A Burst of Color (Cosmetics) from Brazil

In the blog post “Beauty Players’ Fit Response to World Cup-Stirred Opportunities,” Euromonitor International senior beauty and personal care analyst Ildiko Szalai investigates how the recent attention on Brazil has even more of the world looking its way, and discusses what this means for the industry in terms of trends and product and market development.

Szalai writes, “The Brazil 2014 World Cup has undoubtedly captured the attention of a truly global audience, and most FMCG players have been on the ball about capitalizing on the event. Many of them have aligned their global brands to Brazilian or football-themed product launches. In the beauty and personal care industry, color cosmetics players have been especially quick to respond, but many other product categories have adjusted their advertising campaigns to benefit from the attention of the many millions of spectators watching the games. The response to the heightened interest in Brazilian/World Cup-themed products from beauty companies has not lacked speed, volume or creativity. Although the event has created an unmissable brand-building opportunity for most players, it is not likely to have a lasting impact on category growth forecasts in beauty and personal care.”

She notes that the global audience likely reached one billion people for the FIFA event, breaking records in Brazil, Japan and beyond. To take advantage of all those eyes, beauty companies targeted particular products and trends. “Color cosmetics accommodated the Brazilian theme best,” Szalai writes. “For example, Sally Hansen launched a Carnival and Samba-themed nail polish collection, advertised to ‘look like the streets of Rio during Carnival.’ More upscale nail polish brand OPI by Coty also rolled-out a Brazil Collection this summer. Louis Vuitton’s Sephora Samba eyeliners collection was launched in five colors, in Caipirinha Dreamin’, Banana Split, Eccentric Diva, Romantic Comedy and Summer Cruise.”

However, the Brazilian focus also helped encourage new innovation in beauty. “The World Cup has triggered a boost in demand for novel color cosmetics especially, which is a much-needed opportunity in Europe and North America, where retail value growth forecasts for the category are expected to remain at under 1% CAGRs up to 2018,” Szalai acknowledges. “Despite innovation being strong, the nail products category in particular has a bleak outlook; in North America, the category is expected to contract at a 3% CAGR over 2013-2018, while in Australasia, growth will remain at close to zero over the same period. Latin America and the Middle East and Africa consistently deliver the fastest growth in color cosmetics across all product categories, with both regions expected to see color cosmetics expand at 5% CAGRs at constant 2013 prices between 2013 and 2018.” She notes that, although the impact may be less than significant, the focus on color during the World Cup can help spur brand-building opportunities for brands that have more awareness now.

And Szalai notes that color wasn’t the only beauty category to get attention during this event. She writes, “Unilever took an opportunity to launch a tactical campaign for its Sure deodorant brand, mimicking the white spray that referees have been using in World Cup matches to draw lines on the pitch.” Another category getting attention was oral care, with Philips’s Sonicare AirFloss product exploiting the attention stirred by Luis Suarez’s biting of Giorgio Chiellini during the Uruguay-Italy game.

Szalai wraps up, noting, “Similar to novel product developments, clever promotional activities by global brand owners are not likely to have a major impact on category growth prospects, but they are undeniably useful advertising tools served up by the global popularity of the World Cup.”

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