallocated budget from its Superbowl opening ad position into this effort in order to build relevance in the eyes of the consumer while promoting the health of its brand.

Here are some interesting quotes from WWD article Digital Directive that covered the panel, June 06/11/10: "Bough (from PepsiCo) observed, “When people are having conversations about our brand online, are they mentioning these attributes — a brand that I can’t live without, a brand that I know supports my passions?”He continued, “What it was really about was, can the brand stand for something, can we remind people that a soda can make a difference and, even more, that your choice makes a difference? Kells of Google added, “Relevancy is tied to effectiveness. That’s where I think in the next decade, the conversation has to switch.” He added that the industry has been too hung up on efficiency. The best way to grow the top line, he asserted, “is to be more effective. The way to do that is to be more relevant at the right moment for the right outcome.”

Brands like MAC have connected and created relevance through many ways and specially with Viva Glam. Most of the other beauty companies support breast cancer. However our beauty fans/advocates are dealing with a wide variety of interests, needs and wants, that brands could tap into to connect and create relevance. Why don’t you ask them what they care about before your next campaign?

Credits: Photo by Harvey Bilt, WWD.com

Estee Lauder announced this week that it will purchase Smashbox, the LA photo-studio and Hollywood inspired brand, founded by Dean and Davis Factor, great-grandsons of legendary Hollywood makeup artist Max Factor. The move by Lauder complements the existing make-up portfolio consisting of MAC and Bobbi Brown, both make up artists brands and shouldn’t bring any cannibalization. Au contraire, it gives Lauder access to a younger audience reached by a variety of alternative channels (outside the traditional department store that is responsible for 30% of Lauder’s sales) including QVC, Sephora, ULTA and Macy’s new Impulse Beauty concept.

Smashbox will also bring knowledge in digital and social media."We are excited to be acquiring a uniquely positioned cosmetics brand with true talent well known for engaging consumers," John Demsey, a group president at Estee Lauder (LA Times).

Here are my 3 takeaways from the acquisition:

- Expansion into new channels of distribution (i.e. assisted open-sell environments and specialty distribution channels)

- Access to younger generation

- Expertise in digital and social media to advance its current capabilities

Read original Estee Lauder Press Release. Found at NYTimes blog.

GCI is one of my industry references. Yesterday I had a chance to read the Branding for Digital Media article by Aniko Hill. I was really excited to see the topic being reviewed in more depth and Aniko provided some very good points and tips for successful digital marketing. However, after reading it a few times, I was very worried that this February feature may give the industry the wrong impression about social media & marketing. I’ve been in the beauty and digital industries for many years and I do my fair share of reading and writing but I was extremely surprised about some of the points raised in the article.

"Tropicana’s rebrand, spearheaded by ad giant Arnell Group (which also did Pepsi’s recent face-lift), had all the pieces in place for success. Most projects that come out of reputable agencies for large clients have comprehensive strategy, a long design process and thorough focus group testing before the product hits the shelf."

 

Tropicana example was used in a way that makes social media the culprit and Arnell the victim. Ad giants make mistakes and are perhaps one of the most alienated from the changes and benefits brought by social media. Furthermore, according to a post by Jym Edwards on bnet.com, this was the third flop by the uber agency, not to mention that the Pepsi redesign received its own fare share of criticism. Perhaps, their biggest mistake was relying so much on their expertise and traditional way of doing things and not using enough social media tools to test their new packaging concept. Many companies are embracing mass collaboration/crowd sourcing in their product development processes and package testing is one of the easiest applications of this concept (check Jovoto, a platform that allows people to submit, review, rate and vote on creative projects). 

 

"Unless you have a solid understanding of the art of branding, you can unwittingly damage your brand very quickly without even knowing it."

 

It is not so definite like that. According to Jeff Jarvis, an industry expert, we live in a constant state of beta and "there is no such a thing as perfection". Social media tools allows us to try new things and update them as we learn and improve. In my opinion, as long as there is transparency and honestly, online audiences are much more forgiving than the boardroom.

 

"Digital marketing is still a very new discipline, and navigating this world can be overwhelming for brand owners."

 

Digital marketing is not at all new. I built the first Hispanic minisites for Redken, L’Oreal Paris, Maybelline and Lancome back in 1999. The problem is that most digital departments have spent the last few years managing complex website platforms and failed to keep up with the arrival of Web 2.0. Yes, navigating the new social media world can be overwhelming, but companies need to realize by now that things have changed and the social web is here to stay. For example, a handful of the most valuable brands today were built without the uber agencies and are pure online players: Amazon, Google, and Zappos to name a few. So how is this so new? 

Our industry relies a lot on traditional agency approaches to communication. When the popular Super Bowl ads (Doritos and Google), are not produced by any large agency, but by new processes like crowdsourcing it is clear that the traditional agencies need to review their approaches in a rapidly changing communication environment. Holding traditional branding in such high regard may leave the industry with the same challenges faced by large agencies.

 

If all larger cosmetics brands fail to step in, experiment and learn the new rules of the game, there are lots of smaller and mid-size brands who will do. Check a few examples of successful social media strategies on low budgets: askelf.com, purplelabnyc.com, orglamix.com. At this point, fear of the new environment and lack of speed is our biggest obstacle.

Karen Rabinovitz, creatrix of Purple Lab NY debuted her line on HSN last Thursday, Feb 18th with 5 new products. Last December, she shared the news with her Huffington Post readers:

"I have the biggest news of a lifetime … HSN! HSN! HSN! Purple Lab and I are coming to HSN! The dream! I cannot even begin to explain the excitement I have and appreciation for this – to be touching something I have prayed for, went into debt for, and worked to the bone for is just such a gift."

