It is no surprise the multi-channel market is being so actively embraced by cosmetics brands.
Not only does the multi-channel approach give brands huge additional market reach, but it also multiplies the touchpoints they can have with consumers whilst making it quicker and easier for them to make a purchase and quicker and easier for them to interact with the brand. This instant feedback has its benefits. It can be fed straight into the development of new products and new sales strategies.
BUT WHAT IS MULTI-CHANNEL MARKETING?
It is no more complicated than marketing via multiple channels, channels which will likely include television, press, social media, email, in-store and point of sale, the brand’s own website and the websites of the major online retailers and resellers.
Multi-channel marketing offers beauty brands a range of commercial benefits. Preference is a key one. Different demographics like/use/trust different communication channels. This means employing a full mix of channels will immediately boost the number of consumers in different groups you can influence. Given a brand’s consumer base can often span a range of ages, socio-economic strata and geographies, this is particularly important.
In addition, the likelihood of a consumer making a purchase increases the more they see a message. So, if the message is repeated across a variety of channels, brands will likely achieve the tipping point more quickly.
Personalisation can’t be ignored. People are looking for more and more personal interactions with their preferred brands. This is about more than just personalising the salutation in an email. Brands need to produce a highly tailored consumer experience that considers each customer’s past purchase history and anticipated future wants and articulates both in the most appropriate language and via the most appropriate medium.
WHY ARE COSMETICS BRANDS LOOKING TO MULTI-CHANNEL MARKETING?
Multi-channel marketing is a complex beast. There is a lot for cosmetics brands to weigh up.
There is, of course, the perennial question of cost. Doing more across more channels eats up a budget, but this can be qualified if the campaigns are delivering the required results. This is where brands need to be selective about the most effective channels in order to reach the right consumers.
You also need to know that you can capture the data you need to drive your relationship with customers.
Claims that ‘data is the new gold’ are nothing new, but data is where the vast majority of the value of progressing multi-channel marketing models sits for cosmetics and beauty brands. The data will give you a detailed understanding of your customers so you can predict how they will react and spend moving forward. This can be exploited as you improve your strategy and tactical choices.
Coming back to cost, the data will also tell you what doesn’t work so you can drop those activities to give you more to reinvest in the activities that are producing (which the data will also tell you.)
However, there is another potential issue that beauty brands must consider before committing to a multi-channel marketing model: how do you protect your brands and products once they’re positioned across all the available online channels?
WHAT ARE THE ONLINE BRAND INFRINGEMENT THREATS FOR COSMETICS BRANDS?
While certain aspects of digital commerce are having a hugely positive effect on the beauty industry, there is a dark side. Opportunists are using online channels to profit from exploiting beauty and cosmetic brands. There are two primary threats:
1. Intellectual property concerns
Counterfeiters have long targeted all forms of luxury beauty brands. Because of their price point, they are an easy - not to mention desirable - target for criminals. However, online sales have facilitated an explosion in the sheer volume of fakes in the various luxury goods markets as these become more easily accessible through third-party platforms.
Counterfeit goods within the cosmetics and beauty sector can do significantly more damage than just impacting a brand’s sales and reputation. They can also cause significant physical risk to the user if they have not been manufactured properly or made from less-than-reliable ingredients.
While the younger demographics continue to be the most likely purchasers of counterfeit goods because they typically have less disposable income, their acceptance of counterfeits is being increased further by influencers set on actively promoting counterfeit products to their followers. This has lessened the stigma of using fakes, a trend that is likely to increase the threat levels associated with all forms of online sales and, by extension, multi-channel marketing models.
The rise of dupes also presents similar challenges to those above. Short for “duplicates”, dupes are lower-priced alternatives to superior products, although they are not positioned as “counterfeits”, as they typically aim to have enough differences from the originals so as to not be deemed as such.
2. Unauthorised resellers
Cosmetics brands - particularly in the luxury market – are typically selective about who distributes their products. Such distribution will be governed by a well-drafted contract. However, other retailers - particularly discount retailers – may often muscle in without the required legal permissions if they see an opportunity. This is dangerous, as it can damage a brand’s reputation either because of market perception of its platform or because it fails to adhere to the required packaging and delivery standards. They can also dilute the exclusivity the brand has fought hard to create by making it too readily available.
HOW DO YOU ADAPT YOUR BRAND PROTECTION STRATEGY TO MEET MULTI-CHANNEL MARKETING?
There are several key steps you can take to ensure that your brand protection strategy tackles the potential threats posed by multi-channel marketing.
Some will be things that brands will have in place already. Your brand's visual elements (logos, colours, fonts), messaging and tone of voice are always used consistently across all channels. Registered trade mark protection is key for this. You also only work with partners and authorising resellers that you know will actively adhere to your brand guidelines and protection policies.
You will have secured the required legal protections and IP rights and have the right processes in place to take immediate legal action if infringement occurs. You will also be regularly reviewing both your IP portfolio and protection activity to spot and address any gaps, for instance, by upgrading anti-counterfeiting technologies like holograms, QR codes and serial numbers.
Other areas will be improved by moving towards a multi-channel model. You will have more interaction with your customers, which will improve the flow of information. You will also have more opportunities to educate your consumers about the importance of purchasing genuine products and the dangers of purchasing counterfeit products.
Similarly, you may also be looking at the improvements you can make in terms of how you collaborate with the brand protection teams at the platforms you are selling through. They should all be reporting and removing counterfeit listings in real-time.
Some aspects, however, may be new.
For example, you may need to upgrade the tools and technologies that you are using to monitor your brand's presence across all the various platforms you are using so you can identify potential threats and infringements quickly and act effectively and immediately to nullify these threats before they damage your brand. Much of this comes down to knowing what technology is out there and how you can use it to identify counterfeits and any other unauthorised use of your brands and products. The problem here is, where do you start? What can you adopt easily into your existing ways of working?
At Potter Clarkson, our solution is iProvidence - your very own all-seeing eye on the internet. It brings the very best of Potter Clarkson’s intellectual property expertise together with decades of strategic, tactical, and international brand protection experience to protect your brand’s reputation and revenue.
Once you have signed up to iProvidence, our expert team and our technology will take care of all the trawling, monitoring, and enforcing of your IP rights on your behalf. This will leave you to concentrate on your other responsibilities, safe in the knowledge that the online threats to your brands are being carefully and constantly monitored.
Click here to find out more about iProvidence or contact us to request a free ‘snapshot’ report summarising the online infringement threats your brands are actually facing today.
