How to Market Ingredients in the New Now: The Fall Edition 10/2020

Creating new ideas and concepts around promotional materials for beauty products can be daunting, particularly in our current environment.

 The challenges?

• Creating a story different from competitive products

• Aligning with trends

• Telling an appealing ingredient story 

• Engaging the consumer  

• Translating high-end technology to an understandable consumer level

How do you craft an intriguing ingredient story that compels someone to purchase your product? 

The first step is to literally step outside and examine your surroundings. Be fully present. Take everything in, especially the smells. Observe, and most importantly, breathe.

It’s October ... The Fall Season … Apple picking is in full swing, bringing on the smell of sweet, cinnamon-infused ciders. Colorful pumpkins adorn manicured gardens.  Fragrant smoky notes from backyard fire pits fill the cool, crisp nights with a familiar and cozy aroma that welcomes a chillier season.  If you’re reading closely, there are at least 5 ingredient concept ideas in this last paragraph…did you notice them? 

Very often my clients tell me that when it comes to product development and conceptualization, they feel the need to reach and pull something out of nowhere in order to be competitive. I understand that urge, but the truth is, we’re all actually somewhere, and wherever you are and whatever season it is probably has all the answers and inspiration you need. So look no further than in your own backyard, patio, or neighborhood! 

Because of their cyclical and nostalgic nature, it’s always a safe bet to use Fall harvest-inspired ingredients that are familiar, comforting, and that promote wellness. You can count on Fall coming back again next year – seasonal materials will always be on trend.

To help you better understand how to be strategic when it comes to beauty formulas and their potential marketing stories, I reached out to a few raw materials experts keen on trends and healthy ingredients in the beauty industry.   

Janice Hart of Bell Flavors and Fragrances, which sources botanicals from all over the world provides a friendly reminder to keep things local, stating that, “As we are now in the Fall Season the following botanicals come to mind: Cranberry, Pomegranate, Yam and Pear. Mostly these extracts are known for their high anti-oxidant or moisturizing properties. Each of these extracts have been launched in unique skin and body care products. This season, you don’t have to source the globe for exotic materials in order to keep up with skincare trends. Instead, simply step outside and find fresh ideas in the familiar ingredients of your local harvest!” 

While focusing on the ingredients of the Fall season, also consider today’s lifestyle. Health and wellness are prominent lifestyles that have moved from trends to mainstream ways of living. Products that protect the skin from the aggressors of urban living, pollution, and the environment continue to be desirable performance attributes for the consumer. 

Need ideas for healthy Fall materials? Consider walnuts! Yes, Grenoble walnuts - green walnuts, sourced from the French Alps. The walnut tree is able to live up to 400 years, and is an example of a real challenge to aging. Over the centuries, it has protected the secret of its long life.  According to Lauren DelDotto, Marketing Manager at Gattefossé, “Gatuline® Age Defense 2 is an active extract of Grenoble walnuts that can be incorporated into products to give the skin an anti-aging boost.” 

And how could we possibly forget pumpkin this time of year? The powerful orange fruit is, above all, rich in nutrients and is one of the fruits with the highest anti-oxidizing carotene content, giving the pumpkin its fine orange color. 

Using fresh pumpkin cells – not extracts – can be a unique way to talk about this powerful active. “Fresh Cells™ are cellular suspensions of whole, fresh plant cells resulting from a mild and selective extraction process,” says DelDotto. “When Fresh Cells™ come in contact with the skin, they will degrade due to enzymes in the epidermis plus the physical application, and will sparingly pour out their precious content – protected, until that point, in a sort of natural microcapsule.”

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Now you have some new ways of thinking about which ingredients you can incorporate into your product.

But then how do you leverage those carefully selected ingredients in order to tell a compelling marketing story? After all, you could have the most cutting-edge, high-benefit ingredients available on planet Earth, but if you don’t market them correctly, it can affect your sales!

Before a product is available for sale, there’s a tremendous amount of work to process from start to finish.  

Consider this: concepts need to be envisioned, names generated, textures considered, technologies incorporated, formulas developed, claims discussed, and the consumer experience communicated.  And this is just the beginning.

So, once you’ve identified some of your newfound ingredients, start to create the concept of your product with these key questions and ideas in mind.

 5 key questions in beauty concept development. 

1. What makes the concept unique?

2. Does it fill a white space in the product collection?

3. Will it effectively compete with current products on the market?

4. Can the high-level technology be easily communicated at the consumer level?

5. What is the engaging experience the consumer can expect to have when interacting with the product?

Having a well-thought-out plan for concept development and answering these key questions will make the product stand apart from the competition and will contribute positively to the product’s success.  

If creating unique concepts for your products or brand is in your plan this coming year, contact me to schedule a consultation to talk through your goals. Email cherie@beautyedgeinc.com