Facing the Future

While social media continues to impact beauty launches, Pearlfisher’s Sophie Maxwell says, ultimately, success hinges on brand design.

Written by Sophie Maxwell

Designer Oscar de la Renta has whipped the media into a frenzy with the launch of his new fragrance—L’Esprit d’Oscar—via Facebook. De la Renta may not have launched a fragrance in the past 10 years, but this is proof positive that this traditional fragrance brand has not been standing still and understands the value of embracing and interacting with our technology driven world.

Shiseido is another classic brand looking to enter the digital arena—reportedly planning an online ‘beauty platform providing 24-hour communication including web chats and consultations. Even the most exclusive—and already highly successful—brands are under pressure to crack the social media code. But brands must not take their eye off the bigger picture.

While it is true to say that only the strongest brands will survive, it is probably more precise to say that only brands with a strong idea and brand design will survive if they are not to become just more noise in the virtual ether. It’s not about focusing on the technology first, but focusing on the brand idea and brand value first and then thinking about how this can feed into not just a social media/marketing strategy but across all key retail and marketing mediums.

And although de la Renta has chosen this social media route as the only form of marketing for the new fragrance—it is obviously working (with 131,783 hits reported to date) as he has rooted the idea first and foremost in the product and its design and most notably about a beautiful and classic structure which has always been a key design cue in the fragrance arena. The Facebook page focuses on beautifully shot photos of the bottle. Free samples were also handed out to those “liking” the page and, although these ran out within a few days, it has been reported that the shortage of stock has also increased desirability and demand.

Although this does show the power of Facebook as a way to influence consumer desires, it does remain to be seen whether these hits will translate directly into sales following its launch into U.S. department stores from the end of April. However, interest has definitely been piqued by an iconic identity supported by a strong design, and should hopefully become a driver for consumers to enter the retail arena and seek out the brand in the hand.

And this has always, of course, been the core proposition for beauty. Human behavior and motivation changes much more slowly than technology and by focusing on the people you wish to attract not only are you much more likely to create something that people value and use, but you’re more likely to protect yourself from sudden changes in technology.

And this is where design remains the constant. It is the starting point from which to express the brand idea and from this point to then look for the best routes for your particular brand to mirror the physical with the virtual. The design is the “medium” for the brand message, and will take the brand from the physical and the passive to the social and the active to inspire a complete and future-facing connection.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sophie Maxwell is head of insight at Pearlfisher [email protected] www.pearlfisher.com