Mirror, mirror on the wall, who has the best beauty strategy of them all? This week’s egtabite features an in-depth look at IP Germany’s Beauty Study – a comprehensive dive into the world of beauty brands in Germany and the significant role of television in their market strategy.

The sales house joined forces with the market research agency Facit Research to analyse the national beauty market and present a comprehensive industry report. The study encompasses 61 beauty brands, 8 consumer profiles and 17 different TV shows broadcast on RTL, Sat.1, ProSieben and Vox.

The European Champion in Beauty Care

Each year a huge amount of money is spent on beauty care, with Germany as the European champion: across all product groups, Germans spent 13.6 billion euros last year on beauty products*. The tough competition of available brands and products, on top of the growing number of customer touchpoints, makes it increasingly difficult for advertisers to stay top of mind.

In this context, Facit Research and IP Germany launched their research which focused on the product categories such as: nourishing facial cosmetics, decorative cosmetics and hair care. The report – which gathered information from 6925 respondents (aged 14-69) through an online survey – provides insights into various consumer profiles, buying behaviour, brand affinities, media usage habits and more – in short: everything an advertiser needs to address a specific beauty target group.

Eight different beauty types

As buyers of beauty products differ widely, clearly differentiated target groups are vital for advertisers’ marketing strategy. For this reason, a beauty-specific typology was created in the course of the study, which provides a clear overview of the various types of consumers in the German beauty market.

The eight different beauty types, with apt names such as Trendsetter, Minimalist or Pragmatist, are based on life and consumption attitudes, rather than pure socio-demographics.

The research allows advertisers to see which beauty type is the best fit for their brand – based on brand values such as luxury, innovation, sensuality – and which of the 17 TV formats would be the best context for their television spot or special ads such as product placement or sponsoring.

Eight different beauty types

Moreover, the research also indicates that the various beauty types have a high affinity for TV. As the selection of cosmetic brands is very wide and as consumers prefer to choose brands they are familiar with, advertisers need to build an emotional connection and brand loyalty with their consumers.

Thanks to the combination of sight and sound, TV can move and emotionally inspire viewers particularly well. The lean-back attitude during television viewing keeps the mood relaxed and open, making viewers more receptive to advertising messages, as shown by the study.

In the further customer journey, print and online can further reinforce the desirability of the product created by the TV campaign and positively influence the emotional purchase decision.

Finally, the goal of this study is to remind beauty advertisers of the effectiveness of TV and to encourage them to include the target groups in their future marketing communication campaigns.

*Annual Report 2017/2018 of the Industry Association Body Care and Detergent

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