Simplicity: The Next Frontier
Consumers have a lot of choices these days. More than ever -- and maybe even too many choices, if you see the same trends I do.
In a quest for more revenues, we try to crank out as many new products as possible thinking, more choices mean more purchases. You've probably witnessed it: Just when you're breaking in your new phone, a newer version is launched. And then you need a new TiVo -- not just to skip commercials, but to create playlists since we can't keep up with 300+ channels' worth of programming. Then there's your handful of social networking accounts, all of which need clever status updates daily. So to get away from it all, you go out for a nice dinner at Cheesecake Factory -- only to be handed a menu the size of the phone book.
So now what? Consumers are reacting to the years of feeling overwhelmed -- they seem to be making changes to simplify their lives. Hulu and Netflix have both seen subscriber growth as consumers turn away from overwhelming cable options. Some users have opted out of social networks altogether. The catalyst? The recession -- it's made people want to lead less complicated lives. But I think these changes are here to stay for a while.
What can the beauty industry learn from all this? (Because frankly, we're one of the biggest contributors to the dilemma.)
Year after year the beauty industry churns out tens of thousands of products, surpassed only by the dry grocery food industry. In a recent poll we conducted of 800+ women, more than 94 percent indicated feeling overwhelmed by at least one of seven beauty subcategories; 64 percent of the respondents said it was due to the skin care or cosmetics subcategories.
Starting in Q4 2008, many brands began highlighting and reframing their products’ value -- a winning strategy in a recession. The next frontier is simplicity. Whether you do it in the form of product innovation or commercial innovation, all brands and retailers need to look at this issue: What can you do to simplify her life?
We'll see a lot of it in the months to come -- whether it's the launch of "combination products" or "product systems" to help make the choice less complicated, or even a focus on education in advertising, brands will show high creativity when it comes to simplifying a consumer's life.
Granted, it isn't exactly a new bag of tricks. But what is new is the concerted focus on holistic simplification across a brand’s portfolio, going beyond one-off product/website/ad campaign launches. Judging from the consumers we’ve talked to, brands that simplify a woman's life will be rewarded with increased market share.
- Emrah Kovacoglu, Founder and CEO, Total Beauty Media, Inc.
