In this essay I am focusing on ‘The investigation into the marketing of beauty’ and hope to test and prove my hypothesis by the research sources I have collected.

I hypothesised that the marketing of beauty contains many factors to sell their products effectively, including advertising, product design and packaging and use the social of media while considering the target audience as an important factor.

Marketing involves a range of different strategies with marketing experts highlighting the importance of advertisement strategies which work effectively for different target audiences. “Advertising is paid for ‘above line’ promotional activity using the media.” (Gray, 2000, Page 97) Easey stated “The best marketing plans and activities can be easily and quickly undermined by changes in the economy or in competitors actions.” (Easey, 2009, Page 6) This quote by Easey explains the best marketing plans and how they can be adapted by changes in the economy or competitors, giving detail and proof that having a marketing strategy is very important for advertising products.

It is important to use the right advertisement medium depending on the target audience. For example, brands targeted at an older audience (Such as No.7 and L’Oreal)  would be less likely to advertise via social media platforms and may be more likely to advertise via TV adverts or radio broadcast as the popular choice of medium for an older audience would be something they are more likely to use such as the television. Whereas, brands aimed at a younger audience such as Benefit and Too Faced (With Benefit’s core customers being ages 20-45) (2016) are more likely to advertise across social media websites where a younger audience is more likely to be active and see the advert. “Marketing is about selling by promoting the right product at the right price in the right place.” (Gray, 2000, Page 2) and retailers use a range of different advertisement techniques to be able to differ from their competition and sell their product/s efficiently. “Retailers assemble a range of goods and services for a target market using their strengths to differentiate from the competition. They provide place utility in that they are convenient to find and purchase goods.” (Gray, 2000, Page 83) Some companies may use popular advertisement options such as TV and newspapers as they may have advantages over newer techniques, such as social media,  depending on the target audience of the products. For example, “The advantage with using newspapers and magazines is that they have high coverage, making up the largest group of media in the UK.” (Gray, 2000, Page 99)  These quotes supported my hypothesis by agreeing with the idea that brands and companies use a range of advertisement techniques depending on the best method at the current type and target audience.

Additionally, I found as technology becomes more advance, marketers are finding newer and more effective ways to advertise products with Coppinger proclaiming “There are many proven benefits that come from taking beauty brands ads and marketing into the 21st century.” (2016) For example, social media has become a huge advertisement platform for many brands that wish to reach a larger audience as people are using the internet and social media websites now more than ever. (Number of social network users online: 2.34 billion) (2016) With Coppinger supporting my statement”A recent article from Business of Fashion detailed how a lot of beauty brands are moving away from traditional advertising and increasingly adopting more modern techniques. Their new strategies range from working with social media influences to showcasing content in digital marketing campaigns.” (2016)

Brands are also able to determine when and which websites to advertise on according to the demographics of the website. For example, beauty companies may use Youtube to advertise their products or brand as a large demographic of the website is female with thousands of Youtube channels being based on beauty and lifestyle which stereotypically, will appeal more to females. Brands may also ask youtubers to sponsor their products in order to sell to a demographic most likely to buy their product instead of a different form of advertisement which may not reach their demographic or gain their interest. It is also much cheaper for brands to be able to pay a youtuber to sponsor a product than make their own advertisement video for TV or create billboards. “Consumer content is less expensive and more trustworthy than brand-produced content, and social media influencers are, well, influencing consumers now more than ever.” (2016) I believe the research I found on this topic supports my initial hypothesis as I believed brands would use different types of advertisement that would work most effectively for their target audience such as beauty brands using social media to advertise their products/company as this is the most cost efficient way of reaching their target audience the most effectively.

Furthermore, marketing includes focusing on factors which will help to sell the product. This includes a large focus on packaging with the designs reflecting the quality, price point and target audience of a product as well as the colour scheme. “The graphics affect the consumer’s perception of the product at least as much as the colour of the package.” (2016) For example, a more colourful packaging may represent the product being cheaper and targeted at a younger audience with the colours representing energy and excitement whereas a more block-coloured packaging, typically dark-coloured, is usually made for an older audience to represent maturity and sophistication. The colour of packaging can also be important. For example, Heinz’s use of a turquoise label for it’s baked beans emphasises the orange colour of the beans when the can is opened.” (Blythe, 2000, Page 131)

To Conclude, I have found from my research that advertisement plays a large role in the marketing of beauty and is the most effective way of selling a product. Because of the advancement in technology in the 21st century, social media also plays a large role in marketing beauty products with companies being able to reach out to their audiences and are able to interact with them now more than ever to achieve a product their audience will like. And lastly, with packaging playing a large part of attracting customers to their product and attracted the right suited audience for the product displayed.

Bibliography:

Acedemic

Gray, T, 2000, 1st Edition, Marketing, Heinemann

Mortimer, R, Brooks, G, Smith, C, Hiam, A, 2012, 3rd Edition, Marketing For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Easey, M, 2009, 3rd Edition, Fashion Marketing, Wiley-Blackwell

Blythe, J, 2000, 1st Edition, Marketing Communications, Pearson Education Limited, Page

Cultural

Coppinger, K, 2016, Beauty Brands & Digital Marketing: A Perfect Match, Wyng.com, 10th January 2016

2016, How Many People Use Social Media, Statista.com, 8th February 2016

Quotes:

Gray, T, 2000, First Edition, Marketing, Heinemann, Page 99

Gray, T, 2000, First Edition, Marketing, Heinemann, Page 97

Gray, T, 2000, First Edition, Marketing, Heinemann, Page 83

Gray, T, 2000, First Edition, Marketing, Heinemann, Page 97

Gray, T, 2000, First Edition, Marketing, Heinemann, Page 62

Gray, T, 2000, First Edition, Marketing, Heinemann, Page 4

Gray, T, 2000, First Edition, Marketing, Heinemann, Page 2

Gray, T, 2000, First Edition, Marketing, Heinemann, Page 3

Mortimer, R, Brooks, G, Smith, C, Hiam, A, 2012, 3rd Edition, Marketing For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Page 153

Mortimer, R, Brooks, G, Smith, C, Hiam, A, 2012, 3rd Edition, Marketing For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Page 182

Easey, M, 2009, 3rd Edition, Fashion Marketing, Wiley-Blackwell, Page 5

Easey, M, 2009, 3rd Edition, Fashion Marketing, Wiley-Blackwell, Page 6

Easey, M, 2009, 3rd Edition, Fashion Marketing, Wiley-Blackwell, Page 243

Easey, M, 2009, 3rd Edition, Fashion Marketing, Wiley-Blackwell, Page 224

Blythe, J, 2000, 1st Edition, Marketing Communications, Pearson Education Limited, Page 121

Blythe, J, 2000, 1st Edition, Marketing Communications, Pearson Education Limited, Page 122

Blythe, J, 2000, 1st Edition, Marketing Communications, Pearson Education Limited, Page 131

Blythe, J, 2000, 1st Edition, Marketing Communications, Pearson Education Limited, Page 133

Coppinger, K, 2016, Beauty Brands & Digital Marketing: A Perfect Match, Wyng.com, 10th January 2016

Coppinger, K, 2016, Beauty Brands & Digital Marketing: A Perfect Match, Wyng.com, 10th January 2016

Social Media Statistics & Facts, Statista.com, 8th February 2016