Leading lights from the cosmetics industry opened up the in-cosmetics show in Paris with a lively discussion on the subject of innovation. Participating in the forum, entitled ‘Is Innovation in the Cosmetics Industry Dead?’, were Eric Perrier, executive vice president R&D, LVMH; Patricia Pineau, director of research communication, L’Oreal; Nica Lewis, head consultant, Mintel Beauty Innovation and Elisabeth Azoulay, director of Editions Babylone.
Nica Lewis opened up the discussion and suggested that mixed race skin would be a major impetus towards innovation in the future: “I think the challenge going forward is, because of economic migration there are more and more mixed race couples, and consequently more mixed race children, and so we have a generation. This is a challenge that we as an industry need to look to as a place for innovation: the changing hair and skin needs for the mixed race population.” This viewpoint was highlighted by both Patricia Pineau and Eric Perrier. Patricia Pineau added: “Probably the biggest challenge we are facing is the diversity of the future aspirations all over the world. At the beginning we said ‘why not?’, and we were selling products to all those populations from Asia, Africa, China etc., but only to a certain social class. Now we are addressing the mass population, and while the economic levels are not the same as those in Europe, and fundamental beliefs of beauty are completely different, the major challenge is to observe the consumer and come up with a product that really meets their expectations.” Eric Perrier commented: “We have to listen to customers whether they are in the northern part of China, the southern part of China, and it is much more than just listening: we are looking at and feeling the way they are using the cosmetic product, because the way the products are applied to the face can be very different. You would be very surprised to see how our lotion is used in different places: with paper, without paper, with finger, with spoon – it’s very interesting.” The overall message from the speakers was one of needing to give consumers something more akin to a personalised product, ensuring that what they apply to their skin is ideally suited to their needs. And that, of course, requires a far greater diversity of product.
