We all know that Australians are very patriotic when it comes to our sporting heroes, and food, entertainment, culture and fashion also seem to be right up there when it comes to local success stories. So how does the beauty industry fare when it comes to living the Australian dream? beautydirectory sat down with a range of brands to discover what it means to be a beauty brand from Australia, how the industry compares to overseas and how the rise in online shopping has impacted our market.
Why choose Australian?
There are three main arguments why Australians should be supporting the local beauty industry. The first simply comes to backing up the local economy. Australian made and owned brands keep Australian dollars and jobs here in Australia,” says national marketing manager Elizabeth Treble.
Another benefit of choosing Aussie beauty brands is that products are made especially for the country’s harsh environmental conditions. As an Australian company, Australian women are our focus,” says Elucent senior brand manager Chris Mitropoulos. Elucent was created by Australian scientists in Australia for Australian women. We spent years researching and creating the right formulations that would give Australian women the results they wanted at a price they could afford.” Treble supports this argument, revealing: Plunketts have always focused on Australian skin and environment conditions to ensure that our products are the most appropriate for Australian women.”
The third reason Australians should be looking at home for their beauty fix is due to the high quality of the product. Australia’s high manufacturing standard and regulatory requirements mean that Australians can feel very confident of the quality of Australian-made goods,” says SunSense senior brand manager Dominique Ries.
Challenges of being Australian made and owned
While being an Australian brand has its rewards, there are a range of challenges that brands come up against. The cost of producing in Australia makes profitability challenging,” reveals Treble. In the current economic climate, consumers are looking for ways to save money in every area of their lives and are easily tempted to buy mass produced skincare that make sensational promises with very little substance. However, many consumers would purchase Australian made and owned over foreign brands if they were made aware of the source and the ownership of the company.”
A further challenge that Australians face is a lack of support from local retailers. If you walk into an American department store, the American brands have presence in the store – they’re not shoved in the back corner. And they’re proud of their brands. Here, you’ll see the Australian brand equivalent of what the retailer has brought in from overseas and they’re shoved in the back corner, while the brands that are on par with the Australian brands have counters and space,” says founder George Lambropoulos.
Cracking the international market
Like most Aussie exports, the international market is very receptive to brands from Down Under. SunSense is extremely successful overseas. Australia’s reputation as having an extremely harsh climate means we are seen as world leaders in creating and manufacturing sunscreen,” reveals Ries. In the UK, SunSense is the number one sunscreen prescribed by dermatologists. SunSense is also sold in Asia and the Middle East.”
While the majority of Elucent customers are Australian-based, the brand’s international markets are expanding rapidly with expectations that eventually half their sales will be from overseas. The Elucent range is sold internationally, at this stage primarily in Asian countries including Singapore and Malaysia. Elucent has also recently been launched in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, with more launches occurring in the Middle East during 2013. In these markets the Elucent range is distributed via dermatologists and skincare specialists.”
Consumers fly the green and yellow flag
No matter how internationally successful a brand becomes, the most loyal supporters still tend to come from their home country. More than 95 per cent of Plunkett products are sold here in Australia,” reveals Treble. In Australia, SunSense remains the number one pharmacy brand of suncare within the pharmacy channel, despite stiff competition from overseas. Being an Australian family owned and made company, our roots started here and hence we have a lot of very happy Australian customers,” says Ries. Elucent’s Mitropoulos adds: I think being Australian made and owned is viewed as a plus by our customers, especially because so many companies now manufacture off-shore or have been sold to large multinationals corporations.”
Elucent has found incredible support in the Australian market since launching just over 12 months ago. The range is sold exclusively through Priceline and has experienced steady growth since its launch. It was recently highlighted as the fastest growing brand in the pharmacy Cosmeceutical skincare category*,” says Mitropoulos. The brand is also received well by Australian dermatologists, who both recommend and sell Elucent to their patients.
The effect of e-commerce on the local market
As the accessibility of international brands becomes ever easier with the growing popularity of online shopping, the Australian market has had to adapt to these new changes. Because of the internet, make-up has become more global,” says Lambropoulos. Girls are no longer content to just go to their local store, they want the specific colour - they want the NARs blue or the yellow from Sephora or whatever. I think that’s the hardest thing to have hit brands locally, because you have to be of a certain magnitude or size to be able to survive the Australian market as it’s such a small industry.”
To help entice Australians to shop locally rather than visit global sites, 2012 saw many brands launch their own e-store and up the ante with their online offerings. SunSense is available online through our range of pharmacy partners that have online stores. Our online brand presence has grown significantly this year with the introduction of a Facebook page and upgrades to our SunSense website,” says Ries. Skincare brand Elucent is also adapting to the change in the retail landscape by changing the way it markets and distributes product. A large part of the Elucent marketing campaign this year has been online, including advertising and social media activity. Priceline have also launched their online store, and together we are offering the convenience that the consumer is looking for when they purchase,” says Mitropoulos.
Stick it to them!
No matter how unique or results-driven Aussie products are, there will always be stiff competition from multinational companies with more spend, bigger R&D teams and a higher population reach - but we didn’t get the title little Aussie battlers” for nothing! Whatever the international brands throw at us, there will always be a place in the landscape for Australian beauty brands. The Australian market is driven by our lifestyle – consumers seek simple beauty regimes that address our beauty concerns and fit our increasingly busy lives. Australians generally want effective products but with a minimum of fuss,” concludes Treble.
Aussie brands we’re loving:
Botani
Chic Australia
David Jones
Dentartistry
Ere Perez
Franc Essential
Freezeframe
Headlines
Planet Eve Organics
O Cosmedics
Rapid Loss
Romy Beauty
SAX
Spilt Milk
U Little Beauty
UV Triplegard
WOTNOT
* Michael Edwards Beauty Pulse Survey, Post Script, November 2012.