the skin you’re in with ageless beauty Aging doesn’t have to be scary. Honor by Birchbox makes the maturing process liberating and easy to manage this Fall 2016 season.
By Ivonne Rivas" YMA Scholarship Fund Competition 2016" Birchbox Honor
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HONOR | BIRCHBOX Those who have came across their monthly box samples through Birchbox can associate
the passion and drive the company has for their subscribers. Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna launched Birchbox in 2010. Their mission is to help women “cut through the clutter” of the beauty world to find products that work for them. They target both men and women between the ages of 18 to 39 whose annual income is thirty-five to fifty thousand, enjoy a healthy lifestyle, and keep up with their appearance. The customer base of this Omni channel retailing company is fifty-seven percent millennials and sixty-two percent consumers who are influenced by social cause marketing within different platforms. Each month subscribers receive a selection of five samples from both well-known brands and emerging ones. BirchBox’s weakness is that they have not yet capitalized on the strong recognition of their brand to develop private labels that cannot be found at their competitors. Increasing BirchBox’s offering through private labels will not only gain profit, but also sustain the company’s marketing objectives and open the door to a different demographic in their industry. "
Figure 1: SWOT Analysis
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Honor, by Birchbox, is a line of anti-aging skin products produced in an ethical and sustainable manner that target the mature female consumer. Products aim to correct unwanted skin irregularities encountered over the years. Aging doesn’t have to be scary and it can actually be quite liberating for those who learned how to manage it. Honor’s slogan is “Celebrate the skin you are in”. By introducing Honor, Birchbox gains competitive advantage over Sephora and Ulta, beauty industry retailers that do not yet have a private label anti-aging line. These competitors carry a wide variety of brand name items, private label products, promotions, and reward cards. They have benefited from Birchbox’s sample subscriptions. Ulta has seen a 5 percent increase in sales, and Sephora a six percent increase, for products that have been distributed in BirchBox sample boxes. The flow of consumers to other retailers represent a treat for Birchbox that could be increasing its revenue through the sale of full size products from their own website. Honor would not be found at Sephora or Ulta, since Birchbox privately owns it. Having exclusive brands and private label represents the key opportunity for Birchbox. This will draw in consumers to the Birchbox sales website and brick and mortar locations. The Birchbox flagship store is currently located in Soho, New York. They offer four-thousand square feet of salon services, personal consultations, how-to seminars on makeup and beauty, a “Try Bar,” twothousand products for purchase, and the option to build one’s own box in-store for just fifteen dollars (RetailDIVE). The company also has a location in Georgetown, as a partnership with Rent the Runway, that focus on samples of products for the female customer. In October, Birchbox staged pop-up shops in Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles, promising the city that gained the highest in-person turnout a permanent Birchbox location in 2016.
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Before the rise of e-commerce, shoppers mostly acquired their samples of makeup and skin care on the beauty floors of department stores. Honor by Birchbox will be present at traditional cosmetic settings as counters in leading department stores like Macy’s, Belk and Dillard’s, since the mature audience for Honor already shops at those retailers. In addition, to reach a broader age group, Honor will also be featured along other Birchbox brands at pop-up stores. The company has also partnered with Gap Inc. to launch Birchbox pop-ups inside seven stores in New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Besides its presence in the brick and mortar locations, Honor will be heavily promoted on the Birchbox website and box subscription. Birchbox’s website is divided in three channels: a subscription service, original editorial content, and an online shop. These methods offer consumers a unique and personalized way to discover ways of learning to shop the best beauty and lifestyle products on the market, as well as offering tips on better grooming habits. Honor will be launched in September 2016 with the inclusion of one Honor sample in the regular Birchbox subscription. During the months of October, November and December, consumers will have the option to order theme boxes of exclusively Honor products for themselves or as holiday gifts. Honor by Birchbox will launch their first private label app called Honor for Android and IPhone users. This app will help subscribers who are on the go to navigate at anytime. Features on the app will include helpful tips users can browse, such as a personalized feed of articles, videos, and product recommendations based on their profile. The app also serves as a convenient tool for managing a subscribers account, allowing them to browse a full list of their past boxes and buy full-size versions of their go-to samples. This app will channel a timesaving interface
