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2015-05-11 11:13:25

Future Focus on Long-Term Beauty

2015-05-11 11:13:25

Instant gratification in beauty is undergoing a dramatic shift, with the desire for a quick fix giving rise to a focus on long-term sustainable beauty and whole life thinking. Cosmetic Executive Women presented its New York Global Trend Report, Future Focus: Long Beauty, on May 5, 2015, at New York’s Union League Club, and according to Jill Scalamandre, Chairwoman, CEW, in her introduction to guest speaker, Claire Hobson, EVP, Global Business Director, The Future Laboratory, “Planning for the long haul in beauty will be the new mindset.”

Carlotta Jacobson, President, CEW, said, “We are seeing a global shift in the way consumers view overall health, beauty and wellness and that has a big impact on the beauty industry. We’re excited to partner with The Future Laboratory for a second year to share proprietary findings that will help prepare our members for what is next in beauty.”
Hobson, who discussed such consumer trends as whole-life thinking, agelessness, and the optimized self, provided insights on how these concepts will impact the direction of the industry, as well as how brands can adapt for the future.

Hobson has lived in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, and New York, and now lives in London, where she joined The Future Laboratory as head of Consultancy in 2013. Formerly the head of a New York creative agency, she has spent the past 16 years building such brands as Qantas, Coca-Cola, Sunglass Hut, and Panasonic.

Lifestyle Categories

Claire Hobson, EVP Global Business Director, The Future
Laboratory, discussed consumer trends at CEW’s Global Trend
Report presentation. (Photo credit: Patricia Willis Photography)

“There are fundamental trends that will affect future lifestyle categories across numerous sectors, so it is important to understand the bigger implications as they impact your category,” said Hobson. “First, we need to think in terms of long-term, rather than in instants,” she said. She quoted writer and futurist, Jamais Cascio, who said, “We need to stop thinking in terms of instants and start thinking in terms of ages.”

Noting that increased longevity has impacted the market across all categories, she asked, “How can the body take in the changes of an extended lifestyle?” She explained that short-term thinking is becoming obsolete for a population with a radically extended lifespan, adding that “when millennials are expected to live a healthy life to the age of 100, their minds and bodies need to be operating at the top of their games. This longevity is fundamental, and as a consequence the consumer is thinking about the mind/body continuum.”

Taking better care of ourselves is crucial. “Optimization is about being in control of yourself, your environment, and your biology,” she said. Emphasizing the mind/body correlation, Hobson observed three trends, first, hyper-personalized beauty at a genetic level will be key; second, products and services that boost vitality, concentration, and intelligence, will be in demand; and third, the wellness focus that inspires seamless and holistic beauty lifestyles, including beauty, wellness, and cosmetics, will be one and the same.

Understanding these market shifts as drivers will allow the industry to address them. “We will need to help consumers plan for the future and step out of short-term thinking,” said Hobson, noting that shoppers are starting to resist brands that they feel embody a sense of impermanence, citing a survey that said that the majority of consumers wouldn’t mind if 73% of the brands on the market disappeared.

“People are gravitating toward brands that deliver something of substance,” she said, citing Louis Vuitton, a brand with heritage, provenance, and longevity. “The digital revolution is not solving our biggest problem. There’s a gap between where consumers are and where we’re willing to take them. One of the roles we can play is understanding how technology can best be used to advance long-term lifestyles,” she said.

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Mindfulness and Holistic Health

There is an increasing need to address mounting stress in our daily lives, as burnout prevents individuals from fulfilling their lives. Stress costs US businesses losses of revenue, productivity, and increased staff turnover. “Mindfulness as a concept is now in everyone’s vernacular. We’re so stressed that it’s starting to make us ill, so consumers are aligning with brands that give them a sense of quiet and solidity. We’re living longer than ever before, and this generation was to be optimized, not necessarily anti-aging.”

“By 2060 there will be an almost equal number of under-fives and over-85’s in the US,” said Hobson, citing the National Institute on Aging, Pew Research Center. “It will be important to leverage brand loyalty and brand partnership. In this ‘flat age’ economy it is key to note that this generation is not retired and doing nothing, and brands will need to be relevant.” According to Sarah Kugelman, Founder Skincare brand, Skyn Iceland, as quoted by Hobson, “It is extending beyond looking good, to your memory working better, your vision getting better. It’s being more youthful in every sense of that word.”

