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Marketing to millennials

A Whole New Beauty Game – By Rupa Ganatra, Co-Founder, Millennial 20/20

A growing spending power, an unprecedented amount of time spent online, a less predictable generation than ever before and an increasing demand for authenticity and co-collaboration, the millennials are transforming the beauty game for heritage brands and creating new opportunities for start-ups who understand what they want. Traditional marketing methods are no longer the norm and brands are having to reengineer the way they reach this generation.

Power-up the Digital Communities

Beauty consumers are increasingly consuming and sharing information digitally, through online communities.

Beauty brands are increasingly collaborating with YouTube influencers to target their communities. L’Oreal teamed up with successful YouTube Vlogger Michelle Phan in 2013 to launch Em Cosmetics to her 8 million followers.

Emily Weiss, founder of beauty brand Glossier, launched the brand after four years of success with her beauty blog Into the Gloss, which offered beauty tips and information. In 2016, Glossier will launch their first crowd-sourced skincare product, following community feedback .

Be Informative and Educational

Millennials want to hear from people they trust, hence collaborations with experts can be hugely valuable.

Brands such as MAC, Sephora and Bobbi Brown are leading the way and have collaborated with YouTube talent to drive influence. For example, Bobbi Brown’s YouTube channel launched in 2014 to specifically target the millennial consumer with shows such as Make Up and Go, exposing make-up routines of trusted beauty gurus.

Create a powerful message

Millennials feel more empowered to a brand that has a powerful message beyond product performance.

Heritage beauty brands are implementing new marketing strategies to reach the millennial customer. Even though a recent Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey cited Clinique as a top five beauty brand amongst millennial women, their changing millennial marketing strategy can be seen with their recent #FaceForward campaign promoting female empowerment by bringing together three online influencers and role models.

Millennials just wanna have fun

Experiential marketing can create a closer bond between the consumer and the brand by immersing them in a fun and memorable experience.

Brands like Marc Jacobs have created such experiences successfully such as the Daisy Tweet Shop which launched in New York and London last year to promote their new fragrance, where customers were able to exchange social media posts with the #MJDaisyChain hashtag in return for fragrances and other gifts.

In the era of Instagram selfies and YouTube beauty tutorials, product quality and value strongly influence the millennial consumers’ purchasing decisions, therefore beauty companies must adopt fun, engaging, authentic marketing campaigns to survive.

For more information please visit: www.millennial20-20.com

The Red Tree is the UK’s leading international beauty brand consultancy and a powerhouse of ideas, insight and inspiration. For an informal discussion on how we might help you, please contact us.

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