Recessions come and recessions go, but American teens just keep on spending—or at least that’s what a lot of cosmetic and personal care marketers are hoping.

Teen Research Unlimited (TRU), based in Northbrook, IL expects teen spending to hold steady or increase in 2003, according to Michael Wood, TRU vice president, who said, “We believe this one demographic (12 to 19-year-olds) is protected.”

Teens in the U.S., estimated to number approximately 32 million, spent $172 billion in 2001, according to a TRU study, made up of purchases averaging $104 per teen per week. That amount includes teens’ own discretionary spending and any spending they do on their parents’ behalf, whether for personal or household purchases, according to the study.

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, teens told TRU that they would spend less in 2002, but sales only declined 1% to $170 billion. For 2003, 82% of teens contacted said they expect to spend the same or more as in 2002. “Teens have a diversified portfolio,” Wood explained. “Their money comes from parents, odd jobs, part time jobs and gifts. If parents are tightening up, then teens can be expected to spend on accessories and cosmetics which allow them (teens) to change and update their look without a large investment.”

College Kids Love Personal Care Products
Although they have tighter budgets, college students are also major buyers of beauty products. In surveys conducted on college campuses across the U.S. in the fall of 2002, Student Monitor, Ridgewood, NJ, determined that there were 15.6 million college students including full and part time students in two and four year undergraduate programs as well as graduate programs.

Threats of war and terrorism as well as a faltering economy are having minimal effects on spending behavior of this group. In interviews conducted during the week of Oct. 7, 2002, students reported: strong current and planned purchases; near record levels of credit card ownership and no declines in shopping patterns.

Among these students, 80% had worked the previous summer and monthly discretionary spending was $173, up from $163 in 2001.

Trying to Reach College Students?
In Student Monitor’s survey, 67% of college students said they learn about new products and services by word of mouth. Television advertising is next at 64%, the free samples received in stores at 42%, information on the Internet at 36% and catalogs in the mail at 33%.

When it comes to actual shopping, 50% had shopped in a supermarket/grocery store in the past week, 36% had been to a drugstore and 34% had visited an off-campus convenience store and/or a discount department store.

Happily, personal products are popular purchases. Asked to list purchases made in the past month, 78% listed soft drinks, but the next three most purchased items were deodorant, toothpaste and shampoo, bought by 75%, 74% and 70% respectively. The most popular brands were Secret deodorant with 26% brand share, Crest toothpaste with 55% and Suave shampoo with 21%. Toiletries are the second most common category for college student purchases with 89% of respondents having made such a purchase in the past month and spending approximately $21.80. Student Monitor estimates that a total of $108.8 million is spent each month by college students on toiletries.

Bonne Bell’s line includes a variety of lip and eye products as well as all-over powders that look, smell and taste sweet.

Bonne Bell Keeps Registers Ringing
About to celebrate 75 years in the business, Bonne Bell clearly has figured out how to appeal to teens. Founded in 1927 by Jesse G. Bell, the company was named after Jesse and Mame Bell’s first daughter. The company had humble beginnings with its first products manufactured in the basement of Bell’s rented house and sold door-to-door. In 1936, Bell bought a formula called Rx 1006, made originally for a dermatologist by a Cleveland research chemist. Re-named Ten-O-Six, it quickly won public acceptance and, at the same time, J.G. Bell began to direct the company toward the youth market. A complete range of skin care products was developed, along with high standards, which the company says, continue to drive its operations today.

Bonne Bell products are now sold around the world to teens in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, South America, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Mexico, the Caribbean, Great Britain, Scandinavia, the Middle East and Africa. The company also operates a wholly owned subsidiary in Australia.

Bonne Bell continues today as a third generation, family-owned business with its namesake Bonne Bell serving as vice chairman of the board. Jess Bell, son of J.G. Bell, grew up in the company, became president in 1960 and now serves as chief executive officer.

Jess Bell named Lip Smacker, another of the company’s leading brands, which was first launched in 1973. Claiming to be the first to add taste to a lip product—the earliest was strawberry—Smackers now has a menu of 33 fun flavors.

The company keeps current and new by introducing new products in a continuous stream. First available in December 2002 and about to be mainstreamed in March 2003 when Target, Wal-Mart and K-Mart reset their displays, is a lineup of new Bonne Bell products and colors/flavors. The Candy Shop collection includes Candy Gloss, a roll-on candy-coated shine for lips; Sour Smackers, intensely-flavored sour sponge-on glosses; Sweet ‘n Sour Smackers, two-flavors and finishes in each product; Sugar’d Shimmer, iridescent loose powder that smells and tastes sweet. New Smacker products include Splash ‘n Shine and Liquid Lip Smacker. For Spring 2003, Bonne Bell offers Lip d’Votion and Eye d’Votion, soft, shimmery color for lips and eyes, Eye Style, a cream eye shadow, and Sweet, a sparkling loose powder that tastes good too.

Jane is promoting its spring 2003 introductions with a print campaign in teen magazines.

Jane’s Not All Plain
Jane, the Estée Lauder brand of mass color cosmetics for young consumers aged 16 to 24, had a busy year in 2002 including the creation of a redesigned website and numerous new products distributed through some 13,000 locations.

Jane’s new home page, www.janecosmetics.com, has been very successful, according to Sarah Kugelman, vice president of marketing for the company. “In the time since the relaunch (March 2002), Jane has quadrupled its number of users. It’s a great way for our consumers to be involved with Jane. They visit an average of 11 minutes a month and a message board on the site has allowed the girls to build a community and give us feedback on what they like,” Kugelman said.

