Fashion Marketing & Branding Stage 2 - Dissertation: BU by Jennifer Claire

BU .

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JENNIFER CLAIRE PEEDLE n0576765 fa s h i o n m a r k e t i n g & b r a n d i n g fmbr30001 s t r at e g i c & c r E at i v e s o l u t i o n s wo r D C O U N T : 7 , 9 7 5 ( e x c l u d i n g q u o t e s , ta b l e s a n d r e f e r e n c e s )

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE INSIGHTS P R OV I D E D F R O M I N D U S T RY P R O F E S S I O NA L S & R E S E A R C H PA R T I C I PA N T S F O R T H E D E V E L O P M E N T THROUGHOUT OF THIS MODULE.

Research Project Declaration:

This submission is the result of my own work. All help and advice other than that received from tutors has been acknowledged and primary and secondary sources of information have been properly attributed. Should this statement prove to be untrue, I recognise the right and duty of the board of examiners to recommend what action should be taken in line with the Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s regulations on assessment contained in its handbook.

Signed: Date:

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1 INTRODUCTION - 3 RATIONALE - 4 AIMS & OBJECTIVES - 6 METHODOLOGY - 7-8 RESEARCH ADVANTAGES & LIMITATIONS - 9-10

THE BIG IDEA OBJECTIVE BRAND DNA 7Pâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S - 50 THE CONSUME

market overview - 20-22 market drivers - 23-24 ANSOFF/ TOWS - 25-26 PESTEL - 27-28 competitor analysis - 29-33 PORTERS 5 FORCES - 34

2 stage 1 - 13 Key insights - 14 opportunity - 15-17 the problem - 18

MARKETING OBJE DRIP/AIDA MODE OFFLINE MARKET ONLINE MARKETI INFLUENCERS BRAND ACTIVATI MARKETING PL MARKETING BUD

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7 SOURCING CAPITAL - 125 START UP COSTS - 126 SUBSCRIPTION FORECAST - 127-128 CLICK-THROUGH FORECAST - 129-130 CASH FLOW - 131 PROFIT AND LOSS - 132

IDEA - 36-49 CTIVES - 42 DNA - 43-49 S - 50-68 SUMER - 69-80

OPERATIONS TIMELINE - 133-134

STRATEGY OVERVIEW - 116 INCUBATION PHASE - 117-118 B2C & B2B - 119-120 RISK ASSESSMENT - 122

OBJECTIVES - 82 MODELS - 83-84 ARKETING -85-88 RKETING - 89-100 NCERS - 101-109 TIVATION - 110-111 ING PLAN - 113 NG BUDGET - 114

8 KPIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S - 136 FUTURE GROWTH - 137 - 138 OBJECTIVE REVIEW - 139 CONCLUSION - 140

INSIGHTS

â&#x20AC;&#x153;In 2018, skincare is a serious business. Long gone are the days when women blindly bought whatever product someone behind a counter told them to, and instead, a new era of Intelligence, transparency and information has arrived.â&#x20AC;? (REFINERY29, 2018)

INTRODUCTION

The beauty industry is seeing a significant shift of millennials towards ‘ethical living’, with consumers left ‘greenwashed’ by mass beauty companies within the current beauty market. From this, consumers demands for further transparency and ethical brands are on the rise, presenting an attractive means for indie brands to become more promoted within market. Due to many of these brands lacking in brand awareness and financial abilities to dominate, there is a strong opportunity for a cleanbeauty focused marketplace to connect consumers and indie brands together in order to meet the growing desires of an ethical-savvy audience. BU will be introduced as a solution for consumers to make informed choices about products they want to know about through an immersive and personalised platform. The book ‘Future Perfect’ (Davis, 1997) identifies mass customisation as ‘the process of delivering wide-market goods and services that are modified to satisfy a specific customer need’, allowing consumers to co-create with BU through unique personalisation of their values and needs. Meeting consumer personalisation through BU’s concept allows users to selfoptimise in the interests of sustainability within their beauty routines, therefore providing consumers with a viable means to exploit personal beauty needs. With the advancement of technology and consumer buying efforts beginning to lean towards a more sustainable approach, consumers expectations have posed the opportunity for brands to meet their needs in regard to their sustainable efforts. Consumers are heavily influenced by industry trends in a collectivist sense, therefore BU aims to work with influencers and consumers towards optimising their needs and desires, providing a successful destination of personalised beauty that meets their desirable sustainable efforts.

rationale fig 2

This report builds upon initial findings to bridge the gap between growing consumer demand for clean beauty and accessibility of these indie brands, providing a new business opportunity within the market: BU.The value of the business will be to influence consumers towards discovering a new approach to beauty through a unique personalised application, thus, responding to consumers’ desires for transparency within the market. BU aims to change the direction of consumers’ purchasing habits towards a more truthful way of shopping within the ‘not so honest’ toxic beauty market. This will be achieved through targeting impressionable millennial audiences through engaging brand ambassadors combined with an innovative marketing strategy and launch.

With technology imposing on brands and marketing today, consumers crave to bring humanity back towards an increasingly impersonal world and increasingly impersonal shopping experienceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (George, 2016)

A I M s

objectives AIM: To create an innovative, inspirational and interactive marketplace that allows users to explore their identity through beauty brands and unique profile; 1. To become the marketplace leader in clean beauty focused commerce by 2022; 2. To create a visually influencing and professional iOS MVP application, business model and marketing strategy that is ethically educational and engaging; 3. To further explore the changing beauty attitudes of the millennial generation in order to create a relevant and aspirational business venture; 4. To communicate BUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brand message and values through a visually immersive marketing and communication strategy;

ONLINE SURVEY 160 PARTICIPANTS

To gather consumer perceptions of beauty brands, HOW they value them and ABOUT their purchasing habits, including opinions on the concept idea.

BRAND FOCUS GROUP (AGES: 20-22) 5 PARTICIPANTS

TO GAIN VALIDATION FROM THE MILLENNIAL TARGET MARKET CONCERNING THE BRAND CONCEPT, SUITABILITY OF INFLUENCERS FOR BRAND MARKETING and branding materials.

MARKET FOCUS GROUP

TO UNDERSTAND OPINIONS OF THE NATURAL BEAUTY MARKET FROM MILLENNIALS AND TO DISCOVER THE APPROPRIATION OF BU IN RELEVANCE FOR THIS CONSUMER GROUP.

(AGES: 20-22 ) 5 PARTICIPANTS

INSTAGRAM POLL (187 RESPONDENTS)

ONE-ON-ONE INDUSTRY INTERVIEW WITH LACED AGENCY e-mail interview WITH SEEN CONNECTS author of ‘MAKE INSTAGRAM YOUR BUSINESS’

e-mail interview with SAGE&STARS

e-mail interview with IVORY GLOSS

INSTAGRAM POLLS WERE CONDUCTED TO VIEW HOW THE MILLENNIAL AUDIENCE RESPONDS TO THE VISUAL LOGO. THE HYPOTHESIS WAS TO UNDERSTAND HOW POSITIVELY MILLENNIALS WOULD ENGAGE WITH THE BRAND’S VISUALS.

TO GAIN FEEDBACK FROM AN INDUSTRY PROFESSIONAL ON THE BRAND CONCEPT and TO UNDERSTAND LOGISTICS OF USING LACED AGENCY as an INCUBATION PHASE. how influencers will be approached and contracted to bu’s marketing campaigns was also discussed to gain approval of brand representation as influencers, initial concept testing and understanding their interest for the brand in relation to communications with their followers

To understand a competitor’s business strategy, finances and perceptions of bu in terms of the subscription box feature in relevancy to the market.

