Beauty, as with very many brand sectors, faced the death of the middle ground as luxury and basement beauty reinvented and morphed their offers at either end of the spectrum. And this middle ground curse was the subject of much debate a few years ago.

But, here we are now, still living in its shadow, as many brands still seem to find themselves stuck in the middle and not fully seizing the opportunity to reinvent themselves and their positioning.

Whichever way you look at it, there is still a mass, middle priced sector catering to the everyday beauty purchaser. It may not be categorized as such, but we subconsciously recognize it and the brands within it.

To be fair, the cult of the BB cream has somewhat helped to rejuvenate and make this sector more visible in recent months. But for many of these brands – Garnier, L’Oréal, Body Shop—they have taken on the new trend by just adding a BB stamp to a samey looking product.

Others such as Clinique – one of the top-selling beauty brands in the ’90s but one that had all but slipped into invisibility – recently introduced an open-selling policy (maybe adopted from contemporary top sellers such as Sephora?) in the hope of once again increasing visibility and customer interaction.

These brands are not just lying dormant. They are taking steps to be inventive and creative with their marketing, their environments…but what about their design?

Olay is one brand (traditionally perceived as occupying the middle ground) that has consistently tried to evolve its offer and design communication.

But, overall, this is the one area where we are seeing the least change. No-one can deny the runaway success of Boots No. 7 Protect and Perfect but, in all honesty, the design could have been better maximized – and more ground-breaking—to match the offer (particularly when ranged alongside design-centric brands such as Soap & Glory).

And when we see the boundary-pushing artistry and creativity that the beauty industry overall is now driving, this middle ground is perpetuating its own perception of being safe, staid and average – and could be in danger of becoming a lost generation.

For many of these more traditional brands, customer loyalty is key. The price and everyday nature of these products play to our fiscal concerns.

But, today’s consumer has changed. They are more flexible and more creative. They embrace change and are no longer resolutely loyal to formulas or packaging.

Elevating the everyday by injecting more elements of pleasure and surprise into these purchases is a wide-open opportunity to both re-connect and to attract new consumers – and could even recreate and revitalize a new middle ground sector.

But a middle ground that is fresh, exciting and as diversely designed and aspirational as those beauty brands – be they at the top or the lower end of the spectrum – which create and communicate desire through unique and attention-grabbing design and which are anything but mediocre and just middle of the road.


About the author: Sophie Maxwell is Insight Director at Pearlfisher, [email protected], www.pearlfisher.com