Value. Desirable By Design

It’s official: value beauty is cool again. Competition is rife so lust factor is vital, which begs the question:

Sophia Maxwell

How can a low cost beauty brand boost its desirability through design?

In the UK, Aldi started it. In January 2008, economic crisis looming, a budget face cream was causing a run on stock at the value supermarket. A reported 890 jars of Siana Moisturising Anti-Wrinkle Day Cream sold in a week.

This scenario neatly illustrated a shift in the UK’s beauty buying habits. Value had become a thing to want and seek out, acquire and enjoy. It had acquired a certain cool and represented a new savvier attitude. Quick to respond to this shift in perception, global brands are now capitalizing on core ranges, by offering similar effective products with a lower price tag. In 2010, Nivea re-launched its basic skincare, Daily Essentials in a capsule collection where a moisturiser costs just £3.99.

Price apart, the pressure is on for beauty brands to stand out (it’s a crowded world out there), and no less so at the cheaper end of the market. The competition is high as the mass market fights for its scoop of the ice (make that face) cream tub. And the consumer remains loyal to a brand, hard to convert. Design is integral to a brand’s visibility, success, and most importantly where beauty is concerned, desirability. So, how are value brands using design to boost their appeal?

We see Nivea, iconic status solidified, adopting challenger type behaviours working with one of Lady Gaga’s favorite designers, Josep Font for the Nivea Soft moisturizing collection. Released as a limited edition last summer, this creative design hook-up (and an association with one of music’s biggest artists to boot) joins an increasing move towards upping the desirability of a mass-market, be it iconic, beauty product through design.

Jemma Kidd's JK for Target.

Beauty experts such as celebrity make-up artists and hairdressers can also build a value brand’s lust factor; their story becomes integral to how the finished product looks. The make-up artist, Ruby Hammer, who co-founded Ruby & Millie make-up in the nineties has linked up with Debenhams in the UK to create Ruby Recommends, a collection of make-up kits. At Target, a team of experts has helped build exclusive ranges, and includes Jemma Kidd with JK For Target. Personality-led branding and design is about injecting the core truth and essence of the personality into the design, not just their face and name.

Often we see design inspiration coming from the luxury counter. In terms of feel, Benefit’s retro look has had significant influence across the board. In recent years Soap & Glory, the mass-market beauty line created by Bliss and Fit Flop founder, Marcia Kilgore has seen similar design codes translate to the mainstream and the UK’s Sainsbury’s recent launch of Dirty Works is a further example of the kitsch fun and comfort we draw from times before science and technology dominated the personal care sector.

Brand color codes can be a powerful tool.

Premium brand colour codes can also be a strong approach in applying an indulgent edge to value beauty. Compare the green, frosted pot of Origins A Perfect World Moisturizer with that of Garnier Fresh 24H Deep Moisturizer. Or the luxurious, burgundy of celebrity, NYC hairdresser Oribe’s product line-up, with that of Olay Regenerist Daily 3 Point Cream. Color, particularly when it deviates from the clean and clinical, is rich and evocative and when associated with luxury it becomes a powerful tool.

Words, too. How information is presented on pack impacts on how a consumer might react to a value brand. This introduces the design influence and covetable ‘results’ of the doctor brand. It looks clinical; detailed, efficacious ingredient information is incorporated into the design of the pack, because it is integral to its prescriptive offering. By incorporating these codes, a brand looking to tap this market at a value level can influence a consumer’s choice. The sales frenzy caused a couple of years ago by Boots No7 ‘Protect and Perfect’ serum - following independent clinical tests by a BBC television program identifying it as the only one of those tested with a beneficial effect - show the new power mass market products now exhort. Successful examples now flag up ingredients and technology inspired by the doctor brand. Take L’Oréal Paris Revitalift, which highlights Pro-Retinol and Marks & Spencer Advanced Formula, which flags up peptides, popular derm-inspired anti ageing buzzwords.

Sometimes, simplicity strikes home – especially in an overcrowded market. This new price-conscience

Dirty Works expresses kitsch fun and comfort.

marketplace is where a forward thinking value brand has the power to strike gold. In one light, basic packaging might imply the shortfall that goes with pennies saved. In another, it gives a brand the opportunity to be more direct with the consumer. Approached with a strong sense of design, this premise can be a powerful attractor. The Target stocked brand, Nip + Fab is a great example. It illustrates how contemporary design and a fresh take on low cost, results driven skin products, can have the power to give one value brand the edge over another. It spans both the basic message of a value brand with the expert promise of a professional brand, through design. And all for around $9 a pop. Enticing stuff.