New York, NY (June 5, 2014) In partnership with Unilever U.S., graduating students in the Fashion Institute of Technology's (FIT) Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing and Management (CFMM) Master of Professional Studies program have revealed findings about and insights into future beauty consumers, and methodologies that beauty companies should adopt to keep up with burgeoning trends.
The 2014 CFMM capstone research focuses on the evolution of the beauty landscape,
exploring The Changing Face of the Beauty Consumer across three key areas Accessible
Beauty, The New Beauty Consumer, and Men's Beauty and Grooming.
- Accessible Beauty introduces a new name for a growing consumer group: Progressive Rationalists. This
group regularly trades up and down, necessitating a different approach for reaching
them.
o Findings:
By 2030, there will be a 50% decline in global poverty, leading to strong middle
class consumerism.
Asia will surpass the U.S. and Europe in GOP, population, military spending,
and technology investment.
Global migration will increase due to an aging population in developed countries.
o Recommendations:
The industry should adopt a new model called Progressive Consumption Equation:
[function + higher order need] + performance = purchase.
Brands must focus on three higher order needs:
Convenience Brands need to be hyper accessible by empowering local consumers
to become points of distribution, utilizing the franchise method of buying in.
Clarity Brands need to leverage radical transparency, from philanthropy to profits
to resources.
Cash Brands must help consumers save money by developing the next generation
of private label products everywhere consumers shop, without risking brand image.
- Engaging the New Beauty Consumer presents a new strategy that leverages total consumer identity. This new strategy
moves beyond the traditional segmentation model of race, sex, age, and geography.
o Findings:
By 2030, race will transform into cultural values. The U.S. will no longer be
a melting pot, but a mosaic of mixed ethnicity creating individual ethnicities.
The range of gender identities will significantly broaden. Even today, Facebook
offers 56 options for gender.
Age will evolve into cross-generational passions. By 2050, people ages 65 and
over will outnumber the young, and age will no longer define product need.
Geographic borders will no longer limit the definition of community. Instead,
connections, intertwined with community, will define geography.
o Recommendations:
Brands must implement four key strategic initiatives:
Exchange Establish a cultural exchange between brand values and consumer values.
Individual Reality Connect with consumers key personal moments throughout the
year, not only on national holidays.
Connectivity Become part of a consumers unique community by leveraging technology
and data to deliver a real and personalized experience.
Organizational Framework Ensure that all marketing and sales teams have access
to and responsibility for consumer insights.
- Men's Beauty and Grooming explores the increasing complexity that modern men encounter in today's society.
The research focuses on the changing economic and social attitudes toward masculinity
that are impacting male grooming habits. The industry is at a tipping point where
external drivers are altering men's wants, needs, and aspirations.
o Findings:
Changing Roles Three out of four men agree that men and women no longer need
to conform to traditional roles and behaviors.
Changing Views 76% of men agree that males are under more pressure than past
generations to present a polished image.
Changing Faces Population growth for the older male segment, combined with millennial
men being more accepting of women's grooming products and routines, will positively
impact product adoption and usage.
If brands are able to increase men's yearly product purchases from five to seven
items at an average of $10 each, the U.S. market could reach $10 billion by 2030,
30% higher than currently projected.
o Recommendations:
A four-gear approach is critical to men's grooming, each one representing a network
of interdependent action:
Ignite Identify authentic needs and genuine consequences by introducing credible,
simple solutions.
Steer Leverage key influencers and focus on ease, accessibility, and trust.
Fuel Utilize imagery and communications reflective of the dynamic state of masculinity.
Accelerate Focus on one hero product at a time, building momentum, sophistication,
trust, and loyalty over time.
At Unilever we deliver world class innovation based on rich insights that create
meaningful connections with our consumers, and we know that what's relevant today
may not be tomorrow as demographics continue to evolve, said David Rubin, Marketing
Vice President, Unilever Hair US. The dynamic and intelligent graduate students of
FIT's Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing and Management Masters Program have come together
to take on imminent challenges of the business, such as The Changing Face of the Beauty Consumer. We at Unilever are honored to partner with FIT to help foster the growth of these
prospective industry leaders.
