Marketing Beauty to Teens and Tweens

The trick is attracting young attention while winning parent approval.

By Nica Lewis
head consultant Mintel Beauty Innovation and a member of Beauty Packaging’s board of advisors.

The challenge of marketing beauty to teens and tweens involves both attracting young attention, and winning crucial parent approval. Because most parents are facing the “kids growing older younger” phenomenon, there is distinct pressure to keep children young for as long as possible. In the beauty arena, this can either mean seeking out age-specific products (i.e., those with specific child-friendly branding) or delaying these “adult” purchases altogether. Packaging is critical for meeting both these challenges. Mintel Beauty Innovation reviews selected new beauty product launches to illustrate trends in packaging:

While it’s far from new, character merchandising still features heavily in the youth market. Historically, popular cartoon characters or superheroes were used to promote children’s products such as lunch boxes, pencil cases, training pants or rain boots. Of course this still exists, but the tween/teen market has tapped into the desire to be older sooner, by choosing same-age icons to promote more adult products.

Lip and face color are the most likely categories to feature packaging with licensed characters.

Disney Hannah Montana Microphone Lip Gloss ($9.99) includes flavored lipglosses packaged in the shape of a microphone (at left). The microphone lights up by pressing a button, and features a Hannah Montana image on it.

Another Disney favorite is “High School Musical.”The strawberry-flavored lipgloss ($3.74) features three mobile phone charms. This dermatologically tested product claims to have a high-quality Swiss formulation.

Other brands choose to feature real teens as shown in Kosé Visee’s fragrance-free quad eyeshadow palette ($15). Targeted at teens, it claims to create contrast with three beautiful sheer colors and a jet-black eye liner to define and contour eyes.

For younger kids, cartoons continue to be popular. Disney has partnered with Lovea Kids to launch a range of mass-market sun care. The range, targeted to tweens, is free from parabens, dermatologically tested and provides high protection against UVA and UVB rays. The SPF 50 Multi-Position Hydrating Protecting Spray ($15.57) comes in three designs—Cars, Mickey Mouse, and Little Mermaid—and is said to be very convenient for kids to use.

For teen boys, O Boticário in Brazil introduced a line called X-Boy Teens. The Fixing Hair Gel ($6.84) claims to provide long-lasting hold without drying hair or leaving residue. The packaging features a cartoon boy skater.

Eco Teen Beauty

Young people are more aware than previous generations of ethical and green initiatives and imperatives; they demand more products suiting this awareness—and brands need to harness the influential power of this tribe of customers in order to grow business. Stretching beyond claims of “cruelty-free” and “against animal testing,” eco teen products are aimed at empowered and knowledgeable teens with a deeper knowledge of ingredients, provenance and environmental friendliness.

This trend is quite marked in the UK where 2008 saw the launch of at least four eco-friendly teen skin care brands, including Amie, Elizabeth’s Daughter, Face Boutique and Young & Pure. While all emphasize purity and free-from formulas, Face Boutique has the most visually striking packaging, with white paperboard and tie-dye inspired dreamy watercolor graphics. The newest product in the range is Moi Moi Lip Remedy ($11.47), formulated with shea butter, cocoa butter and sweet almond oil. It is free from mineral oils.

Spa brand Pevonia Botanica launched a paraben- and cruelty-free Spateen range. Blemish-B-Gone ($24) is a moisturizer and spot treatment with organic benzoyl peroxide and organic salicylic acid. It comes in a recyclable stick format.

In Russia, Fresh Line Hesperides is a range of skin care products for young combination skin, based on citrus fruit extracts and balancing vitamins. The Orange Face Cleanser ($17.13) is formulated with orange oil, and claims to have antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and skin-balancing properties. This product contains no parabens, propylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulfate, silicon, mineral oils or triethanolamine, and is not tested on animals.