To gain a wider understanding of the market environment and external factors which effect the business environment of bu and confirmation of strategic decisions, as well as the relevancy of business models.

primary

(quantitative)

primary

(quantitative)

primary

(quantitative)

primary

(quantitative)

primary

(qualitative)

primary

(qualitative)

primary

(qualitative)

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primary

(qualitative)

secondary

(qualitative & quantitative)

research ADVANTAGES & limitations

Conducting this type of research was relevant in order to reach similar millennial respondents as the brand’s target market. Numerous questions asked within the survey enabled quick feedback, allowing simple quantification and provided flexibility in data analysis. Despite closed-ended questions having a lower validity rate than those open-ended they allowed for quicker comparisons.

Qualitative research conducted can be empirically measured to gain a more authentic argument and perception. Primary research allowed for current opinions to be discovered that are not available through secondary methods. Using a mixed method approach, it is important to consider if these different methods reflect alike epistemological results and whether all sources reflect validity and value in creating an ethical, all rounded approach throughout to verify this report upon.

SECONDARY RESEARCH: Published research is more accessible and reliable as it has been gathered by industry specialists with participants being within large sample sizes, being more representative. It is important to take into consideration that market reports (such as MINTEL) from previous years may not be entirely representative of this year’s current market/ trends, as the nature of the beauty market is constantly prone to innovation.

FOCUS GROUPS: This effectively collected new, millennial-relevant information through an interactive session, allowing tailored questions to be asked particular to the research as well as being able to ad-lib questions if needed. However, if there is a persuasive leader in group conversations this can alter the opinions of participants and make it problematic to receive accurate data.

Quantitative primary research has closed this gap through first handed explorations into consumer reactions, opinions and experiences with beauty brands to build upon relevant discussions throughout the report.

ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEWS: The method used offered more detailed and rich findings on such issues including attitudes and brand perceptions. It gathered in-depth information and allowed for clarification on uncertain topics to be extensively answered if required. With a more personalised approach, a rapport was built with respondents, which allowed for honest answers with opportunity to probe for further questions. With the possibility of potentially bias results, answers would be difficult to analyse and quantify, as well as being time-consuming.

E-MAIL INTERVIEWS: There is more convenience offered to e-mail interview participants as they are less likely to be available for immediate response. This is a fast and convenient method of research as it has lower chances of participants being misquoted. This can, however, lose the continuous conversation of other methods as it deprives the interviewer of the sensory advantages in other interview styles. ‘Sceptics say it eliminates the candour, spontaneity and natural dialogue that make for engaging conversations and compelling stories’ (AJR,

qualitative

quantitative

ONLINE SURVEY:

A range of relevant mixed research methods, both primary and secondary, have been covered in order to achieve the objectives mentioned on page 6 and to provide relevant market research that uniforms the millennial-driven brand. Given the newness of the clean beauty market, data collected has the potential to be outdated by the time the concept is ready to launch, therefore changing market conditions and consistent consumer testing must be monitored to ensure methodology stays relevant. Conducting a comprehensive research methodology provides this report with a robust foundation for BU to become a relevant concept to market to millennials within the market.

GENERATION

2 IDEA

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STAGE 1 REFLECTION:

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The focus of stage 1 thoroughly explored the ideology of how consumer identity is being used as a tool to be sold by beauty brands via aspirational communications. It highlighted the shift that brands have taken from materialism towards emotionalism, providing success in consumers’ sense of mutual purpose and belonging with a brand. Millennial’s are ‘tired of big brands pushing down aspirational images and want brands to really reflect who they are’ (FIT, 2017). Research revealed that ‘56% purchase beauty products to express who they are’. As beauty brands and their consumers are now harmonising towards a similar view of personal development, the element of personalisation allows these consumers to develop their own identity, values and self-concepts that are true to themselves within the brands they purchase. This foundation explains how beauty brands are to play an influential role in consumer lives, as consumers ‘view their favourite brands as an extension of their own identities’. With evidence that traditional ways of thinking do not relate to millennials anymore, the rise and attraction of ‘indie’ brands entering the beauty market suggests that millennials are resonating more effectively with these brands values rather than outdated mainstream brands. This has provided an opportunity for indie brands to harness both the individuality and personalisation aspects of their millennial consumers in a collective vision as a sure business venture.

Consumers are subconsciously purchasing beauty products that reflect their values, aspirations & emotions

KEY BEAUTY BRANDS ARE BECOMING AN INSPIRATION FOR CONSUMERS TO BASE THEIR IDENTITY UPON

INSIGHTS THE RISE OF CO-CREATION ALLOWS CONSUMERS TO ENGAGE WITH BRANDS EMOTIONALLY RATHER THAN JUST A FUNCTIONAL PRODUCT THEY OWN, GIVING A SENSE OF BELONGING TO CONSUMERS.

THE OPPORTUNITY

market drivers INDIE BRANDS PERSONALISATION ETHICAL BEAUTY CONVENIENCE CONSUMERS E-COMMERCE BEAUTY WELLNESS

consumer behaviours

PERSONALISED BEAUTY CONVENIENCE BEAUTY

CHANGING ATTITUDES VEGAN BEAUTY CONSCIENTIOUS CONSUMER

CONNECTED LIVING SHOPPABLE ETHICAL PLATFORMS INFLUENCE OF INDIE BRANDS INNOVATION

PRODUCT TRANSPARENCY SOCIAL COMMERCE REVIEW CULTURE FEMALE EMPOWERMENT

INFLUENCERS

SUBSCRIPTION BEAUTY

MINIMALISM

The exploration into how consumers are offered to simply ‘purchase’ identities within the beauty industry (highlighted in Stage 1), specifies the need for personalisation within consumers’ beauty routines.

‘Do you purchase products that are ethical or natural? If not, would a beauty concept that allows you to personalise brands towards your values help change your view on shopping for beauty products?’

With the rising perceptions towards clean beauty, 53% of respondents in a survey from NIELSEN (2015), felt that ‘all-natural’ was an important buzzword in their shopping habits today. This is vital in deciding the effectiveness of combining ethical brands and consumers together with the opportunity to further the influence of consumer personalisation innovating the clean beauty industry. With these rising indie brands not gaining the exposure they deserve, creating a platform for indie clean beauty brands to thrive will provide a more authentic representation of the beauty market.

Appendix 1.3 “Yes 100% I absolutely love this idea! There’s a huge gap in the market for sustainable and ethical products, it’s a big shame they’re barely emphasised within the beauty brands I know!”

‘In 2018, skincare is a serious business. Long gone are the days when women blindly bought whatever product someone behind a counter told them to, and instead, a new era of intelligence, transparency and information has arrived.’

“Yes I do, particularly skincare as I like to know what I’m putting on my face. But yes I think that would be an amazing concept as nothing like this has been done yet! It would definitely make me more open to trying new brands if there was an option to.”

- REFINERY29 (2018)

“Now and then I will do some research into brands and what they stand for, to see if there are any I could invest into on a later date – so this concept would be something I would definitely try out as a way to save me time and help to become more sustainable.”

The aim of BU is to transpose the existing market of personalised beauty into one that meets developing societal changes and puts the emphasis on clean beauty instead. Engagement with consumer-centred focus groups of millennials (aged 20-22) in aim to solidify the attractiveness of the business concept, provided an authentic validation of a brand for users to optimise their sustainability efforts within their beauty purchases. With 88.5% of survey respondents agreeing with the concept, (see Appendix 1.1), the finalisation of the idea was formed: a clean beauty marketplace that provides users with maximum personalisation in discovering new ethical-led beauty brands.

“I try to purchase ethical products where advertised as I live a fast paced lifestyle and don’t have time to scout around for products that are just ethical. However, I feel good about myself for purchasing ethically, this concept sounds the perfect route to a more ethical lifestyle.”

“WHAT WOULD YOU I M P R OV E I N T H E BEAUTY INDUSTRY I F YO U C O U L D ? ” “The availability of CERTAIN brands”

“HONESTY FROM INFLUENCERS!”