Working with a world class consumer packaged goods company like Unilever as partner,
the faculty and class of 2014 were excited to explore the consumer of 2030, and how
evolving cultural values, universalization, changing notions of life stage and gender,
and the rapidly changing socio-economic landscape globally will impact on how brands
innovate and communicate to connect with their consumers" says Professor Stephan Kanlian,
Chair of FIT's unique graduate program. "We are truly at a tipping point, with the
convergence of social conscience in the developed markets and the rising global middle
class in the developing world, and these forces are sure to effect widespread changes
in the consumer landscape of 2030."
The CFMM master's degree program provides advanced education for emerging beauty
industry executives. Each year the graduating class presents in-depth, forward-thinking
capstone research along with industry predictions and proposals for beauty companies.
Full research white papers for The Changing Face of the Beauty Consumer, along with white papers for past presentations, are available at fitnyc.edu/5518.asp.
Photographs of the event are available at https://db.tt/uEgVNzxF.
About Unilever North America
Unilever is one of the worlds leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products
with sales in more than 190 countries. Working to create a better future every day,
we help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. In the United States
and Canada, the portfolio includes brand icons such as: Axe, Becel, Ben & Jerrys,
Bertolli, Breyers, Caress, Clear Scalp & Hair Therapy, Consort For Men, Country Crock,
Degree, Dove personal care products, Fruttare, Good Humor, Hellmann's, I Cant Believe
Its Not Butter!, Just for Me!, Klondike, Knorr, Lever 2000, Lipton, Magnum, Motions,
Nexxus, Noxzema, Ponds, Popsicle, Promise, Q-tips, Ragu, Simple, Slim-Fast, St. Ives,
Suave, TIGI, TONI&GUY Hair Meet Wardrobe, TRESemm and Vaseline. All of the preceding
brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies.
Our ambition is to double the size of our business, while reducing our overall environmental
footprint (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal) and increasing our positive
social impact. We are committed to helping more than a billion people take action
to improve their health and well-being, sourcing all our agricultural raw materials
sustainably by 2020, and decoupling our growth from our environmental impact. Supporting
our three big goals, we have defined seven pillars, underpinned by targets encompassing
social, environmental and economic areas. See more on the Unilever Sustainable Living
Plan at http://www.unileverusa.com/sustainable-living/ or http://www.unilever.ca/sustainable-living/.
Unilever employs approximately 11,500 people across North America generating more
than $10 billion in sales in 2013. For more information, visit www.unileverusa.com or www.unilever.ca.
About the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT)
Fashion Institute of Technology's Master of Professional Studies (MPS) in Cosmetics
and Fragrance Marketing and Management (CFMM) program, one of seven advanced degree
programs in FIT's School of Graduate Studies, was developed in collaboration with
industry as a leadership development program for outstanding mid-career executives.
Luxury firms (such as Chanel, Este Lauder, and LVMH) and consumer packaged goods companies
(including Beiersdorf, L'Oréal, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever) nominate talented
mid-level executives to participate in the program. The curriculum combines strategic
business skills and specialized creative and product innovation skills with intensive
global field studies in Europe and Asia. Executive mentors from industry and a personalized
development plan are part of a tailored management curriculum that develops future
leaders for the sector.
As part of the research focus in the School of Graduate Studies at FIT, the graduate
program has become the beauty industry's recognized think tank, producing high level
research each year that is presented to an audience of 700 executives and media, as
well as in specialized panels, symposia, and forums in both academia and industry.
FIT is a leader in career education in art, design, business, and technology, with
a wide range of programs that are affordable and relevant to today's rapidly changing
industries. A college of the State University of New York, FIT offers more than 45
majors leading to the AAS, BFA, BS, MA, MFA, and MPS degrees. The Cosmetics and Fragrance
Marketing and Management program is one of seven programs in FIT's School of Graduate
Studies.