On the Pulse of the Youth Market

With fluctuating trends and increasing levels of sophistication among kids and teens, brand marketers can’t afford to miss a beat. Here, some surprising statistics and classic success stories . . .

By Jamie Matusow, Editor

Standing on line in Sephora, I overheard a somewhat startling conversation between two teen-somethings discussing, of all things, which anti-aging formula to buy. “My mother,” said one girl with smooth, flawless skin, holding Sugar’s “I Shop for Sugar” lip and eye palette in what looks like a mini shopping bag, “told me I should start using it now.” The other girl, placing Stila’s Cherry Crush Lip and Cheek Stain on the counter, agreed: “I know,” she said. “My mom says it’s never too early to start fighting wrinkles.”

Blossom made the most of square bottles, using all four surfaces to spark girls' interest.

While teens and tweens once focused on beauty products such as acne treatments, nail polish and lipgloss, they’re now caught between two cosmetics worlds, mixing fun, youth-oriented brands with more prestige items often favored by their mothers.

Reports show that traditional demographic lines may blur even further. According to Los Angeles-based market research firm IBISWorld, continued growth in the youth segment and in the aging baby boomer segment will drive the cosmetics market; in the case of the younger generation, “it is believed that manufacturers and marketers may develop an increasing array of youth products that mimic their adult counterparts . . .”

25 Million Teens

A report issued by Rockville, MD-based market researcher Packaged Facts, based on the most recent Census data, shows there are more than 25 million teens in the U.S., ages 12-17, with 49% in the 12-14 age group and 51% in the 15-17 year old group. In addition, there are another 24 million tweens, ages 6-11.

Body America's success across demographic groups prompted a line targeting tweens.

Although Packaged Facts’ research estimates that the population of 12-17 year olds will decline slightly, teens’ aggregate income is expected to reach $118 billion by 2011. Younger tweens, 5-9, and kids from infancy through age 4 will also be good consumer targets for the industry according to the researcher, with the former increasing by 6% to 21 million by 2012, and the latter increasing by 5% to reach an estimated 22 million by the same year.

Packaged Facts forecasts that the market for tween and teen grooming products, which was valued at $7 billion in 2007, will reach approximately $8.5 billion by 2012, due to sales of hair care, skin care and color cosmetics.

Big Spenders

A new study by OTX, a global research and consulting firm, found that teens spend an average of $27 a month on health and beauty products. Most commonly used items on a daily basis? Deodorant/antiperspirants, whitening toothpastes, lip balms, perfumes and facial scrubs. A recent report from The NPD Group reports that the fragrance category is most popular among tween girls, while Packaged Facts’ research revealed that virtually every teen uses lip color.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen changed the way marketers approached tween consumers.

Although the younger generation spends so much time on the Web, many teens prefer choosing beauty products in person. According to Leigh Anne Rowinski, IRI beauty expert, “Teens like purchasing where they can easily sample products and not feel like salespeople are hovering over them. The shopping environment is very important to their preferences and therefore, the brands they find and sample.” Rowinski says the majority of teen cosmetics purchases are made in drug stores, Wal-Mart, and Target, as well as Sephora. Although IRI does not have exact figures for teen spending, amounts spent per product can be considerable. “I would say that teens are not averse to spending $10-$20 per product,” says Rowinski, “especially on skin care, depending on what it is, what the benefits are, and if it is a desired brand.”

Hands-on purchases and desired brands are why Packaged Facts refers to Sephora as the “ideal mall destination for teens and older tweens.”

Mary-Kate and Ashley Lead

Claire’s was also a popular mall destination when Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen launched their twin fragrances in 2002— and changed the concept of marketing to tween girls.

“At the time, marketers thought that age group was only buying body mist, at places like Claire’s and Bath and Body” says Nicole Desir, associate vice president of brand management for The BeanstalkGroup, a licensing agency and branding consultancy. Nicole worked with Mary-Kate and Ashley—and licensee Coty—to introduce their fragrance into the marketplace—first as an exclusive at Wal-Mart, later into food, drug and mass outlets and then into specialty retailer Claire’s. “Mary-Kate and Ashley saw an opportunity to develop a celebrity fragrance at a mass price point,” says Desir.

What made the brand so successful, says Desir, is that Mary-Kate and Ashley precipitated it. “Girls had come to them,” she says, “and they spoke directly back—it was very authentic.”

The package was a direct reflection of the twins, notes Desir. “It had an edge of sophistication and clean lines,” she says. “Both their faces were on the cartons, though two fragrances were introduced at a time. And they used girly colors, but in a sophisticated, not babyish way.”

