2020 ripped up the beauty business rule book, exposed
- Social
- Financial
- Cultural
- and environmental cracks in its systems and presented business with an exquisite opportunity to re-examine and reinvent itself. Through the use of digital marketing and conscious consumer relationships .
Social Drivers
The pandemic was not the only social driver of how we rethink beauty trends currently. The BLM movements on beauty trend in terms of representation of brands, accountability and transparency was major. BLM created powerful sub-movements within the backdrop of covid-19, one being pull-up for change. Sharon Chuter, founder, CEO and creative director of Uoma Beauty, noticed that many beauty brands shared messages of support by posting black squares as part of #BlackOutTuesday and making one-time donations, without actually taking time to reflect on how they directly contribute to racial injustice and fail to enact real change within their immediate organisations. As beauty is traditionally white heteronormative aesthetic space.
New Marketing Opportunities for Beauty Products
However the huge social driver post covid-19 in 2021 will be trauma recovery and soul healing. Through restorative next generation beauty products that transcend personal care as a more meaningful and holistic beauty.
During Covid, consumers became independent and focused on internal values, partly because the noise of external audience for launches and big psychical marketing events no longer existed. The results are that the consumer will no longer necessarily follow dictated external trends given by companies and brands, more on internal individual vision to empower themselves. Another phenomenon is that sales in male beauty has taken off. The confidence of shopping on-line; that they would otherwise not do comfortably in a physical store is on the rise.
Though physical traditional stores still exist; this is the era of contactless, no more trying and swatching on testers. Which will give rise to engaging IA for contactless technology. Digitalisation in beauty is a growing trend, AGC technology, A Japanese global glass manufacturing company, headquartered in Tokyo and the largest glass company in the world and one of the core Mitsubishi companies. Will be developing the uses a smart mirror technology to apply make-up and get a consultation via a phone app.
Though everything is on-line, challenges on social media for brands are that ,it’s apparent that consumers are less interested in social influencers with high numbers of following. Consumers see these as a sales people and that creates less interest. Instead Hidden lower followership and exclusive hidden accounts with genuine content are the appeal, which can be approached as an opportunity and both a complexity for organisations.
Instead of influencers, brands need to source improvers along with influencers. Not just selling, engaging for the society at large and merging current social challenges. Improvers for woman empowerment, LGBTQ rights, going green, environmental impacts etc. A deeper meaning of influence and purpose as suggested by Antoinette van den Berg Founder of The Lady in Blu https://www.theladyinblu.com/ trend agency.
Mallory Huron -Beauty Editor at Fashion Snoops, https://www.fashionsnoops.com/ big conversation around digital beauty is still about tik-tok. Tik- tok, has an ability to incubate and amplify brands, content, trends as a game changer. Its inherent appeal is low production value and humourous nature. It’s, less polished than instagram and gave rise to beauty hack tutorials, viral aesthetic and tik-tok beauty borne brands.
Covid-19 and lockdowns was a great accelerator of environmental drivers environmental consciousness. Nature became a new dynamic. You could not go anywhere but in nature. This gave rise and stimulus to sustainability of the environment. The type of suitability that will going forward be linked to purpose economy, packing as a sustainable addition to the economy , up cycle ingredients and packaging or untapped resources in innovation. Consumers are very vocal on calling out brands on social media regarding the impact on the environment.
How Do We Build Back Better?
With real solutions and internal values to sustain the beauty industry, nature and holistic consumer approach. This is an opportunity to find more positive ways! Here are ways brands, influencers and improvers can take advantage of the already existing trends using digital marketing media to strengthen brand, consumer alliance and product presence. https://thedigitalmarketinginstitute.org/
References
https://www.instagram.com/p/CA9ogHVhSAC/?utm_source=ig_embed
Author
Lindi Makhoali
@Lindi_edit