I am really excited about this week’s topic. I want to discuss what the beauty industry does behind the scenes in preparation for a new product launch. I will begin with the process of analyzing sentiment.
In case you have been living under a rock, makeup is the brand-new buzz word. With four out of five women opting to cover their natural freckles or an unexpected breakout with makeup, how could the industry be considered so controversial?
It is 2018! With megastars like Alicia Keys standing for natural beauty and the #NoMakeup movement, the industry is facing a “trial by Twitter.” Of course, to an industry that is projected to be valued at over $800 billion in the next five years, criticism is just a part of the territory. To me, the beauty industry is like the best lip plumper in the market, thriving.
The “no-makeup makeup” is a huge trend and has overtaken the original stance of #NoMakeup. I agree this is somewhat disheartening; what was a very powerful movement has been buried under CC cream and ultra-lightweight foundation. What most people don’t know, is just about every campaign was carefully crafted to adhere to the response of the last one. Meaning, nearly everything from foundation to nail-polish was planned around the latest trends.
What happens after all this sentiment data has been collected? If the company wants to be successful, it should continue by doing more research. According to Forbes, the first four out of 17 steps anyone should take before launching a product, are centered around having an intimate understanding of your audience. Social listening should be utilized, and with the help of platforms like Meltwater and Twitter, it is easier than ever.
For example, here is one of my recent tweets to MAC Cosmetics:
I am sure the company deals with hundreds of mentions every day and probably has a database of automated answers, but the fact that they are listening should be what we care about. Imagine if 100 of my friends and I stated our opinion on the company’s lack of sonic blue blush. MAC would then have a choice, to either make the desired blue blush or not.
For argument’s sake, let’s say the company is moving forward with launching the blue blush. One of the next steps would include creating a demo or tester. After successfully completing the product safety testing and quality control, it is time to spend the blush out to the company’s list of influencers. In a perfect world, each influencer is loving and raving about the blush, and their audiences are ecstatic about the innovation.
Before MAC officially launches its sonic blue blush, the company should ask itself “why,” one more time. Why does the world need this blue blush? Why do people want a blue blush? Why did we create a blue blush? The fact is, the answers to these questions can be found with research, and MAC should be obligated to answer them without hesitation.
It is go time; the blue blush has hit the market. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world and there are a few loud disapproval’s. Good thing the company did its research and has already blocked @WeHateBlue because of its habit of publicly posting inappropriate comments.
Congratulations! You now have a foundation on how to do a new product launch. What are you going to launch next? I encourage you to read the entire, “17 Steps to Take Before You Launch a Product,” and then let me know what you think the next biggest trend will be.
Janet Diane White 
I always love your post; it lets me think the topic deeper and opens my mind in some level. I often think about a problem, that is why a certain commodity or a certain word suddenly became popular, who is the first to launch it. I haven’t found a more accurate answer so far, but what is certain is that, from a public relations perspective, if you can grasp a future trend or something that may affect people’s minds, it will undoubtedly bring great benefits to an industry or a company. The blue blush that you mentioned in the blog post also made me think about why I bought a purple blush and a yellow blush last week. I can only think of it because there is a beauty blogger recommending me, I feel super nice, so I bought it. So why do beauty bloggers recommend it, or, as you said, why the world needs blue blush, and it’s always popular in the past that it’s red blush. I just read the “17 Steps to Take Before You Launch a Product.”, the target audience is always important and the problems which need to be solved also is a key point. The most important things are “innovation “. Nobody did this before, and it may succeed in the future.
LikeLike
Song, Thank you for your comment and I’m glad you read the additional article. I hope you found it helpful. I’m glad to hear that I am not the only one who buys things I may only use once, if at all. I find it so interesting how a charismatic influencer can persuade people to buy just about anything. Even with charisma, you’re right, innovation is the ultimate factor in succeeding.
LikeLike
Janet,
This is such an interesting point. I loved that you included a hypothetical situation for reference! While I don’t have a ton of experience in the world of makeup, I’ve seen a similar pattern of social listening with my experience in the supplement industry. Supplement production and creation is such a saturated market yet there seems to be a new supplement company popping up every day. While brand presence history is important, smaller start ups are still thriving due to their hypersensitivity to market needs. This is illustrated through the development of better tasting plant proteins, new flavors of all products in general and pushing for supplements that help manage symptoms related to gluten/lactose intolerance and IBS. A vegan protein that didn’t taste like saw dust was virtually unavailable in 2010, but today the top supplement companies all have several great tasting vegan flavors. Its all about knowing your audience, constantly listening and reacting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cayley,
You are so right! I think you can find similarities within product creation in any industry. The term “customer first” isn’t so obvious when looking at innovation, but consumers are the key audience. I didn’t think I would ever say it, but vegan protein is delicious.
LikeLike