The Eyes Have It

IRI’s John Deputato finds inspiration in the mascara market, and says other categories should follow its lead.

WRITTEN BY: John Deputato

AUTHOR BIO: John Deputato is a senior vice president and leader of the Beauty and Personal Care, Client Team Vertical, at Information Resources, Inc. With more than 25 years of experience in the health and beauty care industry, he has held a number of CPG marketing positions, including senior marketing executive for the Stetson brand at Coty and product manager for Old Spice at The Shulton Company.

Big brushes and long brushes…curved brushes and spherical brushes…vibrating brushes and even bigger brushes. With bright packaging and shapely bottles, mascara packaging and advertising speaks directly to a woman’s desire to be sexy and attractive.

During the great recession and a time of softer beauty, the eye stands out as the form of provocative communication, and a juxtaposition of both honesty and temptation.

Manufacturers have timed the trend well and capitalized on women’s desire to be special. During this recession, if you asked a woman what one beauty product she would buy if she could only afford to buy one, it would be mascara.

And while we’ve seen many segments of mass beauty sales stall and even decline, mascara has continued to grow, now reaching more than $539 million in mass outlet (food, drug and mass, excluding Walmart) sales during the latest 52 weeks ending February 21, 2010.

Mascara growth has continued to be fueled by innovative packaging and advertising support from brands like Maybelline, Cover Girl, L’Oreal Paris, Revlon, and Rimmel all continuing to push the envelope. Mass outlet mascara sales trends are strong, encouraging greater innovation from more manufacturers.

The economy has also caused a shift in channel shopping as many beauty shoppers begin to look to mass outlets for innovation, quality and performance. During last year, we saw a major shift in sales of cosmetics, specifically eye cosmetics from department stores to mass outlets.

As we look ahead throughout 2010 and the next decade, beauty manufacturers and its suppliers must innovate if we are to climb out of this recession and get the economy growing again. And, researchers can look to the growth examples from the mascara category as a model to hold high.



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