“easier access to reviews”

“less paid beauty blogging so honesty prevails”

“educated on whether brands test on animals”

“would like more samples of brands”

“prettier, cleaner looking packaging”

“MORE ADVERTISING ON SOCIAL PLATFORMS”

“DIVERSITY OF BRANDS USED IN BEAUTY VIDEOS”

APPENDIX 1.1

THE PROBLEM THE LACK OF TRANSPARENCY ‘PEOPLE INCREASINGLY QUESTION WHAT IS REAL AND WHAT IS NOT.’ - Pine, The Experience Economy, 1999 With a considerable amount of Millennials seeking a transition towards shopping for clean beauty, this evolution has majorly stemmed from an issue in false brand transparency. With all participants within a focus group (see Appendix 1.3) agreeing they should be more aware of negative factors within their favourite beauty brands, one participant said ‘I purchase brands sometimes without knowing their full ethical brand context and I feel disappointed in supporting them’. This supports the view that consumers want to know the extent of what is in their products or how they’re made. There is a high level of confusion within the beauty industry, with consumers finding it difficult to know how truly organic or ethical a brand actually is, due to a lack of accreditation in brand advertising. Research suggests millennials see through celebrity endorsements and Youtube Vloggers (Atherton, cited in Drapers Online, 2016). The FTC is ‘cracking down on deceptive endorsements by internet influencers’ (BOF, 2016) in order for reviews to remain transparent to viewers. However, the legal introduction of displaying #AD on influencer posts ‘often reduces the perceived value and authenticity of the post’ (Frier, cited in Bloomberg 2017). A statement from MINTEL (2017) concludes that ‘61% of people say that finding out a brand they use has unethical practices would influence them to stop using it’. The increase of ‘greenwashing’, where brands are claiming a false description of products, calls for a greater desire for transparency within beauty products, thereby posing an opportunity for brands to highlight their ethical credentials towards a market with high levels of distrust. ADWEEK (2017) cites the work of Jensen (2017), stating: ‘Consumer demand for transparency in various forms, from ingredients to pricing, have given rise to brands that communicate directly with consumers through social media instead of traditional marketing methods. Brands that embrace the demand, communicate authentically and see the fundamental shifting are winning share and the consumer.’With consumers losing trust in the majority of influencers due to their paid, untruthful ads, the solution lies within brands communicating with their consumers in a more transparent way, such as through crowd-led feedback, to ensure a truthful loop between both ends.

‘When it comes to my beauty routine, I don’t think I’m doing as much as i could due to the fact that a lack of transparency from brands and companies means that i DON’T IMMEDIATELY KNOW MUCH ABOUT HOW GOOD OR ETHICAL THE brands are without doing the research myself’ (Appendix 1.3)

market analysis

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OVERVIEW

73%

OF PEOPLE FIND IT DIFFICULT To KNOW HOW ETHICAL A BRAND Is. (MINTEL, 2017)

The word ‘ethical’ is used freely within the beauty industry, however, consumers are facing the backlash of greenwashing due to the lack of regulation of ingredients advertised to them. Millennials today, as ‘skintellectuals’, want more awareness and promotion of ethical brands in result of this influence. In a focus group surrounding concepts within the current beauty market, one mentioned ‘I struggle knowing what specific brands are ethical, with more promotion of ethical brands, I can be aware and adapt my purchasing habits towards something more sustainable’ (see Appendix 1.3). However, with NPD (New Product Development) growing in the natural/ organic sector now focusing on ingredient and ethical claims rather than stereotypical beauty claims, consumers are moving towards these as convincing substitutes. In relation to the business’ USP of educating its consumers towards how clean brands really are, BU needs to highlight this to consumers as a solution to their difficulties of sourcing ethical beauty. On the other hand, data from MINTEL (2017) found ‘20% of people agree that natural/ organic toiletries are not as effective as regular toiletries’ however, BU seeks to combat this with genuine reviews from consumer-led feedback in order to provide users with maximum honesty. Brand greenwashing is an increasing issue with a lack of regulation to combat it. If BU consumers are paying a premium for a brand, shopped within the app, BU is responsible for ensuring that the B2C channels are strictly clear in ethical transparency. According to The Good Shopping Guide (2017), ‘A lack of proper regulation means a product can be called ‘natural’ even if it contains as little as 1% natural ingredients. Big cosmetic firms love to use this word on their products but most skincare creams use synthetic chemicals, some of which are potentially toxic’. BU needs to drive a strict level of detail to ensure consumers are not only purchasing, but being educated by the effects of toxic ingredients within their purchases to become successful. The seven conglomerate beauty brands consisting of 182 beauty companies controlling the mass beauty market (shown in Appendix 2.14) are largely responsible for advertising the way beauty is marketed to consumers. Despite the comparison in business sizes, BU aims to spark a change in the industry in order to combat the cause of greenwashing in the industry.

natural beauty market fig 6

New innovation within the market will potentially increase its growth, now that digital beauty, bloggers and millennials have all shifted towards a realm of exploring new niche brands. The label attached with natural brands is that they are viewed as being ‘trustworthy’, ‘alleviating consumer concerns about unfamiliar ingredients, thus, driving the overall growth of the natural and organic personal care market’ (Persistence Market Research, 2016). This echoed a similar view from the focus group (see Appendix 1.3) that ethical brands are seen as more trustworthy: ‘I feel like they care about values and morals and therefore their customers too’ being labelled as ‘caring’ and ‘honest’. Increasing spending capacity of consumers on premium indie products are ‘driving overall growth of the global natural and organic personal care products market’ (Persistence Market Research, 2016). ‘With traditional make-up down by 1.3% in 2016 and independent brands up by 42.7%’ (Forbes, 2017), the make-up industry has seen a vast shift towards consumers searching for indie brands, ‘steeply rising to success from internet comments, showing that this market is growing faster than the beauty industry overall’ (WGSN, 2017). The foremost reason for the growth of indie brands is due to a change in consumer aspirations which brands are now having to respond to.

According to MINTEL (2017) ‘the UK beauty market is valued at £5.1 billion, soon to reach £6 billion in 2022’. Skincare is currently the top spending sector in the global organic beauty market, ‘growing to be the most attractive segment in 2024 with a share of 30.9%, meaning it will form close to 1/3 of the total global organic beauty market.’ With increasing popularity and consumer preference towards online retail for purchasing cosmetics, ‘the global natural and organic market is expected to witness significant growth and maintain a longterm positive outlook’ (Formula Botanica, 2017). The growth of this segment is driven by the demand for clean label products combined with changing attitudes towards organic personal care, with consumers ‘now discovering the benefits of sustainable and high-quality ingredients on their skin’ (Grand View Research, 2018). The growth of the natural beauty market has opened up opportunities for brands to champion the trend of ‘healthy hybrids’ (WGSN, 2018) driven by complex consumer skincare routines which is boosting the beauty market value. ‘Consumer spending has rapidly increased within this market by 2.8% in 2017’ (MINTEL, 2018).

app market The total app download statistics for 2017 are £197 billion with a projection to stretch to £352 billion by 2021 (Business of Apps, 2018). ‘There will be a growing spend per device for apps in mature markets such as the UK, increasing to £25.65 by 2022’ (App Annie, 2018). With a healthy market that is on the financial rise, incorporating BU’s business model within the app market will not only benefit consumer convenience, but impact positively on the future growth of the company. ‘As 1/5 of millennials say they open any app more than 50 times a day’ (The Manifest, 2018) and ‘1/4 of them devoting 30 hours a week to their smartphones’, they also spend ‘25% of their average weekly disposable income on mobile purchases’ (Research Now, 2016). The success of curation-based subscription boxes (see Appendix 2.8) are centred around online customers’ demand for personalised, highquality experiences, which BU aims to provide. ‘55% of subscriptions are curation-based, making this category the most dominant in the 2018 subscription economy’ (Forbes, 2018). Research from McKinsey (2018) indicated that ‘25% of curation subscribers found trying something new was the most important trigger when initiating the subscription, followed by being recommended by someone’ (See Appendix 2.12). With the introduction of Instagram Tap-Shop as an example of personalised shopping integrating itself with the social media world, this is becoming an easier way for the consumer to purchase with minimal click-through’s from social media sites. Insights from Tech Crunch, 2016, shows that ‘62% of users will use an app less than 11 times’ adding ‘this is not a sustainable business model’, however user retention has seen a slight increase from ‘34 percent in 2015 to 38 percent in 2016’.

