Ethnography and Beauty Brands

Observing consumers in their home environments can help build better packaging and more relevant brands.

By Domenic Maisano

So exactly what is ethnography? Literally, ethnography means a portrait of people derived from the Greek words, ‘ethnos’ meaning nation and ‘graphien’ meaning writing. In practice, it is the systematic study of people as they go about their daily lives. That is, observing them in their natural environment. More and more beauty brands are turning to ethnographic research as a way of helping them develop new products.

By getting to know their consumers more intimately, brands are able to tap into and identify social trends. They are able to understand why people do certain things and then translate this into information that allows them to create the right sort of products. The accuracy of such research is crucial as other forms of market research deliver results that may not be as accurate. For example, focus groups can deliver results where people give the sort of information that they think the interviewer wants to hear. In ethnography, a person is conducting observational research (using a camcorder), which shows the sorts of things that people do in their home environment. This allows the researcher to capture little idiosyncrasies. Therefore, the research can uncover more profound information from recording/filming what people do, rather than what they say they actually do. This small difference makes the largest impact.

For beauty brands ethnography suits many of the following needs:

Exploration & Innovation:

o For use in product positioning or new product development.

o Clue-finding to guide brand communication strategy.

o To identify gaps and opportunities in their brand.

o To establish key behavioral themes.

o Can be used when the brand resides in a particular culture or market.

Rapid Immersion:

o Focused immersions for enrichment and fresh thinking.

o Snapshots of brand behavior to glean a clearer picture of the brand in situations.

o Understanding what people do and not what they say they do.

Brand Harmonization:

o Strategy for brand harmonization can be based on deep cultural immersion and understanding.

o Reveals opportunities and barriers.

o Establishes a set of behavioral themes.

o Is relevant across markets.

Packaging Development:

o Up close and personal. Specific behavioral traits to guide packaging design and development.

o Opportunities and barriers.

o Packaging innovation

o Product trials.

Brand Evaluation:

o Product placement and brand abstinence to inform of impact and relationship with consumer.

o Identify insights for potential brand extension opportunities.

o Monitoring brand behavior in situations.

How Does it Translate in Practice?

All of this may seem very theoretical to some, and many may be wondering how it works together. The key to the whole world of ethnographic research is that you take a very rich data, obtained through observing real-life situations, and you translate the actions into something tangible. Here are two examples:

If we cast our minds back about a decade ago, hand wash products were not around. If you needed to wash, you used soap. At around the same time, Dove was looking at a brand extension. They decided to find out more by commissioning ethnographic research.

Each of the case studies was observed in home environments with particular attention being paid to when and how participants washed their hands, as well as their bodies. Following the observation phase, the participants were interviewed and asked why they did things in a particular way, what they enjoyed, what they didn’t enjoy. Attention was drawn to the many conscious and sub-conscious things that are done by all of us in the bathroom.

From this data, a profile was built up, consisting strongly of what people wanted in their soap product. The final result, Dove on tap was born. “Cleaner, less messy, luxurious and a faster washing experience at the basin or in the shower” was what the consumer asked for.

A more recent case is in London where Make Believe Beauty, which is a new self-tan line launched exclusively in Selfridges department stores and soon to appear in the USA.

The task for Make Believe was to understand users of self-tan products in order to transform the self-tan category from being associated with ‘orange skin’ and unpleasant fragrances.

A rich source of data was obtained from ethnographic research that showed how, when and why people used self-tan products. The change of direction was profound. Self-tan was not all about staying out of the sun and reducing exposure, it was about magic, fantasy, glamour and make believe. The result was a new range of self-tan products all about magic and imagination where the user has a strong connection with the tactile packaging.

Through observing consumers and understanding their thoughts and feelings, Make Believe was able to create something that was not all about fake tanning but something that made the process one of magic, dreaming, imagining. This impacted upon the packaging, as in order to convey the emotions of the brand, all of the packaging was decorated in a theatrical, bright and colorful label and outer box. This was a huge leap away from the rest of the category that is predominantly housed in bottles that are blue, brown and orange. The packaging was now interacting with the user and this was an important finding.

The two examples mentioned highlights that any type of organization can use this form of research to great effect. Also highlighted is that fact that small observations can lead to massive changes.

All of this is not just restricted to end brands either. More and more packaging companies are working with research data of this kind. Although they are far removed from the end consumer when they are producing bottles, or caps, or pumps or a particular raw ingredient, ethnography is coming more and more to the assistance of packaging companies. Rather than creating standards based on gut feel or where they think the market is going, they are basing many new innovations on the observations made of consumers. This enables the development of proactive packaging rather than reacting when it may be too late. Some of the best advances on packaging are emerging. Take a look at some of the latest fragrance bottles, the wide array of low-profile pumps, and the use of PET as well as some of the new closures on the market. Much of the innovations in shape, texture and functionality are because of closer consumer research.

So next time you struggle with an awkward lotion pump, a strangely shaped bottle, or your bath lotion closure that’s just snapped its hinge, hang in there, as help is on its way.

Domenic Maisano is a co-director of Cradle Research, a company specializing in research, packaging innovation and implementation. With more than 15 years experience within the packaging industry, a strong client base in beauty, perfumery and food has been established. For more information, go to www.cradle-research.com.