The above graph shows the most popular types of make-up between the consumers questioned. Each of the 100 consumers was asked to choose three different types giving a total of 300 ‘votes’.
The above pie chart shows how often or on what occasions consumers use make-up. The most common by far is daily usage.
The above graph gives an indication of how important consumers consider the price of products to be when they are buying skincare and/or cosmetic products.
The above graph compares how much money consumers would be willing to spend on skincare and cosmetic products. As can be seen from the graph the most popular price bracket for both skin care and cosmetics is £16 – 20. There is little difference between the amount that consumers would spend on cosmetics and the amount they would spend on skincare products.
This pie chart shows that advertising does have a substantial affect on the products that are bought by consumers, however some times they make no affect at all.
This bar graph shows where consumers prefer to buy their skincare and cosmetic products. As you can see the most popular place is John Lewis. John Lewis sells mainly upper-market brands, and this outcome has probably been greatly affected by the fact that the majority of the consumers questioned were middle-aged working women.
Consumer Panel Results
Below you can see the results of the consumer panel. The most popular products are Revlon Colour Stay Shadow, Max Factor Lipfinity, Max Factor Lasting Colour Foundation, and Maybelline Ultra Lasting Nail Polish. When questioned, the consumers said that they thought that these products were the best because they lasted the longest which was good for busy, working women like themselves, and the shades were suited to everyday life. As well as this, they said that the products were also of high quality – the Revlon Colour Stay Shadow could be easily applied and was not “too powdery”, the Max Factor Lipfinity was moisturising as well as long lasting, the Max Factor Lasting Colour Foundation did not feel too “heavy” and blended easily, and the Maybelline Ultra Lasting Nail Polish maintained a “glossy” look and barely chipped. Unpopular products include the Max Factor Gold Lip liner which consumers felt “looked out of place”, and Rimmel 1000 Kisses Lip liner, which consumers felt was “too thick and sticky”. These positive and negative factors must be taken into account when considering new products for Barely Beautiful.
Competitors Research
Here is a brief look at a few of Barely Beautiful’s competitors.
Product Example - 60 Second Nail Polish
Place – Boots, Superdrug, John Lewis
Price – Moderate
Promotion – Magazines, Television, In-store
Product Example – Lip Infinity
Place – Boots, Superdrug, John Lewis
Price – Moderate
Promotion – Magazines, Television, In-store
Product Example – 3-D Effect Lip Gloss
Place – Boots, John Lewis
Price – Expensive
Promotion – Magazines, In-store
Product Example – Bronzing Pearls
Place – Boots
Price – Moderate to Cheap
Promotion – Magazines, In-store
Product Example – Shimmer Eye Shadow
Place – Superdrug
Price – Cheap
Promotion – Magazines, Television, In-store
Product Example – Anti-Wrinkle Cream
Place – John Lewis
Price – Expensive
Promotion – Magazines, In-store
Product Example – Colour Girl Mascara
Place – Catalogue
Price – Expensive
Promotion – Magazines, Leaflets
Product Example – Dior Rouge Lipstick
Place – John Lewis
Price – Very Expensive
Promotion – Magazines, Television, In-store
Barely Beautiful’s main competitor is Elizabeth Arden and has been described as “one of the most prestigious and recognized names in luxury cosmetics”. Elizabeth Arden’s newest products include Colour Intrigue Lipstick and Sheer Lights Illuminating Moisturiser. Some of the company’s most famous products include 5th Avenue and the perennial best-seller White Diamonds from Elizabeth Arden’s fragrance division. Recently, to celebrate White Diamond’s tenth anniversary Elizabeth Arden released a limited edition fragrance spray called Brilliant White Diamonds. A release date of 26th December was chosen because “there is a high incidence of fragrance self purchase right after Christmas.” Elizabeth Arden products are sold only in selected department stores, such as John Lewis, and very few products have been mass marketed. Elizabeth Arden’s Products are priced very expensively and this fits in with their target market segment of high-profile women from the socio-economic group A. Elizabeth Arden mainly uses magazine and in store advertisements, recently using Catherine Zeta-Jones as a model and spokesperson to promote a range of new products including Green Tea Scent Spray.
Conclusion
From the research done Barely Beautiful can gather the following information; Barely Beautiful’s mains consumers are middle-aged working women who use make-up daily. They want high quality, long lasting makeup, as reapplication during the day wastes time. They also want tones and shades that are suitable for everyday use. The consumers prefer to shop in John Lewis.
Recommendations
Based on these results, the marketing and sales department have come up with the following idea: that Barely Beautiful release a full range of make-up called ‘Eternity by Barely Beautiful’. The Eternity range would comprise of all the fundamental types of make-up, and all would have names such as Eternity Nails (nail polish), Eternity Shadow (eye shadow), Eternity Eyes (eye liner), Eternity Lips (lipstick), Eternity Gloss (lip gloss), Eternity Blush (blusher) and so on. We have decided to use these types of make-up because results from our research show that all these have relatively the same high popularity among our customers, and it is important for us to supply what the customer wants so that they will buy our products. The main focus of Eternity would be its long lasting properties, i.e. it would last all day without smudging, wearing off, chipping e.t.c. At the same time it would be high quality make-up, and another focus point would be the smoothness of the products on one’s skin. The shades and tones of the make-ups would range from natural to slightly more bright colours, but never too bright, glittery, glamorous or garish, as they should be used daily. All these factors of the make-up have been chosen because of the results from the consumer testing panels. While testing the products, these were points that were repeatedly brought up between them. For instance nearly all consumers thought that gold lip liner looked out of place and this is why we have decided to go for more natural colours. Also, a factor that they desired in nail polish was that it would maintain a high gloss and be hard-wearing, so we have incorporated this into our products. It would be priced moderately expensive, for example £13 for the eye shadow, £10 for the lipsticks and £8 for the nail polishes – mainly inline with socio-economic grouping B and perhaps A, being aimed at modern, professional, working women, because this is who our results have shown to be our main customers. Barely Beautiful would hope to gain a contract with John Lewis to the Eternity range sold exclusively at their stores, where our target audience is most likely to shop, and where our main competitors are quite often based. This positioning should help us to best exploit our target market as well as gain potential customers. Also, the exclusivity of the range should make it more appealing to some women, again gaining us more customers. John Lewis is also one of the stores that currently stocks Barely Beautiful Skincare range which should help make it a smooth transition for the make-up range into their stores. The advertising would be done with posters in women’s magazines such as Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan, and on billboards, and in television advertisements. These mediums, and in particular these magazines have been chosen because research has shown that our target audience responds most to these and is more likely to read these magazines and therefore respond to the advertisements, which in turn generates the company more customers and an increased revenue. There would also be a lot of in store promotion, with special offers, and these, too, would be advertised in magazines. The offers could also tie in with the Skincare range. If this range is successful then plans will be made to launch it in Europe as well.
