The business of beauty keeps changing, but one factor stays the same. Even as the challenge to capture increased market share is keener than ever in both mass market and prestige outlets, it is innovation that drives sales and success.

Where does the investment in introducing beauty newness pay off most? Mass market outlets continue to lead the way in retail sales, capturing the dominant share of consumer spending on cosmetics and toiletries products, according to Euromonitor International, Chicago. Euromonitor reported that mass market outlets realized 67.2% of total U.S. retail beauty dollars spent in 2002.

This impressive volume is achieved in an assortment of mass outlets ranging from discounters such as Wal-Mart and Target (which Euromonitor notes account for more than 25% of 2002 market share) to grocery stores, drug stores and warehouse clubs including BJs, Costco and Sam’s Club.

The Sally Hansen Healing Beauty line brings new delivery systems and bioactive formulas in color cosmetics to the mass market.

Innovation + Value = Sales
What leads the attraction to beauty products in mass retailers today? Increased product innovation combined with perceived value is the winning formula in the market.

Color cosmetics and fragrance are good examples of how to generate interest and capture retail sales through a multitude of introductions. Such a continuous stream of new products is essential in keeping business energized, especially in a sluggish economy.

The Sally Hansen Healing Beauty line, introduced in April 2003, combined formula and packaging innovation with value for a successful launch. Including products for face, eyes, lips and nails, Healing Beauty offers Fast and Flawless, an airbrush makeup that is a first for the mass market.

All the products contain the Sally Hansen “Bio-Active Complex,” which includes botanicals and vitamins, and promises to provide treatment-type benefits along with great color.

“Healing Beauty is doing very well, and Sally Hansen plans to launch another product using the same kind of delivery system as Fast and Flawless in 2004,” said a company spokesperson.

Revlon’s Enchanted Color Collection, including rich, dramatic shades for lips, eyes and nails, is new for fall. The collection includes Dual Lash Mystique, a two-in-one mascara, Wet/Dry Quad Shadows, Lip Intrigue Gloss, Nail Enamel and ColorStay Liquid Liner.

Real Life Trends
As consumer purse strings are stretched and time to shop continues to shrink, the ease of one-stop shopping is also driving sales for color cosmetics and fragrances in mass markets.

Shoppers may come for detergent and play clothes for the kids but end up seeing and buying new beauty products because the perception of value justifies the impulse purchase.

“New challenges include making your voice heard in the marketplace and driving traffic into retail outlets,” said Scott Beattie, chairman and chief executive of Elizabeth Arden. “There is a need for continued innovation, not only in the development of products but also in merchandising programs to satisfy the demand for newness and consumers’ increasing focus on value,” Beattie said.

Changes include an increased emphasis on merchandising beauty in-store with enlarged cosmetic aisles that are designed to capture the attention of shoppers in key locations.

New delivery systems and formulas such as Almay’s Nearly Naked are creating excitement and attracting sales in the mass market foundation category.

The beauty industry is approaching the mass market by “taking a more aggressive promotional stance at retail today, said Joseph Campinell, president of L’Oréal Consumer Product Division, L’Oréal USA. “As the number of retailers is becoming smaller, mass market retailers are focused on differentiating themselves via pricing, in-store service and promotional activity. The challenge in the current economy is to excite the consumer and draw that consumer into the mass market.”

Revlon is determined to find out what its consumers are thinking. One way is to conducting “shop-alongs” (defined as one-on-one talks with the consumer while they shop). Elizabeth Kenny, senior vice president of marketing for Almay, Ultima, Charles of the Ritz and new product development at Revlon, explained that such conversations allow the company to delve beyond product features and benefits to understand real life consumer response.

“In store, both packaging and merchandising play an important role, and by talking to the consumer in a real-life shopping scenario, we are more certain to unlock the brand’s assets,” said Kenny.

Feminine Is Back in Style
Fashion trends and the return to sexier, feminine imaging play a key role in driving the consumers’ desire to try something new in the latest style.

Glossy, richly colored lips are in—and the new products reaching the masses provide a plethora of options to reflect a fashionable pout thanks to new transfer-resistant benefits.

Procter & Gamble created renewed excitement for the lip color product sub sector in 2001 with the introduction of their transfer-resistant PermaTone technology, which set out to improve on Revlon’s 1994 launch of ColorStay Lipstick. The greatest claim of PermaTone was improved transfer-resistant benefits for lasting lip color even while talking, eating greasy foods and kissing—for up to eight hours.

