CEW’s annual Beauty Insider Awards Product Demo will this year give Indie beauty brands a platform in which to shine via the launch of the organization’s highly anticipated Indie Advisory Group [IAG], featuring high-level beauty executives dedicated to helping indie beauty brands achieve success and build their business.

IAG participants confirmed to attend the launch at the Product Demo, to be held March 8 at the Metropolitan Pavilion and the Altman Building in Manhattan, include Castanea Partners’ Janet Gurwitch; Ulta Beauty’s Janice Dusina; Sephora’s Averyl Andrews; QVC’s Kristen Conneen and Dr. Dennis Gross’ Carrie Gross. All CEW indie Beauty Award entrants and exhibitors are invited to attend the IAG launch held prior to the Demo to network with IAG participants and other indie brands, and to attend panels on hot-button topics relevant to indie brands. The IAG launch takes place at 3pm in the lower gallery level of the Altman Building, located at 125 West 18th Street. The Product Demo opens its doors at 6pm for all CEW members. Flash Pass holders, who paid a higher ticket price, will have access to the Product Demo at 5pm.

The Product Demo is considered the industry’s ultimate beauty counter, a place for discovery, where beauty industry insiders walk aisles and aisles of tabletop product demonstrations, judging items based on innovation, delivery system and packaging.  CEW members will peruse more than 800 products from 400-plus beauty brands within 34 different categories in an effort to select 200 Finalists to be announced in late March. Finalists will be voted on by CEW’s Board of Governors, as well as by select industry experts; winners will be announced May 12 at the 2017 CEW Beauty Insider Awards luncheon at the New York Hilton Midtown.

Ballots for both the finalists and winners are cast electronically and tabulated by Ernst & Young LLP. The presenting sponsor for the 2017 Beauty Awards Luncheon is Meredith Corporation. More than 2,000 CEW members are expected to attend this year’s Demo.
  
This year’s Beauty Awards program aims to level the playing field between indie and more established brands. In addition to the Indie Brand Beauty Award, CEW has added three new Indie Awards to recognize players in the skin care, makeup and fragrance categories. A Makeup Tools category will recognize innovative tools of the trade. This year’s Most Buzzed About Award has evolved to recognize a beauty product that has collaborated with an outside influence, company, celebrity or designer. As before, a Best Seller Award will be given within the mass and prestige channels; the Iconic Award will recognize a trendsetting product that has created a new category; the Sustainability Excellence Award, presented by Firmenich, will recognize sustainability efforts; and the Indie Brand Beauty Award, presented by Financo, will acknowledge an indie company. Once again, QVC’s Beauty Quest, will select one brand to be featured on QVC in a CEW Beauty Awards Show in July. 

About the author: Andrea Nagel is vice president of content, CEW