. ‘Millennials delete apps because they don’t like the look of some logos on their home screen, being judged on how it looks on someone’s smartphone screen. Any app that doesn’t meet this bar could get relegated to the trash bin’ (Comscore, 2017)

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market drivers

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‘SKINTELLECTUALS’ IMPACT Inge (cited in Refinery29, 2018) explains: ‘We are entering an age of ‘Skintellectualism’ whereby consumers are adopting a much more investigative approach to their routines and educating themselves about the best ingredients for every stage.’ ‘As consumers develop more understanding of issues such as sustainability, authenticity and transparency’, Euromonitor views this change in consumer attitudes as ‘New Consumerism’ where consumers are reassessing their priorities and asking themselves what they truly value (BOF, 2016). The rise of this conscientious consumer has fuelled the growth of the indie beauty brand revolution from making purchasing decisions on ethical values they hold dear. This generates a high demand for ethical brands as a result of changing consumption behaviour.

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY IMPACT

The introduction of the growing demand for ‘try before you buy’ services are creating a limitless opportunity for brands to connect with their consumers with ‘57% said they would be likely to try this type of service’ (Metapack, 2017). BU will harness this trend, creating a subscription box as part of its brand extension. This will creatively approach this market by addressing the need to try new products, in order to seamlessly integrate within BU’s concept.

INDUSTRY FEEDBACK Founder of subscription competitor Stars & Sage, (Appendix 1.6) says ‘working with indie and organic beauty brands is a sound interpretation of the current consumer trends in the industry. Consumers are more aware, informed and demanding than ever and will make sure that not only are the products they purchase compliant with their rising ethical standards, but also the company that sells them has the right values’. This level of transparency, proximity and flexibility is more easily offered by smaller indie brands that are born from these very trends and needs. ‘Consequently, bigger and more established brands that have always dominated the market, but were slower to anticipate these trends, are now losing market share to indie companies’.

NEW MARKETS

EXISTING MARKETS

aNSOFF MATRIX EXISTING PRODUCTS

NEW PRODUCTS

MARKET PENETRATION

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

MARKET DEVELOPMENT

DIVERSIFICATION

BU falls into ‘Market Penetration’, applying a growth strategy where the business will focus on selling existing products into the existing market of beauty. This will create more resources for personal selling and will increase the volume of sales of existing products found in the indie market. It relies heavily on innovative marketing techniques to gain attention and to expand sales of stocked brands. Although the safest of all 4 sectors, BU needs to analyse new entrants across all areas, including taking on board those entering the product development sector in order to remain innovative and competitive. This informed the route for innovation ideas to be focused around niche brands to differentiate more within the already saturated beauty market.

O W

A N A L Y S I S

WEAKNESSES

STRENGTHS

- Evidence of gap in the market - Solves the issue of ethical transparency within the beauty market - USP of personalisation has the ability to appeal to a mass market - First marketplace dedicated to promoting ethical beauty brands - Seamless brand identity and immersive marketing stategy and easily recognisable

- Pressure to compete against larger online retailers in expansive market - Initial consumer trust in the brand could lead to a slow progression of the brand’s loyal following - Low brand awareness

OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

- Diversify into promoting other beauty sectors e.g. haircare

- Competitors dominating in both subscription and beauty marketplaces within growing saturated market of clean beauty

- Create collaborations with ethical brands and expand influencer base into diverse audiences - New technologies and AI improvements to remain innovative and relevant - Monopolise on consumer attitudes towards sustainability - Brand activations to secure influencers interest and passion towards representing the brand for more realistic and honest PR content.

S/O Strategy BU’s strength of educating its consumers towards a more sustainable lifestyle of beauty, aims to solve the controversy of ethical transparency and allow users to make a change towards being more sustainable. To optimise this potential, BU can engage in further political topics to represent the consumer holistically. This could include collaborating with ethical activists/ hosting and attending PR events using the brand image and personality to empower and raise awareness of the rise of clean beauty.

W/O Strategy To minimise the pressure of being a new market entrant with low brand awareness, focusing on brand values matching up to the consumers’ expectations and creating an effective launch campaign will drive traffic. Creating a brand activation through Laced Agency will professionalise the brand, heighten awareness and secure brand ambassaddors to drive consumer downloads.

- Start-up team small for fast expansion (6 employees)

- If partnership brands drop out - New market entrants that could imitate idea or existing beauty marketplaces emphasising on clean beauty stockists and marketing - Changing consumer trends

S/T Strategy With a strong brand personality and values resonating with consumers, BU has the strength to attract loyal like-minded consumers, however the threat of new entrants or existing marketplaces capitalising on ethical beauty could steal BU’s success. Focusing on niche brands that would be a risk for bigger companies financially could lead to long-term loyalty with BU from growing simultaneously with the brands success. Strong e-commerce and online platforms will ensure that if a key supplier is unreliable, it will not affect the business. Once established, BU will be the goto app for browsing/ purchasing clean beauty.

W/T Strategy Weaknesses of BU having low brand awareness during start-up could remain a risk for the brand in terms of consumers from bigger beauty marketplaces being driven by new ethical campaigns. BU needs to ensure their target market is exposed enough to ensure they are captured into supporting and understanding the brands USP before the market diversifies into a similar sector, Promotional influencers and content needs to be large in order to gain short-term loyalty of a portion of the target audience.

A TOWS Matrix is crucial in classifying the relevant framework for that BU could pursue towards maximising its opportunities and minimising potential threats for the future. The business has an already attractive market with a large opportunity for exploitation regarding the niche of clean beauty stockists. With the risk of bigger brands dominating BU’s concept, this can be reduced by securing strong and genuine connections for the supply chain in order to gain advantage over suppliers.

P O L I T I C A L

E C O N O M I C A L

S O C I A L

‘Labour participation rates and average wages ,relative to the national average, are markedly lower today among 16-24 year olds than they were 10 years ago’ (BLS, 2016), meaning a potentially lower disposable income for young millennials. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect on 25 May 2018 to strengthen the protection of personal data of individuals residing in the EU (see Appendix 2.5). It also ‘modernises and unifies rules allowing businesses to reduce red tape and to benefit from greater consumer trust’ (Eur-lex, 2018). If not complied with, BU could be fined up to £20m. Due to BU’s engagement with consumer databases, GDPR needs to be strictly enforced whilst operating heavily within the influence industry, in order to obtain consent from app users. The Brexit vote has meant little change in consumer lifestyles and with the exit edging closer with rising levels of inflation, consumer confidence has been impacted negatively. ‘With the high price positioning of products in the natural and organic sector, the decline in consumer confidence could see people changing to lower-priced alternatives’ (MINTEL, 2017).

Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances states that ‘millennials are less inclined to have credit card debt’ (Federal Reserve, 2017), meaning they may be more financially vulnerable than other generations. However their money doesn’t stretch as far, limiting their disposable income to spend on luxury goods, which may potentially affect BU’s target audience with a negative effect. Consumer spending on apps in 2017 ‘reached £15 billion, increasing to £18.4 billion in 2018, representing a 22% increase including in-app subscriptions’ (App Business, 2018). This supports the attractive markets for both subscription boxes and in-app purchasing to be successful and provide more revenue from consumers. ‘Mobile commerce is expected to have the biggest average annual growth rate at 39%. The app economy will be worth $6 trillion in 5 years due to mobile commerce. Purchases of goods and services through mobile apps represented 90% of the total app economy in 2016’ (Recode, 2017). With a strong percentage from the US market showing the success of mobile commerce through apps, it is likely this will be a similar reflection in the UK market.

‘The average millennial is saddled with more than £37,000 in student loan debt, forcing recent graduates to move back home to save money, potentially missing out on other opportunities’ (FORBES, 2017).This statistic could be a major factor in deterring millennials from using the app, due to heavy debt. Despite being the largest generation in the workforce today, ‘average millennial salaries are disproportionately low compared to the national average and are 20% lower than baby boomers’ salaries when they were the same age’ (FORBES, 2017). This could give way to the market of baby boomers entering as a secondary consumer group of the business due to their attractiveness in terms of potential revenue.

‘More apps have been downloaded than ever before in 2018, and more money has been spent on them, 22% more than last year, with 10% more apps being downloaded’ (App Annie, 2018). This poses a convincing market for the future success of BU in which to operate. ‘From September 2017, there has been a significant increase in iPhone app downloads for the top ranking apps by “Augmented Reality” app store search’ (App Annie, 2018). Despite this being an expensive tool, this shows large consumer interest for the adoption of AI features to be incorporated within applications.

‘In June 2017, Apple and Google announced updates to the iOS App Store and Google Play aimed to alleviate this issue of app discovery through app curation and editorial content’ (App Annie, 2018). These enhancements will help BU to become more discoverable with improved SEOs to appeal to a larger audience.

E C H N O L O G Y

1,300 substances are completely banned from use in cosmetics’ included in the EU Cosmetics Regulation. ‘A more recent set of regulations called REACH puts further regulations on the use of more than 500 toxic ingredients’ (Beauty By Earth, 2017). As BU’s business model aims to exclude brands with harmful or toxic ingredients, this will not primarily affect he business, however it may encourage potential consumers to discover clean beauty alternatives.

Ingredient sourcing is a major concern, especially for partnered brands focusing on natural products. ‘Weather, soil, wind, and other factors can make working with raw, natural ingredients difficult. Popular beauty ingredients such as jojoba oil, rosehip oil, and others have faced global crop shortages, putting brands that rely on those ingredients at risk’ (CB Insights, 2018). This could negatively affect brand availabilities on the app due to production shortages from suppliers due to seasonal shortages. UK demand for fruit increased by 27% last year alone, prompting accusations that growers are illegally diverting rivers and leaving locals without water (The Guardian, 2018). This could act as a risk with other ingredients within the beauty industry, creating a potential shortage for ingredients.

N V I R O N M E N T

‘In May 2017, the Personal Care Products Safety Act would give the FDA more power to regulate ingredients and ban toxins in cosmetics and personal care products ‘(Refinery29, 2017). This law promoting transparency in the industry at large means the FDA will provide more authority over applying this as a safety rule. This would affect BU’s choices whilst establishing relationships with brands in order to keep the brands strong values untampered with.

‘California recently introduced a bill dubbed the California Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act that would forbid importing any animal-tested cosmetics brands into the state after 2020’ (Allure, 2018). This is a major eco-friendly beauty move to potentially encourage other countries to inforce this law too, the more ethically sourced brands within the market, the wider opportunity BU has to include them within the brand.

‘Instagram has rolled out paid partnerships to ensure influencers are clearly indicating when content is paid for to reduce transparency to users’ (Instagram Business, 2017). This will affect the transparency of BU’s social influencer marketing in displaying when content is paid for.

E G A L

app competitor analysis

fig 21

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fig 13 fig 20

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fig 14 fig 12

fig 9

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fig 11

fig 10

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fig 17

The use of a Competitive Universe Analysis provides a visualisation of where BU sits in relation to its target audience, as well as visualising BUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s differentiation and core business focus. As the business does not have any direct competitors, however its level 1 competitors offer a similar service within a similar geographic market space and have potential to adopt similar strategies as BUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in the future. Apps such as Think Dirty are capitalising on product ethicality within the beauty industry already, allowing users to scan products to immediately see how toxic or non-toxic they are. It is important to acknowledge level 2 competitors such as Beauty Bay, Cult Beauty and YouTube as they heavily dominate the same millennial audience as BU, with many already very loyal to these shopping platforms. Beauty Bayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new marketing strategy involving brand ambassadors to promote their products poses both success and competition in the influencer marketing industry, as BU follows a similar marketing strategy.

BRAND / APP RATING

5 STAR

PRODUCT / SERVICE ‘Haul your beauty hit list, build a must-have wish lish and check out your recently viewed items with ease’

‘Shop for amazing makeup, hair and skincare products, read reviews covering your favourite brands and new product releases to find the best makeup’

5 STAR

4.6 STAR

4.5 STAR

‘Master every essential makeup how-to with easy lessons on your own selfie, personalised to your unique features’

‘Open and supportive community where real people are helping each other discover better beauty products. We created Veleza because we want to help everyone feel beautiful’ ‘Social beauty app that you can share and discover thousands of beauty tips, tutorials and much more by connecting with beauty bloggers, experts and lovers’

CONSUMER NEEDS MET

Demand for availability of brands Aspirational Marketing Fast shipping for instant gratification

Quick communication with on-hand customer service Engagement through tutorials

AI allowing maximum personalisation from selfies

Need for social interaction through social conversations in app

Need for connectivity through user interaction of tutorials and chat rooms

STRENGTHS

WEAKNESSES

Market leader in beauty, large database of products and consumers, works heavily with consumer input

Limited features, only a shopping platform with huge competition. Can’t see product reviews on items which could deter users

Multi-media channels to communicate directly with other users on the forum, innovative tips from user-to-user interaction

Wide scope of user generated content isn’t always professional and reflects that of a chat room with a lack of structure and professionalism

Successful Lack of user personalisation in connection with use with AI features, allows users to also other users, this app offers a single use shop through the app

Personalisation within the app including product recommendations from skin type etc

Not well established within the beauty community, core focus is only on consumer recommendations

Meets consumer needs of the desire for connectivity through social app

Not well established on the app market, lack of social media advertisement has lead it to have a small consumer database

Exploring key competitors further has provided a more vigorous understanding of the market. As all competitors offer a variation of the features that BU aims to incorporate into its concept, none offer an exact replication of BU’s social commerce business model. This poses a gap in the beauty market for a single app that combines all features of competitors in one, giving consumers a holistic instant gratification that these separate apps do not offer. From analysing how well competitors meet the needs of their consumers, strong needs for noticing options for shopping clean beauty have not been met, showing a strong basis for market entry. With a high rating of 5 for a beauty related app, Map My Beauty’s use of AI indicates the vast consumer uptake of AI technology. However, this highlights a threat of moving into a saturated market against Beauty Bay and Cult Beauty, in which if they integrate similar AI features, could potentially acquire BU’s app concept and dominate the market share.t share.

