Australia's $300 million-plus coffee addiction, Blake Lively shutters lifestyle site, Brandwatch names most popular luxury brands on social media, and US study nails beauty preferences by age.
Australia's $300 million-plus coffee addiction
The figure would be much higher if the stats were available on how many flat whites, lattes and macchiatos Australians consumed in cafes and restaurants. But coffee sales in supermarkets spiked 13 per cent in 2014 to $234 million reports Nielsen. Today's refreshing cuppa is more likely to be coffee, with 83 per cent of Australian households spending an average of $94 per year on coffee bought from supermarkets and grocery outlets.
The fast-growing sector that has driven coffee consumption in the home over the $300 million mark is capsules from brands such as Nespresso says Nielsen. A hefty 50 per cent of the coffee capsule market is made up of couples, singletons and small scale families. Over the past year coffee capsule sales have risen $29.1 million and total sales are expected to reach $86 million by the end of the year.
According to Nielsen, the growth in the coffee market is a shining example of how the right innovation can drive profitability and sales even in a mature category.
Blake Lively shutters lifestyle site
It's tough to launch a successful e-commerce site even when you are a global superstar. Preserve, Blake Lively's lifestyle site, debuted just over a year ago and has struggled to gain traction. A few months ago, Ryan Reynolds' better half admitted to Time magazine that she felt she had launched the project too early. "If I had my dream, I'd put it on hold for six months or a year and then relaunch it".
On October 9th, Lively will shutter the site and there's no definite word of a rejig - only hints or comments to various media from Vogue to People magazine. Preserve is currently flogging off products, many at half price. If Lively does decide to give e-commerce a second go there will be probably be a name change. "I love the name Preserve" she notes. "But I never thought people would think it would have something to do with jam". It might also be a good idea to get some funding or lend her name to a company that already has more expertise in running an online business.
Brandwatch names most popular luxury brands on social media
The world's most profitable prestige brands eagerly await the publication of the Fashion and Luxury report from Brandwatch, the leading social intelligence company. The tracker collates over 700,000 social conversations on Facebook and Twitter over a four week period to evaluate the social media clout of 32 of the biggest names in fashion and luxury.
As luxury brands roll out more and more innovative campaigns and storytelling on social media, they need to know how well they are working. Brandwatch measures success with five major criteria: Social Visibility, General Visibility, Net Sentiment, Reach Growth and Social Engagement and Comment. The highest score in each category is 100 to reach for a perfect score of 500, if possible.
Reach Growth: Gucci claimed the top spot, followed by Paul Smith, Ralph Lauren, Prada and Givenchy. The measurement tracks how much a brand's following has grown over the test period.
Social Visibility: Chanel claimed the number one position, followed by Dior, Louis Vuitton and Ralph Lauren. The criteria is the number of conversations generated by a brand in social media.
General Visibility: Chanel was number one here too, followed by Louis Vutton, Rolex, Gucci and Ralph Lauren
Net Sentiment: A measurement ratio of positive and negative statements of brands saw Coach achieve the top ranking, followed by Givenchy, Lanvin, DKNY and Bottega Veneta.
Social Engagement: The five victors were Tiffany & Co, Calvin Klein, Dior, Fendi and Paul Smith.
US study nails beauty preferences by age
A new US study from The Benchmarking Company has chased down the answers most cosmetics companies need to know. Most beauty editors have written that red lips can turn a woman of any age into a diva. Thankfully, most women believe the statement is true. Only 13 per cent of Gen Xers and 16 per cent of Baby Boomers considered themselves too old for bright red lips.
Eyeshadow emerged as the top product used daily by all three major demographics - 99 per cent of Millennials, 84 per cent of Gen Xers and 67 per cent of Baby Boomers. More of a surprise was the fact that 36 percent of Millennials felt that glitter/metallic eyeshadow was too young for them - a percentage that predictably rose to 55 per cent among Gen Xers and 77 per cent of Baby Boomers. The Goldilocks - just right - look for 62 percent of Millennials was the smoky eye. While 55 per cent and 53 per cent of Gen Xers and Baby Boomers respectively fingered soft neutral lips as their most preferred makeup look.
The top three looks across all three age groups were: soft neutral lips (43 per cent), lip gloss (43 per cent) and contoured cheeks (40 per cent). But the closest connection between women of all ages was the G2G ( girlfriend to girlfriend) effect. Millennials and Gen Xers tied for the top spot with 89 per cent of both groups saying they would tell a friend if they loved a beauty product or colour. Baby Boomers were almost as enthusiastic as brand ambassadors with 81 per cent likely to spread the word of a new or loved beauty discovery.
Snippets from the wires
- The Allure Best of Beauty Awards are a licence to print money in the US for brands whose products carry the magazine's trademark seals of approval. To look at the list of of the 260 lucky winners for 2015 - go to www.allure.com
- China can be a challenging beauty market even for the major players. In 2010, Coty paid US$376 million for a majority stake in TJoy, a leading Chinese skincare company. The brand's sales plummeted in spite of the multinational's backing. Coty bailed a year ago and removed TJoy products from the market. Founder Zhang Wenjang has bought back the company for about US$17 million - 4 per cent of the price he sold it for - and is planning a relaunch.
- Keen fashion fans know the legend of La Pausa, the 1920s villa on the French Riviera Coco Chanel built and decorated from scratch. The legendary designer entertained friends such as Picasso and Dali in the stunning Roquebrune-Cap-Martin locale and sold the property in 1954. A few years ago, Chanel launched La Pausa fragrance as part of its prestige Les Exclusifs collection. The prestige brand has bought the fabled villa and will refurbish it "to radiate the culture and values of Chanel".
- Younique, the three year old US direct seller of natural cosmetics, has expanded to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Germany. Now it's Mexico's turn to fall in love with the company's star product - Moodstruck 3D Fiber lashes - and more.
- Older women aren't only using makeup and skincare for longer, they are also buying up big in the sexual wellness market in the US says Kline & Co. Baby Boomers with active sex lives are largely responsible for a 6.8 per cent increase in sales of personal lubricants. condoms and nutritional supplements for sexual enhancement over the past year.
- High Ridge Brands, owned by private equity firm Brynwood Partners, has become a force to be reckoned with in the haircare industry. In 2011, the company bought Alberto VO5 and Rave from Unilever and Coast from Henkel, the makers of Schwarzkopf. In May this year, it bought the global rights to a sheaf of brands from Newhall Laboratories, including Thicker Fuller Hair and La Bella. The latest acquisition is Continental Fragrances, the owner of haircare brands Salon Grafix, Healthy Hair Nutrition and High Beams.
Newsletter image: Instagram.com/lichipan