The light show given off by Cosmicare's illumicare base also acts as a timer to encourage kids to scrub their hands for the CDC's recommended 15-20 seconds.

Four mary-kateandashley fragrance “pairs” were introduced as the teens matured along with their consumers. With prices ranging from $5.95-$14.95, these products were very affordable, says Desir. “Once marketers realized they could reach girls at a good price point,” she says, “they soon realized they could reach them at a better price point, which led the way to other releases targeting tweens and teens by celebrities such as Ashanti, Britney Spears, Hilary Duff, etc.”

Licensing Is Big

The mary-kateandashley brand translated into cosmetics, home products and more. And in 2003, according to Euromonitor, the tween-orientated mary-kateandashley brand was extended into the toothpaste sector in a co-branding initiative with Aquafresh (GlaxoSmithKline). Euromonitor says “this was considered a landmark in the cosmetics and toiletries industry, in that it was the first time a children’s toothpaste was co-branded with live celebrities, rather than fictional or animated characters.”

Without a doubt, marketers have found their way to kids’ hearts and parents’ pocketbooks through popular culture. IRI’s Rowinski says, “We are seeing a concerted effort to offer products that speak to teens and younger children with their favorite stars and characters. Children are more sophisticated today, so ‘High School Musical’ and Hannah Montana fans can start as young as 5 years old.”

It’s All in the Packaging

Rowinski says packaging is very important in swaying tweens when it comes to personal care products. Not only do they want stars and superheroes, “They want things that are chic, functional, modern and new. It is a great benefit to find something new that they can show a friend.”

Cosmicare's astronaut-like Deco-Mate bottle can be adapted to various figures and images, and comes with a decal sheet and labels.

Kids looking for something new—in fact, space age—can anticipate branding of a couple of new offerings from Cosmicare Design & Manufacturing, LLC. The Jupiter, FL-based company has introduced Deco-Mates, a decorate-it-yourself bottle, suitable for bath, shower and personal care products. Intended for children ages 6 -12, each Deco-Mate bottle comes with a selection of more than 45 decals.

“Kids will love the interactive play value of this new product”, says Rich Butler, Cosmicare’s president. “Although we initially developed an ‘astronaut’ package, for the licensed Space Center brand, we could easily take this concept and adapt it to an infinite range of characters and figures such as sports athletes and comic strip superheroes.”

Cosmicare’s Illumicare lighted support base for containers provides a rotating light show that illuminates the bottle and its contents, and also acts as a timer, flashing for the CDC’s recommended hand-scrubbing timeframe of 15-20 seconds.

Made for Girls by Girls

Although they don’t have the celebrity allure of the Olsen twins, another group of sisters—and their mom, Brandi Wallace, a former stay-at-home mother of six—has launched their own “authentic” range of beauty products. B.L.O.S.S.O.M. aims to speak to a wide range of teens and tweens as young as five, not through celebrities or cartoon characters, but through peer power, community outreach and personal touches.

Rexam's Sof'Cell makes it easy to bring a favorite fragrance anywhere.

Bailey, Bexley, Brooklyn and Berry are not only the names of the product lines—they’re the names of Wallace’s daughters. Like the mary-kateandashley brand, Blossom was created by girls for girls, with the sisters actively involved in everything from choosing the fragrances to drawing self-portraits for the bottles.

When Wallace partnered with Zorbit Resources for a turnkey solution, Scott Oshry, EVP branding and design for Zorbit, says they decided to use big sister Bailey’s logo on the bottles. “This rooted the brand in reality,” says Oshry. “[It’s a] very holistic concept with the different age and product ranges for each girl and her drawings, etc.”

Prior to this line, says Oshry, most cosmetics for girls this age were treated more like toys. “Blossom is real, high-quality formulations, providing products that kids really need, such as moisturizers and SPF,” says Oshry. “The packaging,” he says, “ is fun for pre-teens, but appeals to parents as being authentic personal care items.”

Urban Decay's Commando Lip Gloss provides military authenticity with a feminine edge.

When it came to the shape of the bottles, Zorbit went with a square. “Not only is the shape more interesting,” says Oshry, “but it provides four distinctive panels to highlight special features such as the girls’ artwork.”

Sophisticated Consumers

Relating to both the package and the product has always been key in the cosmetics industry, but this generation is pushing marketers to new grounds. According to IRI’s Rowinski, “Teens have come to expect a level of quality, innovation, and media that is so much more than previous generations. They have seen so much and the tech age we live in provides instantaneous news and information on the Web and with friends. It seems to take a lot more to impress them and hold their attention. But when they love something, it is a positive livewire like no other.”