subscription box competitor analysis high disposable income

fig 38

fig 37 fig 24 fig 36

fig 35 fig 34

BIG BRANDS

INDIE BRANDS

fig 25

PREMIUM fig 26 fig 28 fig 27

fig 29

fig 30

STANDARD

fig 31

fig 32

LOW disposable income

fig 33

The chosen market is highly competitive, therefore is important to assess BU’s market position both in terms of apps and subscription services to create a holistic overview for the business model. Subscription box competitors were mapped to identify a unique gap for BU’s subscription box service, measuring uniqueness of contents by their price points. With BU’s standard box retailing at £9.99 and BU’s premium box at £19.99, this satisfies consumers at both ends of the financial spectrum in reference to consumer income expenditure. Brands such as POWDER provide wealthy consumers with luxury beauty contents retailing for £55 will unlikely pose threat to BU’s target audience of millennials. With the rise of subscription beauty, the market is soon to be overcrowded, exaggerating the USP of BU will differentiate the market in terms of indie, clean beauty contents, making BU desirable to the early adopter subscription consumer. Despite the over-saturation of the market, BU has a strong differentiation: focusing solely on authentic, clean beauty. Unlike its’ competitors. BU promotes exposure to smaller indie brands which provides a strong USP for consumers.

n i c h e competitors

fig 39

STARS & SAGE 3-6 products monthly box skincare | bath | meditation randomised Cruelty-free | natural 25-45

IVORY GLOSS ÂŁ28.50 + free p&p 4-5 products monthly box spirituality | luxury wellness randomised age 20-35

2018 start-up subscription box brands Stars & Sage and Ivory Gloss were interviewed in comparison to BUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s similar start-up strategy and success (see Appendices 1.6 and 1.7). With both companies niche and consumer driven offering products not already in the subscription market, it is important to closely monitor both brands in terms of potential competition and their weaknesses/ strengths within the indie subscription market to act upon similar failures or successes. fig 40

PORTERS 5 FORCES competitive rivalry

With the rapid growth of the clean beauty market appealing to millennials, the market has little competitive rivalry as BU does not have a direct competitor in terms of its USP and services. With BU offering a strong brand identity, values and concept, competitive rivalry remains low, however, transparency remains an issue within the industry. BU will offer consumers the ability to purchase their values, whereas other competitiors do not focus on the niche effect of values or emotions of their consumers.

SUPPLIER POWER BU’s app has no direct competitors, however, in terms of subscription boxes, competition is relatively high, with competitor prices ranging from £9.99 - £55. This opens up the opportunity to exploit the middle market of midpremium contents in order to offer an affordable yet luxury alternative to the top end scale of subscription boxes, appealing to those who want to gift themselves monthly in terms of self-care and to boost their mood.

BUYER POWER

THREAT OF NEW ENTRANT

THREAT OF SUBSTITUTION

Given the saturation of the beauty market, the threat of a new entrant is likely in terms of innovation within the industry. BU will be the first dedicated clean beauty supplier operating within the beauty app industry, therefore establishing strong relationships with new and existing brands in order to gain loyalty. It will pose as a threat to start-ups adopting a similar concept making it harder for brands to connect with already contracted suppliers from BU.

BU isn’t the first beauty brand to promote clean beauty, but it aims to be the first marketplace dedicated to clean beauty and consumer discovery. The threat of substitution remains in the market, however, if secondary big brand competitors such as CultBeauty or BeautyBay revise their strategy towards including more indie/ ethical brands, BU will lose relevance within the clean beauty industry. Due to BU’s strong branding; the unique platform with integrated AI and loyal customer intentions, the user experience from BU cannot be substituted.

Buyers will have choice in terms of standard or premium subscription boxes in order to meet their big or small desires for beauty according to their interest. Millennials will not want to spend a large sum of their disposable income and therefore if BU ws pitched at even higher price points it would lose its price-concious consumers to cheaper alternative competitors

Porters 5 forces will be used as an analysis to explore the threat intensity from competitors. This showed BU in a strong position due to its niche product offering which differentiates from subscription competitors (such as Glossybox) as well as app competitors such as BeautyLish, which do not offer subscription services. Capitalising on BU’s USP will allow a strong competitive advantage and strong buying power as the only dedicated clean beauty subscription and marketplace brand that will be attractive to both suppliers and buyers.

4 T H E B R A N D

THE

BIG

IDEA

THE

BIG

IDEA:

STEP 1 Primary research interviewing millennials, subscription start up businesses and influencer agencies to gain advice on the concept/ problems in the market Secondary research of the clean beauty and app markets to analyse existing landscape and potential opportunities for a clean beauty focused venture

STEP 2 Sources of research supported the need for transparency within the market and how consumers do not trust brands and influencers that are not authentic

STEP 3 Consumer testing of the app concept proved positive as it filled the need for transparency and innovation in the beauty market

STEP 4 Seen Connects and Laced Agency highlighted the importance of microinfluencers in promoting the brand as BUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main marketing strategy in order to stay relevant to its heavily influenced, millennial audience

STEP 5 Leading to the creation of the latest clean beauty marketplace app: BU

Stage 1 research suggests that consumers want to improve their spending habits towards purchasing products that truly reflect their identity, however, there is a lack of direction for these consumers seeking a switch to a more sustainable beauty routine. ‘Consumers are choosing to buy products that are aligned with their values. They want to know the origins of their products, what the environmental impact is and who they are buying from’ (HAPPI, 2018).The demand for clean ingredients is driving the growth of the beauty market, with primary research for the report highlighting the need for transparency and innovation. The creation of BU realised the potential for niche, ethical-driven brands to become mainstream, acting as a platform for such brands to increase their exposure and distribution. In the fast-paced world of beauty where consumers are craving for brand authenticity, the ability of indie brands to connect with consumers on a personal level will be adopted within BU’s B2B values to ensure the marketplace remains credible. ‘It’s time to make way for a new wave of beauty. BU is the latest social clean beauty marketplace designed for millennials, that combines ‘U’, influencers and brands together in discovering the latest indie brands. We believe the beauty market is rapidly morphing into a realm of newness and ethical stability, and we want you to be part of it.We’re here to act as your sensible best friend to hook you up with the latest clean brands as soon as they hit the market. Create a unique ‘BU-ty profile’ that allows you to rate, share and purchase brands that hold the same honest values as you do. Discover the latest brands, shown in your tailored news feed through AI algorithms in reflection of your profile preferences. Gone are the days of endlessly scrolling to find products that don’t meet your ethical standards or what we call ‘dirty products’, allowing you to filter out what matters to U.’ Survey respondents (Appendix 1.1) scored an average of 4.5 when asked how easy they find the process of finding a review to sourcing a product, showing lack of seamless integration from purchase intention to a finalised purchase. Aiming to solve the issue of user discovery within the beauty world, BU seeks to bridge the gap between ethicality and beauty together within a fully personalised and unique platform to inspire you to switch to a more sustainable lifestyle, starting with beauty. BU benefits to both brands and influencers through awareness and to the millennial consumer by providing a purpose through an interactive platform that encourages identity and expression. Brands included within BU will work on a click-through basis until established relationships and sufficient financial investment allows brands to be purchased directly within an reputable app. The introduction of the BU Subscription Box will allow consumers to directly discover and engage with brands as physical feature to solve the issue of unfamiliarity with indie brands and to potentially create relationships with brands to heighten purchase intentions through B2C incentives. Brand ambassadors communicate brand values by reinforcing authenticity and furthering engagement with the millennial target audience online.

put the ‘u’ i

â&#x20AC;&#x2122; in beauty fig 2

fig 41

objectives - To create a profitable platform from the first year of business as well as heightened brand awareness to achieve a minimum of 8,000 users at the end of the first year; - To create established brand partnerships with 25 brands within the first year; - To sell a minimum of 1,000 subscription boxes within the first year; - To gain a following of 25,000 Instagram followers within the first year; - To secure and contract 4 brand ambassadors to extensively promote BU to market the brand in the first year.

VISION fig 2

To create a new meaning and approach towards shopping for clean beauty, recognising consumers efforts towards aspiring to improve their sustainability and providing them with a platform to achieve this.

MISSION fig 2

BU is committed to a single objective: allowing consumers to seek and shop clean beauty with total transparency. BU wants users to feel empowered through a new way of personalising the way they want to shop for beauty, encouraging them to discover brands that match their exact ‘clean’ values. BU wants to change the sustainability of everyone’s beauty routine, one download at a time.

