Erwan Le Roy Talks Digital Beauty and in-cosmetics North America

Digital425

Digital breakthroughs are constantly changing the way consumers engage with and shop for beauty products. 

We caught up with Erwan Le Roy of Thinfilm to get his opinions on how digital is improving consumer relationships with beauty brands and what he finds so exciting about the digital beauty movement. 

Global Cosmetic Industry (GCI): How does digital help improve consumers’ experience with a beauty brand?

Erwan Le Roy (ELR): This technology gives the brand a chance to extend the conversation beyond the “makeover counter” at the retail store by delivering the following content whenever the customer “taps” for it:

  • Brand-mediated reviews
  • Replenishment and re-order opportunities, either direct-from-brand or direct-from-original-channel
  • Cross-sell and upsell messaging opportunities, including completing the color palette, bundle promotions and seasonal suggestions
  • The chance to “enter the conversation” with reviews and social media shout-outs
  • Influencer or brand-created content, including “how to”, “trending looks”, and other usage accelerators

The technology provides a secure method for creating and offering innovative loyalty programs, without fear of fraud:

  • Golden ticket campaigns
  • Rewards programs
  • Rebate programs
  • Refer-a-friend, etc.

As a side-benefit, making the digital experience an expected part of your brand interaction can, when combined with Thin Film’s unique technology:

  • Eliminate counterfeit goods from your marketplace
  • Track and eliminate diversion and grey market activities
  • Enforce minimum advertised price agreements
  • Secure against product tampering

GCI: In your opinion, what makes this digital movement into cosmetics and beauty products exciting?

ELR: For cosmetics brands, this technology represents the first and best opportunity to collect CRM and first party data, extending and enhancing the relationships they can build with their best customers. Building one-to-one relationships with customers open avenues to custom product offerings, promotions and brand activation that have heretofore been prohibitively expensive. Additionally, the ability to use this digital data to profile the most vocal customers and those with the highest lifetime value to your brand lets marketers execute profile-matching campaigns with data service providers to expand the brand’s addressable market. 

The first brands that learn how to effectively employ this technology to identify and strengthen their one-to-one relationships with their best customers will reap the majority of the rewards. Using iterative, targeted, test & learn programs now, positions your brand to capture the viral mindshare of consumer interest in this emerging technology. Cosmetics are a high-emotion product and these NFC market triggers offer robust options and a broader palette to marketers looking to evoke emotions and action in their customer base. An emotional appeal, delivered “on-demand”, using rich media, when your customer is the most receptive, is the Holy Grail of marketing beauty products!

GCI: What can in-cosmetics North America attendees expect from the “Cosmetics Go Digital” panel?

ELR: Attendees will have a better understanding of this exciting technology, including both its strengths and weaknesses, as well as an articulation of the two most important factors when designing an NFC campaign (spoiler alert: call-to-action & reward). There will be “how to” examples for deployment of test & learn campaigns with pre-defined goals and metrics, and ideas for integrating the technology into primary and secondary packaging of cosmetics

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