Cassia Junkere

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Profit

Profit

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Profit is a crucial pillar within every industry as it is a determining factor in the success of a business. The beauty and personal care market generated 430 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, indicating how highly lucrative the cosmetics industry truly is (Amed et al., 2023).

COVID-19 proved to be a major difficulty to many businesses and industries due to the uncertain economic period, this presented many new challenges to brands they needed to overcome to remain competitive. The purchase priorities of the consumer changed from colour cosmetics and fragrances to hand sanitisers, soap and self-care, so brands changed their manufacturing to meet the change in demand. The NPD Group (2021) tells us that in 2020 make-up had the greatest decline of 35%, in comparison to 2019. Whereas anti-acne skin care products increased by 32% due to the development of ‘maskne’ caused by the increased face mask wearing. Brands that closely followed the requirements of the consumer were able to remain extremely competitive even during the unsettling economic era of COVID-19.

The post-pandemic chapter in 2023 is new territory for beauty and personal care brands to navigate, with the exploration of creative commerce becoming an increasingly important aspect of the success of brands and with the rise of social media influence, creativity is rife. 

Creativity within a cosmetics brand is vital to remaining competitive and setting one business’s product separate from another. Art and the cosmetics industry are interlinked, especially when considering colour cosmetics such as makeup; therefore, bridging the gap between creativity and commerce is important. Many brands collaborate with artists and other brands to bring out unique lines of products that display a more artistic approach than their usual products, where cosmetics will have more intricate packaging and be more visually appealing to the consumer. Ipsos (2018) states that 72% of American consumers agree that attractive packaging on a product will influence their purchase.

ColourPop (2023) Star Wars Collection.

ColourPop frequently collaborates with influencers and celebrities, creating limited-edition collections which sell out quickly because the audience is widened to include both ColourPop lovers, but also fans of the brand they’ve collaborated with. This makes the brand more competitive because consumers are seeking out these creative collections which are exclusive to a singular brand. This widens the market to which the cosmetics appeal to, ColourPop currently in 2023 has a range of collections attracting younger audiences, such as Disney and Star Wars, but in the past have also had more mature collaborations with influencers such as Alexis Ren. This is an easy way for creative directors to bridge the gap between creativity and commerce, whilst also offering something new to a widened target audience. 

Reference List:

Amed, I., Berg.A., Hudson.S., Rao,P., Jindal,D., Saint Olive, A., Weaver, K., Balchandani, A., et al (2023) The State of Fashion: Beauty. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/retail/our%20insights/the%20beauty%20market%20in%202023%20a%20special%20state%20of%20fashion%20report/the-beauty-market-in-2023-a-special-state-of-fashion-report.pdf?shouldIndex=false (Accessed 19 October 2023).

NPD (2021) The changing the face of prestige beauty. Available at:https://www.npd.com/news/pres-releases/2021/the-changing-the-face-of-prestige-beauty/ (Accessed 19 October 2023).

Ipsos (2018) Most Americans Say That the Design of a Product’s Packaging Often Influences Their Purchase Decisions. Available at: https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/Most-Americans-Say-That-the-Design-of-a-Products-Packaging-Often-Influences-Their-Purchase-Decisions (Accessed 19 October 2023).

Image Reference List:

ColourPop (2023) Star Wars Collection. Available at: https://colourpop.com/products/wherever-i-go-he-goes-shadow-palette-set (Accessed 19 October 2023).

Profit Featured Image (no date) Available at: https://www.vecteezy.com/vector-art/11773042-salary-dollar-rate-increase-statistic-business-profit-growth-margin-revenue-finance-of-performance-return-on-investment-roi-concept-with-arrow-icon-coin-flat-vector-illustration-isolated-on-white (Accessed 19 October 2023). 

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Image 1

People

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This pillar allows us to explore the complex relationship between consumers and the people behind the business working as a team to deliver services and products, and how it is an integral part of any industry.

Figure 1: Gen Z and Tecnhology (n.d.)

People born between 1996 and 2010 make up Generation Z and are often associated with the use of technology (McKinsey,2023). Francis and Hoefel (2018) refer to the generation as ‘digital natives’ due to the profound rise and improvements in technology throughout the years. The ease of access to consumption of media has been the most prevalent within Generation Z, how the internet influenced them growing up has set them apart from previous generations.

Many brands have had to adapt their marketing tactics to capture the new generation. The rise of social media and apps like TikTok proves its popularity to be an extremely useful tool in attracting consumers. Drapers (2023) states that 53% of Generation Z choose physical stores over online; however, this doesn’t reflect the size of the global influencer market which is estimated to be 21.1 billion U.S. dollars (Dencheva, 2023). The use of effective social media marketing has been incredibly influential in both online and in-store purchases made by Generation Z.

Table 1: Preference in shopping by Generation ( Drapers, 2023).

Pew Research Center tells us that Generation Z exhibits the most ethnic and racial diversity in comparison to previous generations (Parker and Igielnik, 2020). This makes inclusion one of the biggest values within the group. Therefore, it is fundamental that for a brand to appeal to them, they are represented in their products and services.

Figure 2: Skin Colour Ranges (n.d.)

The global launch of Fenty Beauty in 2017 by Rihanna modelled how every brand should respond to differences in race and ethnicity. By making everyone feel represented by the product via campaigns, it heavily encouraged purchases to be made as the exhibition of inclusion was clear. Fenty Beauty made $100million within the first 40 days of launch, as a direct result of the connection Rihanna was able to build between the brand and people of all different paths of life (Pandey and Brown, 2021). The authenticity and transparency about the products displayed were one of the key people skills needed for the brand’s success. The significance of Fenty launching as a 100% cruelty-free brand with 40 foundation shades was a clear alignment between the generation’s and Fenty Beauty’s values for expression and individuality. Now known as ‘The Fenty Effect’ it inspired many other cosmetic brands to be just as inclusive and led by example in capturing the values of Generation Z in the campaigns.

