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Skincare Spotlight From the 2013 WWD Beauty Summit Here are highlights of what bluemercury's Marla Malcolm Beck and C.O. Bigelow's Ian Ginsberg told VIPs at the May event. BACK IN THE OFFICE AFTER ONE DAY-AND-A-HALF of the WWD Beauty Summit, my head is so full of information, ideas and inspiration that I can barely think straight. My mother's advice when that happens is to write things down: lists, to-dos, key learnings. Putting things on paper she always told me will clarify your thinking. So that's what I am doing … for myself, and also partly for you who might not have been able to attend. (Although it will be July by the time you read this, the information is timeless.) While it is impossible for me to say who was my favorite speaker (well, of course, other than Leonard Lauder, who was the keynote speaker of the dinner), two of the most relevant speakers for beauty brands and retailers were Marla Malcolm Beck, CEO and co-founder of bluemercury, and Ian Ginsberg, president of C.O. Bigelow. Here are the highlights of what they had to say. MARLA MALCOLM BECK Marla's presentation ["WANTED: Innovation for the Specialty Beauty Retail Channel"] was all about what she wishes for her brand partners to do. Brands, listen up! • While 77.4% of products launched in 2012 failed, innovation continues. Why? Product launches drive 96 August 2013 | beautystorebusiness.com traffic, brand building and additional shelf space. Of course, however, the ultimate goal of innovation is to create an annuity SKU. This is also known as a hero SKU, a best seller, a cult product. Examples she gave included Mario Badescu Drying Lotion, Fresh "anything Sugar," Kiehl's Creme de Corps, Skinceuticals serums (all of them), Bumble & bumble Thickening products and the collection of Laura Mercier tinted moisturizers. • If you don't cannibalize your own annuity SKU, someone else will. In the words of Leonard Lauder, "You are never too far ahead to lose or too far behind to win." Marla's example was the foundation category. This was cannibalized by the tinted moisturizer, which is starting to be cannibalized by BB and CC creams. Think ahead, be creative, never think an annuity SKU will be an annuity SKU forever. • Create a need no one knows she has. Create the Apple iPod of beauty (who knew we couldn't live without iPods before we had iPods?!). In our industry, examples of such categories include foundation primer and lash-growing products. • A great product extension is a great product extension. It's as simple as that. If you have a hero SKU, multiply it. Examples abound, the one Marla chose was the Kiehl's Creme de Corps collection. • Clients like shiny objects. Don't underestimate the power of beautiful packaging, which stimulates impulse buying. Marla cited RéVive as an example. • Find a category you can hyper-segment, such as the primer category. Consumers want personalization, and hyper-segmentation is almost as good. • Co-design products with a store. For example, Tocca co-designed a candle collection based on Marla's favorite places to travel to and, in particular, her time residing in Spain. • Move over Kardashians. The brand founder is the new celebrity. Consumers want to know the story and the people behind brands. Personal appearances are key. • Love is all we need. Get your key retailers involved as early as possible in the product-development process. Yes, you give up some confidentiality, but the reward is a deeper partnership. Marla also expressed her wishes as a retailer: • "No more skin care, please!" This particular wish broke my heart as I own a niche skincare line, and I am hoping that this statement is driven more by the fact that Marla relatively recently launched her own skincare line—M-61—rather than by an overage of skincare products in our world. • Well-funded brands. Where are the VCs? Niche brands are fabulous, but well-funded niche brands are more fabulous. • Fashion and arts-inspired products. Collaborations between contemporary artists and beauty brands are intriguing to the customer, as is the concept of limited editions. • Hyper-segmentation in the hair and sun categories. For example, she imagined a shampoo line for color-treated hair segmented by hair type (e.g., curly color-treated hair). She also asked for a line of SPF products based on skin type (e.g., an SPF moisturizer for dry skin types). • Do-it-yourself tools. This has been a growing category for a couple of years (Clarisonic, anyone?), but there is opportunity for body tools (good-bye cellulite and sagging elbows). • More medical and scientific brands. Bring the aerospace physicist to the beauty industry. • Lifestyle brands that leverage the continued growth of veganism, yoga and detox trends. IAN GINSBERG Ian's presentation ["The Rules of (Non-Digital) Customer Engagement"] was all about what brick-and-mortar retailers can do to stay relevant in this increasingly digital age. He started by reminding the audience that "the Continued on page 118 Image courtesy of Ada S. Polla; slide relating to beauty products launched in 2012 courtesy of Marla Malcolm Beck and bluemercury by Ada S. Polla