The Democratization of Beauty Goes Beyond Price and is Multi-Platformed

Some pundits call these brands dupes but as a 40-year-plus beauty veteran, this would be a great misnomer. It's more about a beauty evolution that started with door-to-door sales with the likes of Avon in the 1880s this was the beginning of DTC later on brands like Mary Kay and Merle Norman jumped on the bandwagon. Then came home shopping with the likes of QVC. All of these companies are still thriving along with the independent Talk Shop Live which is more au courant with their new collaboration with TikTok. Despite the newbies the original DTC beauty brands are still around and continue to address their own customer needs.

In a recent article in Modern Retail, they heralded the success of brands like E.L.F. and others as dupes but they are far from simply knocking off prestige brands or giving them a run for their money. All these past, current, and eventually future brands will democratize beauty not just for a price point but add value by consistently adding new interest, creating communities, and involving the customers. The latest brands of the last 5-7 years including my alma mater NYX which introduced me in 2010 to the power of social media and influencers were one of those dupes. NYX had a lot more going for it than value. It had taught the beauty industry how to talk to new customers. It drew in makeup influencers that had no place to go. It was so evolutionary that it caught the attention of L'Oreal they bought it for 6 times the sales. Now, TikTok by almost all accounts is the leading social media platform for building awareness of beauty. Facebook and even Instagram are declining in viewership. This is especially true with Gen Z and Millenials which are one of the most critical demographic profiles for beauty.

The reason I say that the current pure social media-driven brands are far from dupes as they are brands in their own right in brick and mortar as well. They are leading brands in Ulta, Sephora, Target, and many other stores. According to Google, the word dupes on searches is up 40% this year as customers are looking to save money. So the recession and spending reductions started way before now in beauty and will likely continue throughout 2023 and 2024. E.L.F. is a value-oriented brand but there were many before them that did not have the digital marketing prowess as them. WetnWild and many other budget brands were predecessors yet they have a fraction of the sales.

Still another trend happened last week when J.C. Penney partnered with an online beauty brand called Thirteen Lune. Nyakio Grieco also is the founder of Relevant. Democratizing beauty goes beyond accessible pricing as Thirteen Lune creates a community of inclusion which is another strategy for giving not only access to an underdeveloped market of customers (people of color are the biggest spenders in makeup) but gives a platform for indie brands that do not have a chance to garner a voice anywhere else. Now with their initiative with JC Penney, they will give these brand access to 600 hundred department store doors that Sephora walked away from. This was not a fault of Sephora but an unaligned match of the retail brand with JC Penney customers who did not connect with Sephora's message or merchandising.

Keep in mind that JC Penney has a similar type of opportunity to Ulta who is on top of its game. Both have hair salons to take advantage of the bi-monthly hair salon visits which JC Penney already knows up to 50% of the salon goers cross over to the regular department store. In addition, 13 Lune brings more ethnic brands that are both familiar and obscure to a clientele that is one of the largest consumers of beauty per capita than any other segment. JC Penney also attracts more ethnic customers so hopefully, this will be the match made in heaven for both companies. Sephora still has Kohls which has a different merchandising approach carrying many famous apparel brands that will hopefully their customer will be more accepting of Sephora's style. I think both will be winners carving out new slices of the market but perhaps JC Penney is a bit bolder in bringing 13Lune into the picture as a statement of the new retail beauty evolution.

In my next blog, I will continue to talk about the trends shaping the fourth quarter of 2022 and will continue in 2023 and 2024. To all of you in my network thanks for your support and let me know if I can help you with your brand!

Best

Jeffrey