Reference List:

Alli, L. (2022). “Diversity and Inclusion in the Beauty and Cosmetic Advertising and its Impact on Corporate Reputation” Available at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1142&context=bb_etds(Accessed: 15 October 2023).

Dencheva, V. (2023). “Global Influence Marketing Value” Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1092819/global-influencer-market-size/#:~:text=The%20global%20influencer%20marketing%20market,record%2021.1%20billion%20U.S.%20dollars(Accessed: 15 October 2023).

Drapers (2023). “Gen Z and Millennials 2023: Understanding the next generation of shoppers” Available at: https://www.drapersonline.com/guides/gen-z-and-millennials-2023 (Accessed: 15 October 2023).

Francis, T., Hoefel, F. (2018).” ’True Gen’: Generation Z and its implications for companies” Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/true-gen-generation-z-and-its-implications-for-companies(Accessed: 15 October 2023).

McKinsey & Company (2023). “What is Gen Z?” Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-gen-z (Accessed: 15 October 2023).

Moore, P. (2019). “Brand Humanization: Transparency vs Authenticity” Available at: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/brand-humanization-transparency-vs-authenticity/546046/ (Accessed: 15 October 2023).

Pandey, M., Brown, L. (2021). “Fenty Beauty: How make-up helped Rihanna become a billionaire” Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-58084543# (Accessed: 15 October 2023).

Parker, K., Igielnik, R. (2020). “On the Cusp of Adulthood and Facing and Uncertain Future: What We Know About Gen Z So Far” Available at: https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/05/14/on-the-cusp-of-adulthood-and-facing-an-uncertain-future-what-we-know-about-gen-z-so-far-2/(Accessed: 15 October 2023).

Taylor, S. (2020). “Highlighting Fenty Beauty’s diversity-based business model” Institute for Gender and the Economy Available at:  https://www.gendereconomy.org/fenty-beauty-diversity-based-business-model/ (Accessed: 15 October 2023).

Images Reference List:

Diversity in People (n.d.). Available at: https://peregrineglobal.com/diversity-and-inclusion/ (Accessed 15 October 2023).

Drapers (2023). Preference in shopping by Generation (2023). [Online]. Available at: https://www.drapersonline.com/guides/gen-z-and-millennials-2023 (Accessed 15 October 2023).

Gen Z and Technology (2023). Available at: https://dealersupport.co.uk/appealing-to-gen-z-10-ways-to-tailor-office-product-offerings-for-the-next-generation/ (Accessed 15 October 2023).

Skin Colour Ranges (n.d.). Available at: https://www.elle.com/beauty/makeup-skin-care/a20967710/makeup-companies-40-foundation-shades-fenty-beauty-influence/(Accessed 15 October 2023).

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Planet

Planet

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The cosmetics industry has an overwhelmingly negative effect on the planet, which makes it crucial that we consider ways damage caused throughout the life cycle of a product can be minimised.


Responsible consumption and production are one of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals to significantly reduce waste by 2030 through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse to encourage sustainability. This is a development goal that many industries must contribute an effort into achieving, as they are responsible for the damage caused to the environment as a result of the extraction of raw materials but also inclusive of every step up to the distribution of the final product and the waste created from its disposal.


In 2021, the UK produced over 2.5 million tonnes of plastic packaging with only 44.2% being recycled (DEFRA, 2023). The EU has set out to reach climate neutrality by 2050 and one of the key issues they are tackling is the packaging sector, the United Kingdom’s legal requirements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 100% from 1990 levels will be a great contributing factor towards reaching climate neutrality across Europe (Brader, 2023). The UK Plastics Pact is promoting reusable options and increased use of recycled plastics to reduce the total amount of packaging on supermarket shelves.

By following the circular economy model, the cosmetics industry can minimise waste by extending the life cycle of products. The carbon footprint of many businesses can be significantly reduced by re-designing the packaging of products to be more eco-friendly. Application of circular economy principles to packaging can transform the economy in a way that will reduce consequences such as leakage into oceans. Creating an economic incentive to build plastic collection and recovery infrastructure that repurposes plastics will lead to less leakage, especially of materials with a higher after-use value which reinforces the United Nations’ goal of sustaining life under water (MacArthur, 2016).


An example of a brand with an innovative approach to sustainability within the industry is Lush, where environmental issues are at the centre of the company’s ethos. The majority of Lush’s products can be purchased without the need for any external packaging and any products in pots or bottles are made with 100% post-consumer recycled plastic. Many other brands such as the Body Shop, Dr Sam’s and Fenty have integrated re-fillable packaging into their product range and to further entice consumers, some of the brands offer incentives for using the more sustainable scheme such as discounts on purchases.

Reference List:

Brader, C. (2023) Mission zero: Independent Review of Net Zero. Available at: https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/mission-zero-independent-review-of-net-zero/ (Accessed: 07 October 2023).

European Green Deal: Putting an end to wasteful packaging, boosting reuse and recycling (2022) European Commission – European Commission. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_7155 (Accessed: 07 October 2023).

Plastic waste and recycling in the EU: Facts and figures: News: European parliament (2023).Available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20181212STO21610/plastic-waste-and-recycling-in-the-eu-facts-and-figures (Accessed: 07 October 2023).

The UK plastics pact (2021) WRAP. Available at: https://wrap.org.uk/taking-action/plastic-packaging/initiatives/the-uk-plastics-pact (Accessed: 07 October 2023).

UK statistics on waste (2023) GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-waste-data/uk-statistics-on-waste (Accessed: 07 October 2023).

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