On December 2nd, 2021, Revieve hosted a Virtual Product Launch Event, where we announced our latest product addition, AI Makeup Advisor, to Revieve’s portfolio of personalized digital brand experiences powered by AI and AR.
In addition to the product showcase, we were delighted to have Ross Beagrie, Commercial Director at Dcypher, and Hannah Cook, Head of Growth & Innovation at The Pull Agency, joined by Sampo Parkkinen, CEO of Revieve, to discuss the evolving landscape of makeup and what is driving change in the makeup industry today and in the future.
The beauty industry experienced significant shifts over the past few years. But makeup was the category taking the biggest hit. Now that consumers are finding their ways back to using beauty products, we see beauty players racing to pivot their channels, product offerings, and digital capabilities to survive volatile customer buying habits.
As a result, this evolving climate creates new pressures for brands and retailers regarding product innovation, social responsibility, a more complex selling environment with the mix of online and offline sales, new patterns of personalization, generational shift, and pressure brought through social media activity and eCommerce platforms.
The expectation for personalization is more significant than ever, as consumers are embracing self-expression and diversity. Consumers expect brands and retailers to see them as individuals and provide tailored experiences and interactions. Ross Beagrie concurred with this view and said he believes customers are calling brands out to expect intimate, inclusive, and personalized experiences across all channels. That's why brands and retailers are under pressure to deliver on their promised values and work towards being more responsible and sustainable for their product, packaging, environmental and social impact.
Both Hannah Cook and Beagrie outlined the driver behind those changes, which is a generational shift. As millennials and Gen Z are rapidly rising to become the largest group of consumers, brands and retailers must be especially cautious when targeting these generations. Today, Gen Zers aren't just masters of all they purchase — they own a brands' space, channels, and touchpoints. According to the Pull Agency research, Gen Zers believe that every individual is unique in its way and expects deeper relationships with brands. Gen Z's see their choice in brands as an expression of who they are and want to go to a brand they believe in.
However, there is still a gap between what customers care about and what beauty brands talk about. "A brand's purpose goes fundamentally down to" who are you", "why are you here" but sometimes the brand's purpose is getting lost in the social purpose. As a result, customers feel misled, which pushes them away if the experience is not aligned with the messaging," says Hannah. Ross agrees: "The key to winning customers not only once but also long-term will be about proving the brand's relevance every time a customer interacts with the brand."
And as today's consumers live multi-dimensional and multi-platform lives, customer journeys are no longer linear and predictable. This creates pressure on retailers and brands to widen the aperture and control the complex customer journeys.
Today, a typical makeup customer journey consists of several devices, channels, and brand touchpoints. According to data by The Pull Agency, over 80% of customers of all generations research before making a purchase.
"It can be challenging for brands and retailers to anticipate and meet the diverse beauty needs of all customers, as they lack visibility into where customers choose to interact from touchpoint to touchpoint simply because they bounce between different touchpoints and channels," Ross commented.
Ross also underlined the importance of gathering first-party data to gain deeper insights into customer behavior, improve product developments, predict trends, and further personalize customer experiences across all touchpoints.
Our newly launched AI Makeup Advisor enables our brand and retail partners to engage all makeup shoppers and gain intelligence on customers' interactions across all brand touchpoints. We make your customer journeys more predictable than ever before and enable you to build 1:1 relationships at scale.
The AI Makeup Advisor has everything your customer needs to make a confident purchase.
Put your customers in focus and understand their intents, obtain a holistic understanding of who they are from their selfie analysis and help them discover exactly what they want the most reliable AI Selfie Analysis, AI-powered personalized recommendations; optimized, true-to-life virtual try-on; and engaging, educating brand content. All in the same experience.