Captivating Connections.

baby boomers DO shop online.

My dad (who is celebrating his birthday today! happy brithday dad!) has what I like to call a small 'problem': he has an Amazon.com addiction. No, seriously. Every time we have a conversation about a project one of us like, a few days later there's inevitable a package from Amazon from him with said product in it. He even write product recomendations and places orders on monthly auto renewal.

I love it, and also think it's hilarious, but the point of this little story is that he, like many other Baby Boomers, DO shop online.

In fact, according to a study by the Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research, "52% of shoppers ages 50-54 are purchasing health and beauty products online, while 29% have bought food and beverage products online -- more than any other age group," debunking the myth that Boomers don't shop online.

So why are they shopping online? The same reason many of the rest of us shop online: DEALS! As Andrew Morse, director of insight and strategy at the Integer Group, explains, "The fact that the Boomer generation is buying more products online is less surprising in the context that the same group are core club store shoppers as well. We know Boomers are frugal; they seek out value for money in any situation. The same behavior is carrying through online.”

cartoons aren't only for kids; they're for lipstick (and nail polish too!).

There's an interesting trend emerging in the cosmetics category, with cartoon charachters adorning the packaging of cosmetics. This seems to be inspired (and driven) by a few things:

1. In crappy economic times women turn to makeup as a cheap pick-me-up that makes them feel better.

2. Wrapped (literally) in that splurge is the desire for physical beauty, which can be manifested in pretty packaging.

3. When the package itself projects a sense of excitement, beauty, and whimsey, the outside is almost as important as the inside!

MAC is a great example is the trend: "The brand introduced the Wonder Woman collection, with oversize compacts and lipglosses, last February; an online-only Miss Piggy collection the following November; a Venomous Villains collection in September 2010 (featuring some evil Disney characters like Cruella De Vil); and a Hello Kitty collection, with sleek black and pink packaging, in 2009."

What do you think? Is it nostalgia? Novelty? What do you think?

tweens leading the beauty brigade.

This isn't really shocking, but wanted to share it anyways for those into cosmetics:

"Tween girls are using more beauty products and represent an 'opportunity,' according to a new report from market research firm The NPD Group.

The 'Insight into the Youth Beauty Market' report found that tween girls (ages 8 to 12 years) are reporting an increase in their usage of a few products -- especially mascara and eyeliner. In fact, regular usage of mascara nearly doubled in the past two years among tween girls (from 10% to 18%) as did eyeliner (from 9% to 15%). Overall, tweens reported to regularly use on average 4.5 different beauty products, consistent with levels reported in 2007. The NPD Group defines "regular usage" as using at least once a month.

The evolution in tween girls appears to have less to do with diminished self-esteem and a larger societal issue and more to do with mom and family, according to The NPD Group. The girls say that they 'look to their parents and siblings to see what they are using to help decide what to buy and use.'"

Meanwhile, the report also found that among teens (ages 13 to 17 years), skin care basics, like facial cleansers and acne-spot treatment products, and makeup products, like mascara and lip gloss, dropped significantly in reported regular usage versus 2007 levels. Among young women (ages 18 to 24 years), the pattern was similar. Foundation was the only product in the top 10 (ranked on overall reported usage) that showed no significant change in reported regular usage for this age segment.

"As tween girls using beauty has now become a family affair, it is our opportunity and responsibility to ensure that these girls, and their parents, are educated on the role of beauty in the most responsible way," stated Karen Grant, VP and global industry analyst for The NPD Group.

boomer ladies & beauty.

"While the recession may have taught many women the delicate art of trading down, brand loyalty is alive and kicking in the beauty aisle. And a new report from market researcher Mintel finds that Baby Boomer women are especially devoted. While women are more likely to be looking for beauty deals online and in drugstores, a sizable minority is determined not to switch brands. 

'There are grudge purchases, in which women are more than willing to trade down,' Kat Fay, senior analyst at Mintel, tells Marketing Daily. 'For things like paper towels or bandages, women don't care. But for beauty products, women are loath to change if they don't have to. When times get tough, they might shrink their repertoire, for example, and buy fewer shades of eye shadow, but they are not giving up their brands of makeup and skincare.'

And their brand loyalty intensifies as they age. 'More than a third of the women in the 35-to-54 age group say, 'No, I am still buying the same brands as before the recession started,' she says. Among older women, that percentage jumps to 41%."

is ethnic + organic a winning beauty combo?

"

It's certainly no news that the demand for ethnic beauty products has been exploding, with annual sales of hair, makeup and skincare products now totaling $2.7 billion a year, says a new report from Packaged Facts. But what's less obvious, author Timothy Dowd tells Marketing Daily, is 'the stunning popularity of the use of 'natural' or 'organic' claims with this audience.' And just as impressive are the number of companies reaching out with products that are viewed as ethnic-suitable rather than ethnic-specific.

'It's human nature,' he says. 'We all want to stand out, and we all want to fit in. So on one hand, people of any ethnicity want to belong to American society, and use the same brands. But they also want to focus on their individual heritages.'