Portability Carries with Teens

Rexam is one supplier that has “a good read” on the youth market—and Eric Desmaris, head of Rexam samplers, says the company has recently introduced a couple of fragrance items targeting this group. He says brands that appeal to teens no longer want a traditional pump, so Rexam has developed an all-plastic pump that comes in a multitude of colors. “The trend is toward plastic pumps in bright colors—not classical gold or silver—that are not available with metal pumps,” says Desmaris.

For Urban Decay's Survival Kit, HCT Packaging used a paper compact with a lenticular, 3D design on front.

To accommodate teens always on-the-go, Rexam’s Sof’Cell sampler transforms fragrances into wearable fashion accessories. Desmaris says Rexam developed the package specifically for teen brands, because young people attach everything to their cellphone (or purse or backpack). The innovative perfume spray sampler can also be sold in shops as a mini package. “Young people switch quickly,” says Desmaris, “and may be more interested in purchasing a 2-, 3- or 5ml package rather than a 50ml one.”

Nomadic and Customized

Portability, with pocket- and handbag-friendly products is also a trend in package development at HCT Packaging, which creates much of the packaging for Hard Candy and Urban Decay, both popular brands among teens. According to Rebecca Goswell, HCT’s group creative director, recyclability and customization are also of utmost importance to teens.

“Teens are very much connected with the principle of protecting the environment,” says Goswell. “So, whilst the majority of the population will be keen to buy into PLA and biopolymers, the youth will be questioning the effects of this on a social and economical level, and may wish to follow the trend of using recycled materials, refillable packaging and recyclable containers that can be fed into the domestic recycling system in the near future.”

Goswell says that HCT is already working on the next generation of packaging, which features concepts manufactured theoretically from PETG (a material with ECOCERT approval).

“Snap-ins is also an important trend for us,” says Goswell, who explains that HCT has been working with Bobbi Brown to develop its new generation of packaging, which offers total flexibility to mix and match custom collections in varying-sized compacts—adding longevity to the items as well. “While this is obviously a high-end makeup artist launch,” notes Goswell, “the concept will filter down to mass and more teen-oriented brands in time.”

Another method of customization that HCT is working on is taking a basic component and snapping lids and bases in a similar way to cellphones. “It’s a way to update your compact whilst at the same time creating your own specific aesthetic,” says Goswell.

Products with clever application systems that give the user an added benefit are also big at HCT.

Urban Decay’s Commando Lip Gloss “dog tag,” for example, developed by HCT, is clever in both its styling and its packaging—and is designed to reach across a wide market range. The component is manufactured using Zamac (zinc, aluminium, magnesium and copper), which provides a weighty, premium feel and finish. The concept was inspired by military dog tags, providing a sense of “authenticity with a unique and urban edge.”

Like Rexam’s Sof’Cel, the dog tag is wearable or can be attached to a purse or backpack for easy accessibility anywhere.

Urban Decay’s Survival Kit uses HCT’s special lenticular printing method to achieve holographic 3D images of florals and birds. It’s an intriguing case that makes consumers want to show it to their friends. And that, says IRI’s Rowinski, is crucial. “The key with teens,” she says, “is marketing the ‘social and fun’ factor into the communication with the brand.”

Role Reversal

In a cosmetics world with blurred age lines, “fun” graphics can play a role in attracting unexpected consumers. Body America, a new mass market organics bath and body brand from Delon Labs, targets the 30-50-year-old range, but when it appeared on shelves, not only did it draw unexpected teen demand, it prompted Delon to develop a whole new line, designed specifically for tweens.

Body Buzz products, expected to premier in July, draw on the success of Body America, but are tailored to tweens’ wallets, coming in at a price point under $5. Signage will teach girls about the benefits of organics, and packaging will have a’70s feel, with a “purple and blue tie-dye psychedelic motif,” said Swift.

Body America’s appealing images, which feature Americana and pin-up girls from the 1940s, along with product names that reference the states, such as New York Cheesecake and Vermont VaVaVoom, have played a key role in the brand’s popularity across age groups.

“We were surprised to see the strong attraction teens are having to the [Body America] brand,” says Swift, who is even receiving requests for T-shirts and other wearable items—and hearing from consumers who buy products just for decorative touches around the house. “We are finding customers attracted to and buying this product tend to start around 17 and go all the way up to 60. We believe (and are hoping it plays out long term) that this brand transcends generational preferences.”