VALUES fig 2

HONESTY

BU is honest with users and only work with brands that are honest with us too.BU seeks to teach users the brands that aren’t afraid to show their ingredient list, making for true brand connections. Reviews from users fuel the conversations within BU towards real recommendations from real people.

DISCOVER

We believe there is no ‘one size fits all’ beauty routine, which is why BU takes a consumer-led approach through content and brands that create conversation and new inspiration.

SUPPORT

BU’s USP focuses on supporting smaller indie brands as the next predicted route for clean beauty to differenciate ourselves from competitors and within the market.

ESSENCE An innovative beauty marketplace that combines honesty with personalisation through showcasing the latest indie brands

personality Social | Fresh | Inspiring | Honest

promise To only provide users with brands and content that meet their preferences and reflect their values, whilst inspiring those to shop beauty more cleanly

emotional reward BU allows users to be part of a growing community of other like-minded brands and users that secures a sense of purpose through reviews and online engagement. It allows consumers to feel selfactualisation by ensuring their aspirational values are reflected in products suited to their individual preferences, also improving confidence to make a change. BU subscription boxes allow users to feel emotionally rewarded through the anticipation of discovering new products and being gifted.

functional benefits Motivational tool to inspire consumers to support indie brands and their rise to success. Provides maxmium convenience towards millennials by being a portable on-the-go app Chernatory, (2001)

BRAND PYRAMID

120 x 120

official logo

colour palette

alternate logo

frontage outline

sub mark

fonts

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

didot regular

ABCDEFGHIJKLMN OPQRSTUVWXYZ

style inspirations

patterns

BU was inspired by representing the phrase ‘Be You’ in a unique and urban way that is clear and simplified to fit the app interface icon. An Instagram poll was conducted to a sizeable millennial audience (found in Appendix 1.8) which received 187 respondents with 62% favouring option 1, however in the focus group a mixture of the two prototypes had the most appeal to millennials. ‘21% of millennials deleted an app because they didn’t like how it looked on their homescreen’ (Appendix 2.13), therefore the finalised master logo combines simplicity with the bold, maintaining the strong ‘millennial pink’ theme that is the golden thread throughout the brand. It is important that the logo visually appealed to our target market as the initial engagement with the brand in a focus group, participants expressed an interest towards the femininity and pleasing aesthetics of the icon provoking a positive emotion of the logo. (Appendix: 1.2) ‘I think the name is really innovative, I like the idea that it includes personalisation in the logo so you know it must centre around that’ as another participant recognised ‘the play on BU as Be You?’. Testing these perceptions ensured the logo was informative and easy to understand. BU’s master logo will be displayed on all communication channels, advertisements and promotional material, whilst alternative logos will be used to create more visual interest with consumers and to add different dimensions for a more cohesive brand identity.

fig 9 APPENDIX 1.8

‘Omg it’s so cute! I love how pink it is, it would always remind me to click on it to use the app too as its bold so wouldn’t get lost amongst my other app logos!’

‘It’s really bold, which is good because it catches my eye and would look really cute on my screen.’

This is so pretty. I love when brands are pink and girly, it makes me attracted to click on it and use it’

APPENDIX 1.2

I’m obsessed with making my home screen colour coordinated and a lot of the apps I use are really boring to look at, therefore a beauty app that I feel like I would use as well as keep on my homepage is a win win for me.

‘This will definitely be my favourite looking app on my home screen if this was real’

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BUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s is adhering to communicating its core values centred around empowering its consumer, delivered through an engaging community of like-minded millennial users. Bold and modern means of representing these values visually are chosen in order to gain the most interest, being the voice of those who want to be part of BU for the same reasons as the brand exists. Despite promoting clean beauty, consumers respond well to quotation imagery, which can also act as an inspirational brand to follow on social media platforms,giving consumers the ability to re-post and connect with the brands values. A coherent bold brand tone of voice will inform users of the brand personality taking a literal bold approach towards changing the beauty industry in a way that resonates fashionably with millennials.

fig 44

a u t h e n t i c r e a l

c o n v e r sat i o n a l

i n f o r m at i v e

voice

EMPOWERING

B O L D

tone

I N S P I R I N G

product 48.3% of survey respondents (see Appendix 1.1) felt ‘they would like to be more informed about what is happening in the beauty industry’. BU aims to solve this issue through an informative online marketplace, providing new product inspirations and the latest news in indie beauty through an AIembedded iOS application. The unique use of AI technology allows users to experience the core element of mass personalisation, vital in suggesting appropriate brands in response to users profile values. BU meets the social demands of users via a social commerce strategy, allowing interactions from users to generate conversation through user reviews, comments and recent activity. This aims to harmonise the brands strong consumer-led community USP of providing a sense of purpose and continual awareness within the BU community. For B2B, the product is the consumer databases created from the app that can be accessed in order to see the click through rates of BU users in terms of unique product engagement rates, informative for the business to base their sales upon. Participants in research, featured in Appendix 1.2, expressed: ‘There needs to be more awareness around ethical beauty products as I am interested in these types of brands but struggle to find and shop them’, enforcing the need for more discovery of brands. ‘It would be nice to see products before purchasing as I would be unfamiliar with most of the indie brands on the market’.

fig 46

bu box 7

‘100% said they would be

interested in the concept of BU’ appendix 1.2

A secondary feature of the app and main revenue opportunity, is promoting BU’s unique subscription box service, an appropriate solution to seamlessly merge the discovery elements both online and offline to optimise brand engagement. ‘Subscription e-commerce services offer these consumers’ a convenient, personalized, and, often lower-cost way to buy what they want and need’ (Mckinsey, 2018). Boxes will be delivered when the consumer chooses, 3-5 days from when the order is placed with payment features such as PayPal will be used to manage finances securely. The purposefulness of the box aims to create emotional gratification to consumers whilst penetrating the emotional benefits within the self-gifting industry. BU boxes will change contents monthly based on a user’s most interacted with brands to reward consumers for browsing. This differs from competitors as the use of AI gives consumers relevant brands they have reacted with, with a participant of a focus group adding ‘If they were tailored to my interests I’d be more interested as GlossyBox sometimes include products I may not be interested in or need’ (Appendix 1.2). See Appendix 2.4 for box mock-ups.

WHATS IN IT FOR U?

fig 48

GLOSSIER BIRTHDAY BALM DOTCOM £10

fig 49

JEFFREE STAR PANCAKES & SYRUP LIP SCRUB £12

WELCOME

atomosphere

touch & feel

Identification (Create profile for identification)

Engaging application layout

Information

Initiate a relationship (Explore BU intro)

Millennial Pink Interface Brand Values & Personality

Reviews Subscription Box Option

fig 50

KIEHLS LAVENDER GENTLY EXFOLIATING BODY SCRUB SOAP £12

advice

check-out

Needs & Habits Answers Personalisation Reviews Chatbot

Payment & Delivery Click-through to brand websites Subscription Box surveys

Using the Beauty Shopper’s point-of-sale journey (A.T. Kearney; Appendix 2.6), this highlights how each step is essential to maximizing the shopper’s experience and can gain consumer loyalty through social interaction and feedback.

prICE SUBSCRIPTION

CONTENTS 5 x travel size clean beauty products from AI selected brands

BE U BOX STANDARD £9.99

BE U BOX PREMIUM £19.99

1 x pack of promotional BU stickers 1 x beauty contents information leaflet

3 x travel size and 2 x full size clean beauty products from AI selected brands 1 x pack of promotional BU stickers 1 x beauty contents information leaflet

VALUE

Including 5 travel sizes within the standard box allows purchasers to try and test different indie brands, prompting consumers to purchase through the app after their successful involvement of a brand.

