Elisabeth King reports on selfie sticks ruling the festive season, Gemma Ward tapped for new ad campaign, Lady Gaga's selfie campaign for Shiseido, and anti-ageing skincare messaging being off-target.
Selfie sticks rule festive season worldwide
Research indicates that the selfie phenomenon has produced an upsurge in makeup sales and a boom in cosmetic surgery procedures. If so - another bonanza year for the beauty business is on the way. In the report - What's Hot for Christmas 2014 - Citi nominated the selfie stick to become the top-selling gift in Australia over the festive season. Dubbed the "wand of narcissism", the popularity of the selfie stick first soared in Southeast Asia.
The phenomenon has spread to Europe, the US and Australia and Time magazine tapped the selfie stick as one of the best inventions of the year, sharing the honours with the hoverboard and a high-beta fusion reactor. The sales figures for Australia haven't been collated yet but over 100,000 selfie sticks were sold in the US in December alone, reports IBISWorld. Demand intensified after the Time magazine nomination, says the researcher, with leading retailers such as Nordstrom and Walgreens having to re-stock several times between Thanksgiving and Christmas. On Christmas Day in the US, the hashtag #selfiestick dominated Twitter.
Many selfie sticks extend to 1.2 metres, so vanity close-ups are just part of their repertoire. They can be used as microphone boom arms and to make YouTube videos and offer far more adventurous camera angles. We could see far more interesting images on Instagram in 2015 just for starters.
Gemma Ward tapped as new face of Prada ad campaign
Australian supermodel Gemma Ward famously retired from strutting the runways in 2009. The 27 year old was a big favourite with US and European designers, including , , , and before exiting the international fashion circuit for personal reasons. Most aspiring models don't get a first chance at the big time, let alone a second bite of the cherry from one of the biggest names in fashion. But is making much of luring the Perth-born beauty out of retirement.
Ward kicked off her return to the limelight with local brand Country Road before making a surprise appearance on the runway during Prada's Spring 2015 collection. The rumour mill went into overdrive with the prediction of Ward's likely selection as the face of the accompanying global ad campaign.
Late last week, Prada shared the first image of Ward, shot in black-and-white by Steven Meisel, wearing a patchwork dress and clutchjing a Prada bag. The full ad campaign will also include Belgian blonde Ine Neefs and another model. Parisian-born Aya Jones, hailed as one of the faces to watch in 2015, is getting the nod from most tipsters. Jones has French, British and African heritage and also debuted at Prada's post-apocalyptic-themed Spring 2015 collection.
Lady Gaga's selfie campaign for Shiseido
When Angelina Jolie took part in a Japan-only ad campaign for in 2006, she didn't do or say much and a photographer was on hand to record the lucrative moment for the star. Last year saw the rise and rise of the selfie ad campaign from Calvin Klein's MyCalvins effort featuring Kendall Jenner and supermodel Daria Werbowy's selfie snaps for Equipment shirts. Lady Gaga is a serial selfie exponent and has also stopped posting images of herself for free - at least temporarily.
In a New Year's ad campaign for Shiseido, the pop sensation produced 50 different selfies for the Japanese cosmetics giant to run across a range of Japanese newspapers from January 1st to 5th. Many US celebs in search of a million or three have shot Japan-only ad campaigns, including Brad Pitt, Leonardo di Caprio, Cindy Crawford and Madonna, but Lady Gaga is a much better fit for a global campaign as Shiseido chases a younger target market. Time will tell.
New study reveals anti-ageing skincare messaging is off-target
According to a new British survey by Canadean, skincare brands have a lot of work to do to connect with the demographics who should be the main target for their products. The study covered all major ages groups from 25 to 65 and while 20% of respondents said they were concerned about premature ageing, only one third actually adopted a regular anti-ageing skincare routine.
The news gets worse. Less than half of respondents aged 55-plus - 28.7% of the UK population - had done anything to address their ageing issues, even though they had expressed concern. But skincare brands are partly at fault, says Veronika Zhupanova, analyst for Canadean: "Research suggests that by focusing too much on young adult women, the skincare industry is missing out on 55-plus consumers".
Brands don't get their messaging right when they talk to older consumers, says Zhupanova. "This group is comfortable with their age, they don't feel old and they don't want to be treated as desperately clinging to youth. To achieve success among those aged 55 and older, skincare producers need to offer them inclusive products that produce good-looking, well-groomed skin as well as attractiveness, as opposed to treating their age as a burden that needs relief." A timely reminder that Australia's median age is now close to 40 and over 40% of Australian women are aged 50-plus.
Snippets from the wires
- Sales of Pharrell Williams' signature high hats rose 43% on eBay in 2014 reports the global website. But the most popular head gear was tiaras, selling more than 450,000 glittery crowns. In another myth-busting stat, overalls - 530,00 in total - outdistanced yoga pants - 423,000 - in spite of the booming athleisure trend. Sneaker sales were also up 12% to pass an eBay record of one million pairs.
- In its first sell-off of the year, P&G have sold the Camay and Zest soap brands to rival multinational Unilever for an undisclosed sum. The deal covers global sales of Camay, estimated to be worth US$120 million, and the worldwide business of Zest, except for North America - worth US$170 million. Emerging Asian, Africa and South American markets have fuelled a huge upsurge in the global sales of bar soaps over the past few years.
- Chinese tourists spend the most on beauty and skincare products wherever they travel. So the latest stats on Australia's total tourism market is good news for local players. According to IBISWorld, the Australian tourism industry is expected to reach $117.2 billion in 2015. Chinese tourists have been the biggest overall spenders since 2010 and spent an average of $7418 per capita, per trip in 2014.
- Victoria Beckham is set to launch a range of nail polishes with Nails Inc in the first quarter of the year. But Posh certainly doesn't need the money from this little sideline. Sales of her fashion label and accessories doubled in 2014 to US$46 million.
- Prestige lip colour sales in the US soared in the run-up to Christmas, reports The NPD Group. In November alone, close to 1.8 million prestige lip colour products were sold - a 22% uplift on the same month in 2013. Total sales of lip colours rose 13% to US $417 million from December 2013 to November 2014, reports the researcher.
Carousel image: Country Road.
