Strong global growth

Irina Barbalova

Euromonitor’s Global Head of Beauty and Personal Care Research, Irina Barbalova, and Beauty and Personal Care Analyst, Nicole Tyrimou discussed how 2012 was another year of strong performance for the beauty industry despite economic uncertainty and cautious consumer spending. The premium segment sustained its growth levels and continued to be driven by skin care and dynamic innovation in anti-ageing. After a spectacular year in 2011, North America still managed to achieve close to 6% increase in premium value in 2012, according to Euromonitor data.

Total industry growth bettered that of the previous year and reached pre-recession levels. Despite the strong performance of the premium cosmetics category, overall growth was boosted by mass cosmetics globally, with positive prospects shown by staple categories such as oral care, deodorants, and hair care,” said Barbalova. “Hair care is experiencing a transformation and is increasingly inspired by skin care in terms of ingredients, as well as adopting a similar multi-step routine approach to hair treatment.

Multi-functionality becomes mainstream

Euromonitor’s latest research also shows leading beauty companies are taking a more holistic view on products. This has also been driven by consumer demand becoming more complex in their expectations of product performance and benefits.

Nicole Tyrimou

Anti-ageing is increasingly being associated with a wider portfolio of benefits. Moisturisation and sun protection are now expected in every product, thus added value has gone far beyond that,” explains Nicole Tyrimou. “There is a greater alignment with enhancing the skin, rather than just treating wrinkles. Many of the new claims are about evening skin tone, brightening, illuminating and smoothing properties,” added Tyrimou.

Multifunctional products are becoming mainstream, most epitomised by the BB and CC creams phenomenon. At the same time, the need for more personalised solutions and products targeting specific concerns are presenting further scope for innovation in this area. According to Euromonitor, while multiple benefits are important even in targeted products, the overuse of multi-functionality and the BB/CC labelling of products could result in the blurring of the actual benefits and thus the ultimate brand credentials.

There seems to be room for both of these divergent trends. While both targeted and multi-functional products are equally sought after by consumers, the need for preserving and promoting the specialised features of a product should remain key. Consumers need to be able to relate to a product that provides them a solution for their individual needs,” concludes Irina Barbalova.