Is your beauty brand due a makeover?

The Red Tree recently took part in a Q&A with Cosmetic Business News. Explaining what makes a successful rebrand and when the time is right, Wren Holmes, Marketing Manager, explains how it’s done.

The Red Tree has helped many brands revamp their ranges. How can you tell if it is time for a rebrand?

Rebranding is something all brands should consider regularly. It would be terrible to let your customers get bored by stating the exact same message repeatedly, and the investment required to establish a brand would be squandered if you then allow it to be perceived as having become out-of-date.

What makes a good rebrand?

A rebrand is much the same as initial branding. The bonus is that by now you will have data and customer feedback to support your decision making – use it! Effective branding should be clear, compelling and concise. Consider how your brand values and tone of voice are communicated, and have diamond-sharp clarity on your USP. Lastly, it’s got to be future-thinking: consider where you want your brand to be in a few years.

Can you give any recent examples of a successful rebrand within the beauty industry?

It’s on the edge of the usual beauty spectrum, but Always’ #LikeAGirl campaign was a fantastic example of reinvigorating consumer perceptions of the brand by addressing female teenage confidence. It’s scandalous that during puberty girls’ self-esteem drops twice as much as boys’, and women don’t regain their childhood confidence levels. The video they made was watched 90 million times and #LikeAGirl trended across social media. Their campaign literally changed the perception of the phrase “like a girl” to become a positive thing rather than a derogatory remark.

How can brands decide when to add a new product?

Products shouldn’t compete with one another. Though our beauty regimes and product usage are clearly expanding, as evinced by “multi-masking”, I tend to stick to the product development maxim of “double cleanse, tone, treat, hydrate, protect”.

Are consumer attitudes towards beauty changing?

If you’d asked me this question two years ago I would have said that consumers were increasingly demanding natural and organic products. While this was borne out to some extent, I really don’t think that the natural evolution we were expecting has yet to occur. However, the internet really has become the greatest source for finding new beauty brands. The market is ever-changing and your digital presence can be a virtue or a burden depending on your attitude towards it. The power of bloggers and user-generated content is phenomenal.

What advice do you have for those considering a rebrand?

Ask yourself: why are you rebranding? It’s a costly exercise so make sure it’s for the right reasons and not just because you are bored. That said, stylistically a few years ago, cosmetics were all packaged brown glass, apothecary-style. Now we’re seeing much more modern, minimal and streamlined packaging designs, especially for natural and organic; a sign some brands are making the jump into the mainstream. It’s also important that the packaging reflects a brand’s personality: for example, a premium formulation should be packaged in a format that conveys a sense of quality and luxury. I like to think that packaging gives a clue to the product’s contents.