Susan Dunn, chief revenue officer at NielsenIQ05.24.21
This is Part 2 in a series. Read Part 1.
When it comes to beauty and skin care, consumers aren’t the only ones who face a myriad of choices. Beauty brands also face important decisions, particularly around manufacturing their products and positioning themselves within the crowded marketplace. In the face of so many options, it turns out that less may actually be more.
Increasingly, beauty brands are forgoing swanky skincare products in favor of pared-down and minimalist packaging. Retail industry trends behind this shift reveal a secret branding weapon for skincare: Clinical packaging has become a tool for brands to strategically assert their authority. Skincare brands are banking on the trust consumers place in their dermatologists and aestheticians, and are packaging their products to emulate the look and feel of that trusted medical care.
Using packaging to aid brand authority isn’t a new concept but it has recently become more common. Clinique pioneered the trend years ago, embodying the clinical feel from the Clinique name itself and the beauty counters full of medicinal-looking products to the beauty consultants dressed in lab coats. More recently, brands like The Ordinary have been the trendsetters, designing products with medical droppers and trumpeting personalized regimens with clinical formulations.
Other brands have gone all in to align with medicine and reflect their association with the dermatology field. Cerave is a prime example. The Byzzer platform, powered by NielsenIQ CPG data, shows Cerave, whose tagline is “developed with dermatologists,” is No. 1 in the facial care and treatments category for sales, sales growth and sales per point of distribution. La Roche-Posay, which touts a commitment “to making dermatological skincare accessible,” is No. 5 in the same category.
Brands still need to differentiate themselves in order to earn consumer trust and gain loyalty, but today, clever brands are finding new ways to achieve this. The appearance of their packaging seems to be the secret weapon.
About the Author
Susan Dunn is the chief revenue officer at NielsenIQ. She has over 30 years of CPG industry experience and is particularly passionate about data and analytics for emerging brands. As part of her role, she oversees Byzzer, a self-serve e-commerce platform for SMBs that is powered by NielsenIQ retail and consumer data.
When it comes to beauty and skin care, consumers aren’t the only ones who face a myriad of choices. Beauty brands also face important decisions, particularly around manufacturing their products and positioning themselves within the crowded marketplace. In the face of so many options, it turns out that less may actually be more.
Increasingly, beauty brands are forgoing swanky skincare products in favor of pared-down and minimalist packaging. Retail industry trends behind this shift reveal a secret branding weapon for skincare: Clinical packaging has become a tool for brands to strategically assert their authority. Skincare brands are banking on the trust consumers place in their dermatologists and aestheticians, and are packaging their products to emulate the look and feel of that trusted medical care.
Using packaging to aid brand authority isn’t a new concept but it has recently become more common. Clinique pioneered the trend years ago, embodying the clinical feel from the Clinique name itself and the beauty counters full of medicinal-looking products to the beauty consultants dressed in lab coats. More recently, brands like The Ordinary have been the trendsetters, designing products with medical droppers and trumpeting personalized regimens with clinical formulations.
Other brands have gone all in to align with medicine and reflect their association with the dermatology field. Cerave is a prime example. The Byzzer platform, powered by NielsenIQ CPG data, shows Cerave, whose tagline is “developed with dermatologists,” is No. 1 in the facial care and treatments category for sales, sales growth and sales per point of distribution. La Roche-Posay, which touts a commitment “to making dermatological skincare accessible,” is No. 5 in the same category.
Brands still need to differentiate themselves in order to earn consumer trust and gain loyalty, but today, clever brands are finding new ways to achieve this. The appearance of their packaging seems to be the secret weapon.
About the Author
Susan Dunn is the chief revenue officer at NielsenIQ. She has over 30 years of CPG industry experience and is particularly passionate about data and analytics for emerging brands. As part of her role, she oversees Byzzer, a self-serve e-commerce platform for SMBs that is powered by NielsenIQ retail and consumer data.
