Consumers are focusing on self-care products like skincare and at-home hair colouring products.
NEW YORK, Unites States — Out: smoky eyes, red lipstick and fake eyelashes. In: dewy skin, under-eye concealer, moisturised hands.
The $500 billion global beauty industry has almost overnight changed what and how it markets to a clientele hidden behind masks or stuck at home to avoid the spread of coronavirus.
As consumers’ social and travel plans have evaporated and work is conducted online, beauty brands have had to quickly redirect their pitches to show how their products are still relevant.
Companies are promoting make-up routines to look polished in videoconferences or virtual happy hours and positioning skincare as a soothing ritual that offers a quick respite from pandemic stresses.
The pivot has largely played out in social media campaigns, where companies can move more quickly, and not on television. Marketing from brands such as L’Oréal-owned Maybelline and Revlon Inc on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube now feature products suited for date nights over FaceTime, work-related video conference calls and Zoom happy hours.
These ads play up products more in tune with the times such as skin and eye care products and home hair-colouring kits.
“You don’t have to wear make-up. But it helps,” reads the tagline for make-up brand Revlon on recent Instagram posts, telling consumers they can still curl their eyelashes, “even if you can’t curl up to your special someone.”
These posts have replaced TV spots from a few months ago such as one for Revlon’s long-wear foundation that featured a model walking to work and going to the gym.
“Frequent washing doesn’t have to result in dry and rough hands,” said a Facebook ad for hand lotion from L’Oréal’s Kiehl’s line.
“You’re doing your part by staying in, so we at Schwarzkopf want to help you feel like your best self at home,” according to a paid post on Instagram from the at-home hair colouring brand owned by German conglomerate Henkel.
L’Oréal USA is taking marketing cues from consumer searches on Google and social media conversations, said Gretchen Saegh-Fleming, chief marketing officer of L’Oreal USA, a unit of L’Oréal Group, which owns Maybelline, hair care line Garnier and cosmetic brand Urban Decay.