Proctor & Gamble gave the PermaTone technology to both its Cover Girl and Max Factor brands. Each brand then developed lipsticks formulated with a two-step system—lip color with the PermaTone pigment complex and silicone-based polymers and a clear, protective, moisturizing top coat. Since the introductions in 2001, Cover Girl Outlast Lipstick and Max Factor Lipfinity Lipstick have become familiar names as these long-lasting products have become popular.

Consumers like long-lasting lip color. Four of the top five lip products are long-lasting, according to Information Resources (IR), Chicago.

For the 52 week period ending Oct. 5, Cover Girl Outlast Lipstick leads in the mass category with sales that are more than double that of Revlon ColorStay Lipstick (which comes in fifth).

L’Oréal has captured third place with its L’Oréal Endless Lipstick, reported to be up 53.8% in dollar sales for the period.

Max Factor Lipfinity Lipstick comes in fourth for the period, also ahead of Revlon ColorStay.

Revlon holds second place with its Super Lustrous Lipstick, not in the long-lasting sweepstakes.

The Eyes Have It
Many cosmetic experts say that mascara is the one beauty product never to do without—and thankfully, consumers seem to agree. Lash thickening mascara launches, including Maybelline Lash Expansion Thickening Mascara and L’Oréal Lash Architect Mascara, are just two of the newsworthy introductions that have driven sales increases in the past.

Maybelline continues to keep up the pace of mascara launches by featuring new twists such as a triangular shaped brush and its Extreme Curl Formula in Maybelline’s Sky High Curves.

Almay’s Bright Eyes Color Collection is a trio of color-rich formulas including Bright Eyes Color Cream Shadow, Bright Eyes Mascara and Bright Eyes Defining Color Duo Eyeliner.

Longer lasting eye shadows have also impacted eye makeup retail sales with new technologies that produce liquid-to-powder formulas for ease of blending. Maybelline’s Liquid Eyes, which promises to “set instantly for up to eight hours of smudge-proof, powdery-soft color” is one of the latest introductions.

Almay helps eyes rise and shine with the Almay Bright Eyes Color Collection, including Bright Eyes Color Cream Shadow in six sophisticated shades of soft, luminous color. The formula claims to “glide on seamlessly depositing special light diffusers that provide a smooth, flawless look for bright-eyed beauty”.

New eye color brands to watch with innovative twists include Styli-Style, which is introducing a vast assortment of eye color with The Flat Pencil. It offers both thick and thin application in one unique tool. Founded by beauty innovator Grant Berry, Styli-Style provides a futuristic shape improving upon the traditional, slim pencil, and an edge that allows for more control than jumbo pencils. Color and liner are combined, simplifying the process and adding the value of two products in one.

Coty’s Healing Garden gifts sets are selling well in mass.

The Axe brand is the clear leader in the men’s mass fragrance market.

Embracing Stronger, Sexier Scent
Fragrance echoes the same tones in fashion trends with new scent introductions favoring full-bodied, feminine notes characterized by florals, orientals and musk. This is a natural course in the evolution of scents introduced in the past several decades. Strong, knockout fragrances such as Opium and Poison made their mark in the 1980s. The 1990s ushered in lighter, unisex scents often with citrus nuances (Calvin Klein’s CK One and Clinique’s Happy), which were followed by more transparent, watery scents and green notes.

In fragrance too, consumers are drawn to newness and added value as offered with gift sets that invite layering. In addition to the traditional eau de parfum and eau de toilette, new formulations such as solid roll-ons, shimmer gels and glittering fragrance sprays add appeal.

The competition in the mature fragrance marketplace is fierce as both mass and prestige distribution outlets vie for the consumer’s spending. While mass fragrances continue to perform well in outlets such as Wal-Mart and Target, consumer trends indicate increased premium fragrance purchasing in these mass channels, too, as more luxury lines find their way onto discount shelves.

“In the mass market, prestige fragrances continue to outperform mass fragrances, and open-sell accounts continue to outperform accounts where the fragrances are still in locked cases,” said Elizabeth Arden’s Beattie.

Coty Healing Garden and Calgon are ranked as top brands for the women’s mass market/fragrance category for the 52 week period ending Oct. 5, 2003, according to Information Resources. Each brands’ gift set assortment is fully reinforced with a complete range of products and price points to meet consumer expectations.

Adidas is also popular in mass.

Currently, newcomer Axe is the clear leader for the men’s mass market with more than double the retail sales of the second place Old Spice traditional brand. Axe is the exception to the rule in mass fragrance, where longstanding brand names continue to build success with both manufacturer and retailer support. Compare that longevity with the increasingly short life cycles of premium brand fragrances, which are launched with an explosion of spending, only to disappear quickly, if instant success is not realized.