By introducing 3 travel size and 2 full size products in the box, it slows down the beauty discovery process enough for consumers to fully experience the benefits of the full-size product and develop a relationship with a specific indie brand

A mark-up price of 30% is included from the wholesale content box price of £7 to its retail price of £9.99 - see appendix 2.2 for price estimations. appendix 1.2

ALL 5 RESPONDENTS AGREED £9.99 WAS A SUITABLE PRICE FOR BU The BU iOS application will be free to download from the App Store as the majority of competitors offer a free download. BU will create revenue through users purchasing products through a click-through link in-app to gain 30% commission and/or through subscription BU Box sales.

process

aims of the bu app:

i n s p i r e e n ga g e convert b u i l d b r a n d l o ya lt y

c o n n e c t

USER JO STEP 1: simple loading interface that is sleek and modern THE BEA.U.TY app THATS ALL ABOUT U

save

profile:

TAP TO EDIT

first name:

Jennifer

last name:

Jones

e-mail:

Jenniferjones@example.co.uk

profile description:

Tell us more about you!

About u:

v VEGAN

STEP 2:

CRUELTY FREE

NATURAL INGREDIENTS

organic

paraben free

ff fragrance free

users can CREATE & PERSONALISE a UNIQUE PROFILE TO EXPLORE A SOCIAL NEWS FEED, INTERACT WITH BRANDS, PRODUCTS & OTHER USERS

recyclable hypoallergenic packaging

sensitive skin

toxin free

skin type: oily

normal

dry

combination

acne prone Hyperpigmentation

JOURNEY YO U R # S H E L F I E + FO L L O W

STEP 4: SHOP THE SHELF: CREATE AND VIEW OTHER USERS #SHELFIES TO DISCOVER THE LATEST PRODUCTS USERS ARE CURRENTLY LOVING ATM for user inspiration

@J E N N I F E R _ C LA I R E

£11.49

545 LIKES

£45

p r o d u ct s fo r u :

combination

discover the latest brands reccomended for u... sort by:

brands | products

HERBIVORE BOTANICALS

lanolips

HYDRATING FACIAL MIST £11.49

101 ointment

fig 52

£10.99

OUR FAVE

STEP 3: drifter organics

glow recipe

ambition body butter

watermelon glow juice £45.00

£32.50

girl undiscovered

dedcool

face mask

fragrance no.1

£32.50

£55.00

fig 46

LOVE, RATE & BROWSE THE LATEST PRODUCTS THAT MATCH the users’ values, enabling the app to be personalised to users

planet

brands list: ALIMA PURE BeautyBlender Commodity cocunat daytox Dedcool Drifter Organics Derma .E. Essentials Frank Body F. Miller Skincare Fresh Beauty Glow Recipe Glossier Girl Undiscovered Herbivore Botanicals Lanolips LAWLESS meant milk makeup moon juice Musq Cosmetics NU Evolution Onomie Beauty PACIFICA Pink Light Botanicals red earth Sailor by captain blankenship Solaris Soul Sunday Summerfridays REN Whitre & Elm

BU asks all brand partners to ensure ‘dirty’ chemicals are not in the products we promote in addition to chemicals banned or restricted in the UK (refer to pg. 27). As BU is responsible for ensuring these chemicals are prohibited in order to remain transparent, correlating with EWG ethical standards (Appendix 2.6) will certify this process. These brands will be sourced through PR events (See Chapter 6), selected uniquely through initial popularity on Instagram ratings. BU’s B2B benefit as a retailer will bring value to indie brands by providing true economic empowerment and recognition to the niche market. An average number of 6 brands were recognised by millennial recipients in focus group (Appendix 1.3), meaning there is an opportunity for BU’s subscription service and app for enticing consumers to try new brands that will maximise long-term engagement. Once BU’s MVP stage app has completed funding in year 1 to encompass these brands, BU app users will be able to use click-through’s to the brand websites, which will work on a 30% commission fee basis.

HERBIVORE B O TA N I C A L S

Indie brands are well known for promoting their products as an aspirational goal through aesthetically pleasing packaging being a ‘must have’ product. They focus heavily around creating an attractive Instagram feed and pretty packaging in order to be celebrated and shared by millennials, presenting an opportunity for BU to work with popular brands that appeal to this modern consumer. It is important that BU partners with brands that truly reflect the same essence of the brand in order to maintain brand consistency. As a marketplace, brands are the main content of the app therefore standards to achieve brand consistency must be in place to embody brand values and transparency as the selling point of the app. Herbivore botanicals is an example of a brand that truly represents everything BU as a brand stands for, visually and morally. “We bring you products that are safe, non-toxic and highly effective. We believe in tangible results you can see and feel, we believe in the power of nature to bring these results.” - Herbivore Botanicals

fig 53

THE DIRTY LIST To ensure BU acts upon our values to consumers and brands, BU’s ‘Dirty List’ educates consumers through a comprehensive list of chemicals NOT on our #shelfies:

ANIMAL BY-PRODUCTS (VEGAN) BHT (BUTYLATED HYDROXYTOLUENE) CHEMICAL SUNSCREENS EDTA ETHANOLAMINES ETHOXYLATED INGREDIENTS FORMALDEHYDE HYDROQUINONE METHOXYETHANOL NANOPARTICLES PARABENS PETROLATUM & PARAFFIN PHTHALATES RESORCINOL TOLUENE TOXINS TRICLOSAN & TRICLOCARBAN

place In substantiation of the app market explored on pg. 22, BU will monetise its platforms on millennial appropriate means such as iOS and Instagram to sync the theme of accessibility within its app. BU will go through a beta testing phase as an important part of the launch process in order to test technology flaws such as AI features before launching officially. This provides an opportunity for limited new BU users to test and trial the app and kick-start the consumer database before releasing it publicly on the App Store, providing valuable feedback for improvements. Laced Agencyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s partner Roller Agency will be funded from initial capital towards creating an MVP app to perfect the app before launch. It is important for BU to consider entering the Android market in its launch strategy as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;there are now 2 billion monthly active Android users globallyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (FORBES, 2017) in attracting the maximum millennial audiences.

promotion

Millennials today are being targeted by mass brands within the saturated market of beauty, therefore BU needs to be engaging enough in order to stand out in its expansive market. BU will focus heavily on advertising promotional content and imagery, PR and a strong online and offline presence to generate initial brand awareness. Effective and relate-able millennial-targeted promotion is essential for the success of the brand in order to achieve maximum exposure, online brand presence and gain competitive advantage to secure downloads. To meet the report aim ‘To communicate BU’s brand message and values through a visually immersive marketing and communication strategy’, this will be met with developing an exciting and appropriate promotions strategy to captivate and retain initial engagement. As millennials are hugely contributing to the success of the indie beauty industry, a brand that ‘clearly meets its promises and lives up to ‘social media hype’ will become more important than ever’ (RACKED, 2016). The aims of BU’s promotions are to create a conversation within the beauty world, whilst reading as authentic and to build a new innovative social community movement.

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ai Incorporating AI (artificial intelligence) within BUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interface can increase the chances of app sales and conversion rates. Shopping tracker technologies are a technical way to integrate personalisation, showing the best products to users each month in reaction of their profile activity. In return, ROI on future investment will be higher, asking consumers for detailed consumer profiles such as skin type, questionnaires and likes. Mentioned in Appendix 1.4, Laced Agency highlighted the need for upcoming apps to include AI in order to take a stronger competitive advantage. AI will show personalised brands that meet exact preferences for users through intelligent algorithms, making the beauty product life-cycle more personalised and efficient.

people

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“The brands of the future will be based on belonging and community,” They want brands as a peer. They’re choosing [the] inclusive. They’re choosing nice. They’re choosing real” (Glossier, 2018)

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