Beauty products study from Essence  provides new data on black women  

By Stephanie D. Smith
MediaWeek
(July 10, 2006) Thanks to a wealth of new lip glosses, hair products and anti-aging moisturizers, beauty has become one of the fastest growing advertising categories for magazines. Through May, the toiletries and cosmetics category spent $909 million in magazines, a 16 percent increase compared to the same period a year prior, according to data from TNS Media Intelligence.

Fashion and beauty titles such as Condé Nast’s Allure and Time Inc.’s Essence have benefited from the boon. Allure through May garnered $33.5 million in advertising from cosmetics, a 15 percent rise compared to the same period last year, while pages through July have grown 8.8 percent to 776, reports the Mediaweek Monitor.

 Essence, meanwhile, earned $14.5 million, an 8 percent gain, though ad pages have fallen 4.2 percent through July to 741. Moreover, other magazine categories, such as celebrity weeklies and women’s service are seeing an uptick in beauty ads. For example, American Media Inc.’s Star now carries advertisers such as Pantene and Cover Girl.

As the category explodes, beauty companies have had to become savvier marketers to break through the clutter. But some have been basing their print buys on antiquated strategies and old-school reasoning. Recently, Essence and Allure unveiled new research that could help advertisers better reach both mass and targeted consumers—Essence dispelled myths and advised manufacturers how to court African American women in its latest Smart Beauty study of nearly 2,000 African American women, while Allure’s annual Catalyst Report that surveyed 1,000 women (the pool mirrored the composition of the U.S. Census) revealed new research on how women shop for beauty products and respond to ads.

By unearthing what language and print placements attract consumers, the findings from both camps could help beauty brands better plan more engaging advertising campaigns. The magazines’ efforts, however, are in many ways self-serving. The hope is that these new marketing tools will be applied when buying ad pages in Allure and Essence.

Women of color age, too
While anti-aging products have been a powerful catalyst for overall growth in beauty, African American titles have not fared as well as, say, Allure. According to Nancy Cardone, Allure’s vp, publisher, skincare is the monthly’s fastest growing category, helped by new youth-preserving products from the likes of Neutrogena and Clinique. “There’s so much science and technology in the category right now,” said Cardone. Moreover, the age at which women are buying the products is much younger. “Now they start in their twenties and think of it more as a way to prevent aging.”

As for Essence, president Michelle Ebanks noted that African American titles get fewer ads from anti-aging products, especially from luxury skincare lines such as La Mer, though Essence is seeing page growth from the mass brands such as Jergen’s and Vaseline. Ebanks contended that advertisers continue to buy into the myth that women of color do not age as quickly nor spend as much on beauty products. “The mass skincare marketers are speaking directly to women of color,” said Ebanks. “Masstige skincare companies are not. The myth is that women of color don’t care about aging. We don’t wrinkle as early, but we care about it.”

Bonnie Barest, Optimedia executive vp, managing director, believes limited ad budgets may be the real culprit. “Those very high-end products have very limited budgets and may just spend in very prestige spots,” she said.

Friends are smarter than celebrities
Results from both the Smart Beauty research and the Catalyst Survey showed that word of mouth is a powerful tool for promoting beauty products. Considering that, marketers may want to rethink the use of celebrities in print campaigns to sell cosmetics. Most respondents in the Allure survey did not buy products because of celebrity plugs, but rather were driven by a special occasion, samples, magazine articles or recommendations from friends or family.

Allure recently capitalized on that fact. The magazine last fall partnered with Cover Girl to produce four custom publications geared toward achieving different styles. In August, Allure will also publish a sampling issue in which readers can try thousands of products through offers in the magazine or online.

Targeting targeted audiences
Results from the Essence survey also found that women of color often rely on recommendations from friends. Lorrie King, senior director, marketing for Baby Phat and Phat Farm fragrance, believed ads must be placed in targeted books to stay part of that conversation. “They may read everyone else—In Style, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar—but the magazines that their family and friends are talking about will most likely reside in their ethnic group,” said King.

Speak the right language.
In addition to eyeing more strategic media placements, marketers also need to pay more attention to the language in print ads. Research from both Allure and Essence found that using certain words resonated better with women than others. Smart Beauty participants preferred words emphasizing natural or healthy benefits. They also responded better to language in ads or on product packaging that described their skin tone in flavors—honey, mocha, chocolate—versus light, medium or beige. Likewise, words like “natural” and “pretty” were more appreciated than “sexy” or “glamorous,” according to Allure’s Catalyst Report.

Though it may take a while for some advertisers to digest the information, both Cardone and Ebanks believe that consumer insight into the industry is key to speaking to readers effectively as beauty becomes a vital category for most titles. “For those magazines not doing well in Detroit, this is a category that all magazines want a piece of, even the men’s books,” said Cardone.


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