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that helps them discover Honor by Birchbox products with a few quick taps. The product line includes a serum, a face cream, a lip balm, and a moisturizer. These products will help combat wrinkles, sunspots, age spots and loose skin. Honor products are ethically sourced through fair trade. They are eco-friendly because they harvest from sustainable resources using natural ingredients to perform on the toughest skin problems consumers face when aging. Honor by Birchbox embeds sustainable consumption at each stage of the product life cycle. This involves the integration of ethical policies and advanced research in the selection of new ingredients and the development of eco-design. If the product does not satisfy the clients’ needs, Birchbox guarantees refunding. Starting September 2016 Honor ads will be featured at New York City bus stops. A comprehensive direct mail ad will be included in the September Birchbox subscriptions along with one sample item. Magazine ads will be featured in the September issues of Oprah Magazine, Harpers Bazaar, and Bust and Shape. Additionally, ads will circulate in social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Future brand extensions for Honor will include targeted demographics geared with capturing a younger consumer, educating them to the long-term benefits of proper skin-care. In addition, a line targeting men and their oftenneglected skin will increase the reach of the brand. In conclusion, Honor by Birchbox fulfills the company’s objectives to convert existing casual subscribers into loyal shoppers all while maintaining an ongoing relationship. Expansion within Birchbox’s Omni-channel retailing creates new storefront design, point-of-purchase displays and a mobile app that offers ease of use as well as meaningful information. Through ethical positioning, marketing and performance Honor by Birchbox is poised to become the leading skin-care brand that customers can trust.
References
Bhasin, K. (2015, June 10). Beauty Startup Birchbox Is Boosting the Sales of Competitors. Bloomberg Business. Retrieved November 2, 2015, from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-10/beauty-startup-birchbox-is boosting-the-sales-of-competitors.
Dunn, L. (2014, September 12). Women in Business: Q&A with Hayley Barna & Katia Beauchamp,Birchbox Co-Founders and Co-CEOs. . In HuffPost. Retrieved November 2, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-dunn/women-in-business-qa with_b_5811374.html?utm_hp_ref=business&ir=Business. Gopa, S. (2015, June 4). Birchbox Opens In Gap Stores. In Power Retail. Retrieved November 2, 2015, from http://www.powerretail.com.au/multichannel/birch Murphy, I. P. (2015, August 5). Birchbox is boosting competitors' sales—for now. In RetailDIVE. Retrieved November 2, 2015, from http://www.retaildive.com/news/birchbox-is-boosting- competitors-salesfornow/403369/.box-opens-in-gap-stores/. Snow, Shane. How Startup Birchbox Uses Content To Sell Tons of Beauty Supplies. Contently.Net, 1 Aug. 2011. Web. 21 Sept. 2015. Path http://contently.com/strategisthttp://contently.com/strategist/2011/08/01/howstartup-birchbox-uses-content-to-sell-tons-of-beauty-supplies/. Struck, H. (2014, March 24). Are Cosmetic Subscription Services Worth It?. In BILLFOLD. Retrieved November 2, 2015, from http://thebillfold.com/2014/03/are-cosmeticsubscription-services-worth-it/.
Inspiration // Mood Board
Package // Product Line
the skin you’re in with ageless beauty
Above: in-store signing for" Flagship Store
Advertisement on a Mobile App for IPhone and Android
New York City Bus" Stop Advertisement
Online Promotion on Birchbox Homepage
Magazine Spread " (Oprah Magazine," Harpers Bazaar" ,Bust and Shape)"
Direct Mail Advertisement
AGELESS
BEAUTY
HAS ARRIVED
" Ageless Face Cream: " Clinically proven to reduce visible signs of aging." "
Ageless Serum: " Contains proteins that will de-puff eyes in about ten minutes."
" Ageless Lip Rejuvenation: " Long Lasting lip balm that contains SPF for protection.
Ageless Luminous Finish: Offers glowing coverage and a featherweight texture, " this multitasking cream doubles as a daily sunscreen and dark-spot fader."
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