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6 DISRUPTERS CHANGING THE BEAUTY LANDSCAPE

Published September 12, 2018
Published September 12, 2018
NativeMello via UnSplash

The state of the current beauty landscape is one of evolution and disruption where indie brands have the beauty big guys in a scramble to compete. There is no turning back—consumers simply don’t shop for beauty the way they have in the past. The industry is full of disrupter brands, but Business of Fashion profiled six that are disrupting speed-to-market, technology, pricing, gender perceptions, marketing, and pricing models.

1. Colorpop: Disrupting Speed

“We can have our customer’s vote on a brand-new shade on Monday and release it by Friday. It’s important to eliminate waste that is in the traditional supply chain. [If you have] a two-year-plus-development lead time, it’s very difficult to get right what the customer is going to want in two years,” co-founder Laura Nelson told BOF. “The objective of leveraging vertical integration, for us, is to be more precise and giving the consumer what they want, when they want it.”

Founders and siblings John and Laura Nelson are also behind the brand incubator Seed Beauty, which launched Kylie Cosmetic.

2. ModiFace: Disrupting Technology

In March, Loréal, which has used ModiFace’s services since 2014, acquired the company for an undisclosed sum.

“The acquisition gives Loréal, who is racing to lead the tech revolution in beauty, a competitive edge over rivals, and puts pressure on the latter to find an alternative to ModiFace, which they used to partner with,” said Kseniia Galenytska, a senior beauty and fashion analyst at Euromonitor International. “At the same time, it’s a definite sign that such type of technology will become more influential in reinventing how consumers shop.”

3. Manny Mua: Disrupting Gender

Manual Gutierrez aka Manny Mua, a beauty influencer with more than 5.2 million subscribers on YouTube and 5 million followers on Instagram, Maybelline’s first male brand ambassador, and the only man on People’s 2017 “World’s Most Beautiful” list, launched his own cosmetics brand Lunar Beauty.

Andrew McDougall, global beauty analyst at research firm Mintel, says, “Attitudes towards what it means to be masculine and feminine are changing, there is still some way to go, particularly within sectors like beauty that have traditionally been dominated by products aimed at women. Research suggests that many men are keen to have products and services that are designed specifically for their needs.”

4. Beautycounter: Disrupting Sales Channels

“Through a multi-channel approach, really utilizing digital media in a way we previously have not,” founder Gregg Renfrew said. “We’re on a mission to create safer, cleaner, better products and get them into the hands of everyone. In today’s world, the customer doesn’t want to be told where or how she shops. All our channels play a very important role in how we support our mission and sell our products.”

5. Glossier: Disrupting Marketing

Glossier’s success comes down to having “an authentic voice” and “using social media to position the brand for ‘cool girls,'” said Donna Barson, senior associate at Kline, a beauty- and personal-care-focused research firm.

6. Beauty Pie: Disrupting Cost

“Our customers are able to shop through the backdoor of all these different luxury suppliers that we source for and really just pay for the cost of the product,” said founder Marcia Kilgore of her approach with Beauty Pie.

Decime’s cult brand The Ordinary is also build on the concept of radical transparency, but includes branded stores and third-party retail in its strategy.

Read the full post at Business of Fashion.

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