The new wellness paradigm emphasizes that beauty is increasingly defined as holistic and not simply cosmetic, health consciousness is going mainstream, and there is a spectrum of what beauty and wellness look like. The Beauty Chef, for example, has launched a new range of probiotic elixirs and serums for the inside. Among the key trends we need to look at is that “beauty empowers long lives that are worth living.” There are smart pills, DNA and biotech solutions, pre-emptive wellness solutions. “Brand standing and sustainability will all be part of a consumer’s everyday beauty palette, from yoga to nutrition, to customized products and services that address consumer needs on a molecular level.

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Hobson noted that more than half of the beauty consumers in the UK would allow DNA testing of their skin, hair, and blood to create personalized products; and six out of ten would pay a premium for personalized care products. She cited two beauty brands who are doing this, Parisian beauty brand Ioma, which introduced an anti-wrinkle treatment in tablet form; and GeneU beauty brand, which has launched a bespoke skincare service, called U+, that tests DNA to create products matched exactly to a person’s skin type. GeneU allows personalization of anti-aging skincare for consumers seeking beautiful, healthy skin.

Nootrobox, another example, was cited as a smart drug system designed to aid memory, focus, and energy, available as a monthly subscription-based program; Moon Juice sells Sex Dust and Body Dust to boost libido, performance, and reduce stress; while Kiehl’s Energizing Moisturizer, features a moisturizing formula for the skin, that includes menthol and caffeine to energize.

“Upstream wellness trends,” said Hobson, “include beauty brands that are finding pre-emptive ways to safeguard physical, emotional, and mental health.” The VitaStiq home device tracks personal mineral and vitamin levels. League is a digital wellness platform, in which users share their data with professionals and receive recommendations; while the Cue Health Tracker enables users to discover detailed hormonal information formerly available through lab tests only, and to make appropriate changes for themselves.

Beauty Alchemy

In addition to reading one’s own body signs and signals, Hobson says that “Beauty shoppers are becoming their own alchemists and are confidently mixing ingredients they know are efficacious for their own skin and hair.” She cited The Blend, a fragrance oil kit that lets customers create customized scents to their own preferences and recipes; as well as the Mio range of remedies, which are said to optimize workouts, like, The Activist, a firming active body oil, and Mio’s Liquid Yoga, to relax, re-energize, and ease stress.

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Ultimately, notes Hobson, you need to find out how to get into a consumer’s brain to amplify an existing behavior. This requires understanding the need for stress relief, which she cites as a huge future opportunity, and how to bring the body back into balance. The Olive, a smart bracelet, which monitors stress levels, skin temperature, and heart rate variability, offers exercise regimens and suggestions, by simply tapping the device and getting a read out.

Whole system beauty also requires sleep, so “Anything we can do to help people achieve a restful wellness state is very important,” she said, adding that the Beauty Sleep Sweet Pillow Scent from Supermood of Finland, taps into that need. “Today’s ageless consumer expects beauty brands to embody sustainability and ethical production. Over the long term, this will have the most impact on your brand.

Use less chemicals, be environmentally sensitive in packaging and manufacturing, and understand the significance of bio-tech beauty. “This is significant from a GM perspective. New ranges of beauty products based on bio-technology will deliver huge increases in interest,” she said. She cited Unilever’s sustainable beauty strategy, which illustrates this ethos in action.

Hobson said beauty and wellness will be reshaped with bio-engineering. At Gingko Bioworks in the US, bio-engineers are developing new organisms that will enable the design of new fragrance molecules; organizations will change the way they plan for the long-term; and brands will build “body temples” where the convergence of beauty, health and well-being will be key.

She concluded with suggestions for the new brand mind set, “Start the ball rolling in your organizations about long-term ambition; think brain boosters; develop smart products; get ahead of the curve; get ahead of the consumer; channel upstream wellness by being pro-active and pre-emptive; and enable beauty hackers to create their own products.” In sum, said Hobson, “Help create long lives that are worth living.”

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