Purple Lab NY is a mirror image of Karens’ amazing personality, drive and passion for beauty, fashion and empowering women. I’ve been following her pretty much since  their launch last May and it is amazing what she has accomplished in such a small period of time. A lot of her success, I believe, comes from her use of social media in a fantastic way to share her experiences while inviting people to participate in her journey – very open, honest and inclusive. The debut at HSN was fully supported by her community: from the model that joined her on-air (came from a model search with 2,500 entries) to the 25 HSN blogger parties hosted across the country and Temptalia’s support backstage (one of the most influential bloggers in the beauty industry). Purple Lab NY is a brand to watch and follow. A breath of fresh air in our industry. Mwah to Karen and team! 

Read more about the launch on HSN:

Facebook

Twitter

 

 

thenhuch.com hosted an interview with Ted Rubin, CMO of e.l.f Cosmetics as part of Social Media Week in NYC. In an intimate event, that took place at the new e.l.f showroom and headquarters, Ted spoke to us about social media, social commerce, relationship with bloggers, askelf, tips about tweeting and managing different social media tools, the importance of public relations and much more. He also invited Achelle Dunaway, the creative force behind the brand, to share her insights and experiences with us. Check out the video and let us know what you think!

 Watch The Beauty of Social Commerce with Ted Rubin CMO of elf Cosmetics.

Live Stream, Social Media Week’s live stream partner, does periodic system upgrades. If you are unable to link to the video, please try again in a few minutes.

Great social marketing campaign by Bobbi Brown reported by the The Beauty Chick blog. Asking their community why Bobbi Brown Cosmetics makes them feel "pretty powerful" is a clever way to gather huge amounts of insights and sentiment about the brand. This is a good example of using giveaways/sampling as currency in exchange for a specific action – others include blog comments, retweet, follow, fan, join a community, etc. These non-monetary exchanges create awareness and allow brands to engage with their communities and generate conversation. Mining the data may take time, but it can provide a great window into the future. Quite brillant!

 

Shared by Andrea

Lexli, an aloe vera skin care company, launched a new campaign which includes several social marketing tools. They created a separate blog called Real Skincare Solutions (even has a different look and feel from the ecommerce site) featuring Jessica D’Air, a certified esthetician as their brand ambassador. She invites users to follow her on Twitter, Facebook (her account, not Lexli), Google (this is quite new), and Linkedin. Another microsite will be launched later this week. We will follow this brand in the next few months to see how their campaign evolves. They just need to make sure that all elements stay tied together under the Lexli brand to avoid dilution.  All the pieces seem to be into place to succeed.

Shared by Leah

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

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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  jwohltman: WHY did eLuxury close down?! no no no! that was one of my daily website visits
  23 minutes ago from TweetDeck · Reply · View Tweet

   

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  BeccaNY: Checking out http://www.eluxury.com/ reincarnated today from e-tailer to social media site devoted to the world of luxury
  about 2 hours ago from web · Reply · View Tweet

   

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  helenliu: @barbeecue sad. eluxury no more….recession victim.
  about 2 hours ago from Twitterrific · Reply · View Tweet ·  Show Conversation

   

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  TerezBaskin: @KeyIsLegend @lovetoya I hrd the site was going 2 B turning in2 a social networking site 2day. http://www.eluxury.com/ hre is the end re …
  about 2 hours ago from TweetDeck · Reply · View Tweet

   

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  theramon: RT @ELUXURY: The Shaken, not stirred. James Bond’s Martini aka the Vesper recipe http://www.chow.com/recipes/10254
  about 3 hours ago from Tweetie · Reply · View Tweet

   

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  DailyDolce: The new eluxury.com is going to be a social media site dedicated everything awesome! (fashion, food/wine, beauty, music, entertainment etc.)
  about 3 hours ago from web · Reply · View Tweet

   

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  neeoaboutstyle: eluxury schließt und erfindet sich neu!http://networkedblogs.com/p6735566
  about 4 hours ago from web · Reply · View Tweet

   

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  alexandragersh: The new ELUXURY! Woo Woo. http://bit.ly/13mxzO (expand)
  about 4 hours ago from TweetDeck · Reply · View Tweet

   

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  alexandragersh: RT @subversiveglam: RT @ELUXURY Question of the Day: Dirty Martini or Virgin Mary? http://www.eluxury.com/day/2009/06/29
  about 5 hours ago from TweetDeck · Reply · View Tweet

   

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  glitt3r: eLuxury Shutters Retail, Launches Luxury Media Sitehttp://tinyurl.com/lcur7l (expand)
  about 5 hours ago from web · Reply · View Tweet

   

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  criterionglobal: #LVMH reinventing eLuxury.com as a social network: Some say social purchase influence is greater for pricier goods. http://bit.ly/hKNXO (expand)
  about 5 hours ago from CoTweet · Reply · View Tweet

   

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  subversiveglam: RT @ELUXURY Question of the Day: Dirty Martini or Virgin Mary?http://www.eluxury.com/day/2009/06/29
  about 7 hours ago from TwitterBerry · Reply · View Tweet

   

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  heyfabsugar: eLuxury Shutters Retail, Launches Luxury Media Sitehttp://www.fabsugar.com/3379841
  about 8 hours ago from OnSugar · Reply · View Tweet

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.