May 5, 2011 BEAUTY INDUSTRY LEADERS PROBE HOW TO REACH THE SUPER-SAVVY CONSUMER
The Fashion Group International held a luncheon on April 28 at Manhattan’s New York Hilton where a panel of experts discussed how to transform the beauty business to captivate the consumer. Sponsors of the event were The Estée Lauder Companies, SELF, Fusion Brands Inc., P&G Prestige and BobCar Mobile Beauty Boutique.
L’Oréal USA’s Marc Speichert, The Estée Lauder Companies’ Maureen Case, The Young Group’s Karen Young, Beauty.com’s Kathleen McNeill and Fusion Brands’ Caroline Pieper-Vogt
P&G Prestige’s Don Loftus and Fashion Group International’s Margaret Hayes
SELF’s Laura McEwen and Elaine D’Farley (r.) with Coty Prestige’s Carlos Timiraos
Arcade Marketing’s Diane Crecca with Annette Green of BobCar Experiential Media
Lord & Taylor’s Barbara Zinn-Moore and Cosmetic Executive Women’s Lisa Klein and Carlotta Jacobson (r.) with The Estée Lauder Companies’ Bari Seiden
Mr. Loftus (2nd l.) with Nordstrom’s Lisa Kellam, Denny Meadows and Mitzi Rogers
BMV Fine Art’s Barry Meisel and Katja Barthomess of Copy Gold with The Estée Lauder Companies’ Joe Spellman
Fusion Brands’ Danielle Milata, Ms. Pieper-Vogt, Dana Kline and Greg Black
Robertet’s Pierre Wulff with Ben Gorham of Byredo
Mr. Timiraos (2nd r.) with Sephora’s Allison Slater and Givaudan’s Kate Greene and Rose Eckert
Mr. Spellman (c.) with The Estée Lauder Companies’ Veronika Ullmer and Ms. Seiden
Mr. Loftus with Givaudan’s Cosimo Policastro
LVMH Fragrances’ Nicholas Munafo (c.) with Condé Nast’s Lucille Duran and Seventeen’s Terry Alvar
Histoires de Parfums’ Gerald Ghislain with Grace Beauty’s Louise Caldwell
Gilt Groupe’s Alexandra Wilkis Wilson with The Estée Lauder Companies’ John Demsey and Ms. Seiden
Ms. D’Farley with Shiseido’s Jadzia Tirsch
Before the panelists shared their experiences in bringing innovation to their brands, SELF’s Laura McEwen, Vice President and Publisher, and Elaine D’Farley, Beauty Director of Editorial, gave an overview of today’s consumer, the new beauty curator. The panel on “Transformational Beauty” was moderated by The Young Group’s CEO Karen Young and consisted of Caroline Pieper-Vogt, CEO, Fusion Brands Inc.; Kathleen McNeill, President of Beauty.com; Marc Speichert, Chief Market Officer of L’Oréal USA and Maureen Case, President of Specialty Brands at The Estée Lauder Companies.
Today’s über-savvy consumer has been enlightened by social media and is her own best beauty advisor. She is open to experiment and choreographs her beauty experience. It is the beauty industry’s task to bring new technology to product development and to offer a variety of distribution channels.
Ms. Pieper-Vogt shared, “At Fusion Brands, everything we do is transformational.” Its roots in the pharmaceutical industry are driving the company’s product development in beauty. She believes that the multiple distribution channels straddling mass and class require a team that can keep up with the pace.
Ms. Case maintains that each brand has to understand its DNA. The consumer needs to have a brand they can trust, and makes a judgment based on the experience they have with that brand.
“L’Oréal is channel-driven,” Mr. Speichert affirmed “and organized by brand.” L’Oréal seeks to understand what the consumer is looking for, he said, and then customizes content that is relevant to their needs. It is driven by “insight, media and marketers.”
“Beauty.com brings the shopping experience online,” Ms. McNeill declared. “If the consumer engages with Beauty.com, then the sale is the icing on the cake. We want to bring value to the consumer with deluxe samples and GWPs.”
“It’s all about getting the word out,” Ms. Pieper-Vogt noted. Direct selling on television “is an important part of our mix, talking to live consumers. It’s a completely different way to explain products.”
Ms. Case also finds that selling on television is a way to teach about products. She used the example of Bobbi Brown’s appearances on QVC to showcase her line.
“We have to stay ahead of the consumer,” Mr. Speichert shared, “because she often knows more than the Beauty Advisors. Consumers want true innovation and a unique experience.” Ms. Pieper-Vogt agreed, adding, “At Fusion Brands, we only offer multi-tasking, high-performance products and are needed and new.”
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