The result is that not only do ethnic consumers -- who will number roughly 119.7 million by 2014 -- spend on beauty potions specifically targeted to their ethnicity, but they also spend roughly $6.9 billion on general-market personal care products, or about 150% more than they do on ethnic-specifics.

Dowd says he was particularly struck by the market research company's findings on green preferences -- just how important eco-attributes are to the ethnic audience."

body wars (between the bar and the wash).

OK, this line just made me laugh:

"Despite a deep recession and the belief that the American male was profoundly pouf-averse, the U.S. has crossed the line from bar-soap nation to body-wash nation."

But, it is an interesting article nonetheless...

"For the first time in history and by the thinnest of margins, body wash outsold bar soap last year in food, drug and mass outlets tracked by Information Resources Inc., according to data reported by Deutsche Bank -- $756.3 million to $754.2 million.

For a time, it looked like the milestone would be reached in 2008, but a recession that began in late 2007 seemed to delay the inevitable. Bar soap tends to have both lower price points and a lower cost per use than body wash, making the latter a tougher sell when families are tightening their belts.

Even so, body-wash sales grew a fairly robust 5% last year, vs. only 1.4% for bar soap. Those numbers don't include Walmart, club or dollar stores, whose value orientation and clientele may make for a higher bar-to-liquid ratio. But regardless, the writing is on the shower stall for bar soap and has been for years."

beauty's gamma gals.

"Forget about female 'influencers.' Health and beauty marketers should focus their energies on 'Gamma women' -- or those wo share and exchange information, ideas, opinions, contacts and recommendations with a wide network using multiple channels.

According to a new nationwide survey from Meredith Corp., a full three-quarters -- 76% -- of Gammas 'frequently' recommend well-liked beauty products to others, compared to just 56% of all U.S. women.

Among 'Millennial Gammas,' this behavior is even more prevalent -- with word of mouth rising to 85%, according to the study of some 5,000 respondents.

'The key to understanding how these women view beauty is to think of beauty as dual in nature: the outer self reflects the confidence of the inner self,' says Nancy Weber, chief marketing officer and SVP of Meredith's National Media Group.

As such, Gammas cited 'self-confidence,' 'positive outlook on life,' 'sense of humor,' 'engaging smile,' and 'upbeat personality' as the top criteria to their definition of 'beauty,' while purely physical attributes such as 'pretty face,' 'glowing skin' and 'great figure' -- although still important -- ranked much lower on the list.

What exactly are Gammas attracted to? Well, compared to just over half of all U.S. women, two-thirds of Gammas try to buy beauty products that use organic/natural/sustainable ingredients, while 64% say anti-aging products are an important part of their beauty routine."

get in the mood.

"Market researcher Mintel has issued its beauty forecast for the year ahead, and says that mood beauty -- the intersection of psychology and well being with beauty products -- will see marketers go beyond their tired aromatherapy tricks, and wade right into women's neurotransmitters. Based on new products from niche brands, the Chicago-based market research firm predicts new-product launches that use texture, temperature, color and sound to manipulate mood."

So what other beauty trends are they predicting?

"Another trend the Chicago-based market researcher sees emerging is 'Nu Natural' -- products that concern themselves less with whether they may or may not be organic, and more with how well they work.

Traits like authenticity, provenance and local production will take a back seat to products with milder claims (such as 'free from' and 'sustainable') to be combined with high-tech ingredients with a distinctly science-y sell: Popular ingredients will include peptides, hyaluronic acid, ceramides and collagen."

p&g gets uber-into the shave thing.

"Undeterred by recession or getting into a retail business with which it has little experience, Procter & Gamble Co. is buying the Art of Shaving, seller of pricey men's shaving products at upscale shopping malls.

P&G is looking to get more direct contact with consumers and exposure to men's prestige personal care through the deal, said spokeswoman Kelly Vanasse. Gillette's relationship with the 36-store retailer goes back to 2007, when it began selling high-end Gillette-branded chrome products there.

Even before that, Ms. Vanasse said, Art of Shaving designed all of its razor handles to fit only Gillette products. That's one reason she said the company expects little backlash from mass retailers, since razor handles sold at the mall stores will still create demand for replacement blades.

P&G beauty rival L'Oreal has long run a mass business in addition to major retail operations such as the Body Shop and Kiehl's."

beauty growing online.

As retail sales struggle across categories, it's always impressive to see ANY category doing well on ANY sales medium...

"While sales of higher-end beauty products have been struggling in most retail channels, a new report from the NPD Group finds that at this point, beauty sales are growing on the Internet.

While the gain is small -- just 1% -- the Port Washington, N.Y.-based market research firm says it is the only channel where beauty purchases are growing, in terms of the number of women reporting mentions for beauty products.

The Internet -- while still a comparatively small channel for beauty, which has historically been something of an impulse category -- 'also has a higher ratio of women saying they spent more, relative to those who said they spent less on beauty in the past year.' On average, these women spend $86 annually on Internet beauty purchases.

What's more, this group of women is emphatically trading up at a time when many consumers are switching from department store brands to lower-end lines. In the NPD survey, online beauty buyers say they are buying more beauty products in general, and that they have begun stocking up on more expensive brands and products than in the previous year.

NPD attributes the change to convenience, product availability, and higher gas prices."