This year is shaping up to be eventful too. New products for Spring 2003 will include lucky star, a sparkling lip color, and hi-fiber mascara. A first of its kind lip product, lucky star uses a gel- and wax-based system with a new type of pearl particle for lots of shimmer, according to Shaunda Swakhamer, director of product development. She explained that two other iridescent particles are also added to a patented Estée Lauder company complex that gives moisturizing benefits and provides a barrier so that lucky star not only has more sparkle but also feels smooth on lips.

The new hi-fiber mascara is also a first in mass, being a volumizing product with a fiber technology, according to Swakhamer. The mascara will be available in four shades—black, soft black, turquoise and violet. The packaging allows the color to show through. “Jane stands for innovative products in terms of formulas and packaging at affordable prices,” said Swakhamer.

Along with new products and shades, Jane is in the process of changing its retail display and creating a new blister card for wall units. “The new visuals will correlate with a new advertising campaign that will launch this spring in a selection of teen books including YM, Teen People and Cosmo Girl.”

Packaging for Jane is a careful balance that appeals to its target consumer but “an older consumer isn’t embarrassed to carry it too,” said Swakhamer. “Jane can extend beyond our age target. We have some very clever, convenient packaging.”

Two mary-kateandashley brand fragrances and corresponding body mists are launching this spring in Wal-Mart across the country and around the world.

Those Ubiquitous Olsen Twins
They’re already branded in videogames, fashion dolls, apparel, accessories and domestics, and now, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen will have fine fragrances bearing their names as well.

Dualstar Consumer Products, the consumer products division of Dualstar Entertainment Group, the multi-divisional corporate group for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and the mary-kateandashley brand, has signed with Coty Inc., to introduce the mary-kateandashley brand of fragrances and body mists.

The mary-kateandashley brand rolled out color cosmetics and hair care products in 2002, according to Michael Pagnotta, spokesman for Dualstar. The entire line of mary-kateandashley products is sold exclusively through Wal-Mart, including stores in the U.S. and affiliates overseas. Annual sales for all the brands’ various products, which are designed for toddlers through juniors (14-to-18-year-olds), are in excess of $1 billion, Pagnotta said.

He explained that Dual Star works with premium vendors such as Coty to develop all its beauty products, while the graphics and package design is usually done internally.

There are mary-kateandashley boutiques being tested at five Wal-Marts at present. These stores-within-the-store have all the brands’ various products displayed in 600 square foot areas. At all other Wal-Marts, the brand’s products are displayed in the appropriate departments.

The fragrance line will roll out on April 1 with two scents—mary-kateandashley one and mary-kateandashley two—at over 2,700 Wal-Mart stores nationwide. Two body mists in the same scents will also be introduced to complement the fragrances. Both the fragrances and the body mists will be sold under the slogan Real Scents for Real Girls.

The fragrances were developed with input from the twins, according to Dualstar. “Mary-Kate and Ashley are closely involved in the development of all of their named-branded products,” said Robert Thorne, chief executive officer and co-founder (with Mary-Kate and Ashley) of Dualstar. “Mary-Kate and Ashley carefully selected the scents for creation of the mary-kateandashley brand fragrances and body mists.”

“We wanted to create fragrances we enjoy wearing since there’s not a lot of fragrance choice for ‘tweens and teens,” said Mary-Kate. “We love these fragrances and want to share them with other girls,” said Ashley.

“We are excited to partner with Mary-Kate and Ashley to create these new fragrances. Mary-Kate and Ashley are tremendously popular icons for ‘tweens and teens and they know what their age group aspires to,” said John Galantic, president, Coty Beauty U.S. “Our partnership is a great opportunity to introduce fine fragrances, not typically found in the ‘tween and teen market, by building on the hugely popular mary-kateandashley brand.”

Avon’s Mark products will feature contemporary packaging such as this compact.

Avon Gets Ready to Make its Mark
Avon will enter the teen/youth sweepstakes in the fall of 2003 with a new brand named mark to stress its “positioning as the beauty brand that celebrates remarkable young women who are making their mark in the world,” according to Deborah I. Fine, president of Avon Future, the Avon business unit responsible for the new venture.

“Our vision for ‘mark’ is to provide young women with an engaging product line, a direct selling opportunity, and a unique brand experience that engages them in a world of community, participation and empowerment,” Fine said. “’Meet mark.’ will be the invitation to both buyers and sellers into this new world of beauty.”

According to Avon research, there are more than 300 million young women in the 16-24 age group in Avon’s top 30 markets who spend over $200 billion annually on consumer goods. “Mark is designed to reach young women who represent future generations of Avon customers and representatives,” Fine said. “For years, Avon has been known as ‘the company for women.’ Now, we also will be known as ‘the company for young women.’”

Avon plans to sell the line through its core direct selling channel of 500,000 active U.S. representatives as well a separate mark sales force.

The plan also has the numbers on its side. According to the company, each Avon representative in the U.S. knows an average of 13 to 21 young women between the ages of 16-24. “Through Avon’s core direct selling channel alone, we have a powerful opportunity to recruit and sell within a group of up to 10.5 million young women during our first year,” Fine said.

A dedicated mark sales force will be recruited through an integrated marketing campaign targeted to young women at colleges, high schools, shopping malls, and other youth-oriented venues. The recruiting campaign is expected to include print and television advertising, and other forms of direct outreach to young women. In addition, mark representatives will have the opportunity to recruit other young women to advance their earnings opportunity.

The product line will span several hundred SKUs of cosmetics and related products, with “fun, fresh, modern packaging and affordable pricing,” according to the company. The products will be sold in their own separate “magalog” that will feature both products and editorial material of interest to young women.

Avon expects to launch with more than 10 million magalogs during each six-week sales campaign and also reach consumers through the 1-800 meetmark and online at Website http://www.meetmark.com.