COSMETICS BUSINESS LIVE
they’re spending and we look at that in minute detail. That real focus on customer behaviour has driven an enormous amount of transformation of focus in our business. That is what Covid brought to us, because we had to live with that in detail to understand the dynamics between floors and online.
PANEL I The cost of living crisis
HOW TO SURVIVE IN A DOWNTURN
Moderator Sallie Berkerey, Managing Director, CEW Panellists Celine Gilg, Managing Director, Puig UK & Ireland Huw Govier, Category Leader for Beauty, Amazon Margaret Mitchell, Chief Commercial Officer, Space NK
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o provide learnings for the present, leading brand owners and retailers explained how they weathered crises of the past in this panel hosted by Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW) UK. CEW UK brought together experts from Spanish fashion and fragrance business Puig, e-commerce giant Amazon and British luxury beauty retailer Space NK, and the panel was hosted by CEW Managing Director Sallie Berkerey.
20 December 2022
Are there any learnings from the pandemic?
Margaret Mitchell: The pandemic was almost a blessing in disguise, because it forced Space NK to re-focus on what was really important, which is customers, and to redefine what it means to be ‘customer first’. For us, what that means is thinking about the customer in everything that we do, but especially in everything that we forecast and how we plan our business financially. So it starts with how much
What are your thoughts about maintaining investment in marketing during the cost of living crisis? Huw Govier: This is a decision that most brands and businesses need to take. I think ultimately there’s not a one- size-fits-all solution, because it depends on the brand, the stage in their lifecycle, their funding model, etc. But there’s plenty of evidence that brands continue to invest in media, and in driving brand reputation and driving customers during challenging times – not only to perform well during that period, but also to come out stronger. What we saw during the pandemic is that brands that continued to invest strongly in media (and some of that with Amazon Advertising) were the ones that came out strongly. Mitchell: We’ve doubled down on marketing investment in advertising, both to our existing customer as well as to outside of our channels. And that comes both through the digital space, as well as through bricks-and-mortar and whimsical experiences. We’ve done pop-ups with new brands launching into the UK and that’s been a phenomenal way to bring those brands to life. We’ve also just opened our newest store – our biggest record-breaking weekend in terms of opening new stores. So, we’re following the customer and the customer is not even omnichannel anymore, we’re evolving to ‘monochannel’ – the customer is wherever he or she is and we follow that.
Is there a ‘magic formula’ for a successful pop-up? Mitchell: Everything that we’re seeing in terms of the social media influencer space right now is very product led. It is products that are taking off and that customers are falling in love with. So it is really important in a pop-up space to have an abundance of products for people to touch and feel. Ultimately, that’s why someone is coming into a physical environment. All of the experiential and content creation things are great, but you have to have product.
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