Coty shares rise on S&P 500 ranking, teen entrepreneurs - Origami Owl buys Willa Skincare, Priceline's Sister Club and MyerOne among most successful store loyalty programs, and Millennials driving the niche fragrance boom.
Coty shares rise on S&P 500 ranking
Coty is in the final days of completing the US$12 billion acquisition of Procter & Gamble's masstige and luxury cosmetics and fragrance brands. The multinational's vastly increased corporate footprint springboarded it onto Standard & Poor's 500 list last week, edging out Diamond Offshore Drilling. Investors strongly supported the prestigious "promotion", causing a spike in Coty's share price.
The S&P 500 is a stock market index of the largest publicly traded companies in the US, and is a closely tracked benchmark for global investors. Companies need to have a market capitalisation of at least US$10 billion to gain a much-prized spot. Coty's ranking is expected to rise as the company strengthens its position in the global beauty market, following the integration of P&G power brands such as Hugo Boss, Gucci and COVERGIRL.
The fast-growing US beauty retailer, Ulta, joined the S&P 500 in April. A year earlier, was demoted from the index for the first time in nearly 50 years.
Teen entrepreneurs - Origami Owl buys Willa Skincare
It sounds like a business fairytale. Fourteen year old Bella Weems founded Origami Owl, a US direct-selling jewellery company in 2010, in partnership with her mother. A mere six years later, the company has more than 40,000 independent consultants and 300 employers.
In August, Origami Owl signed a groundbreaking licensing agreement with global entertainment giant, DreamWorks Animation, to launch a series of jewellery collections that capture the spirit and characters of select movies. The debut collection launches this week in the US, linked to the highly-anticipated Christmas feature - Trolls - featuring Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake.
Another entrepreneurial teen, 16 year old Willa Doss, also partnered with her mother, Christy Prunier, a former Hollywood producer, to launch skincare and cosmetics ranges for seven to 14 year olds. Business publications like Fortune magazine fell over themselves to write articles about the Willa brand. The products debuted in Henri Bendel, J. Crew and more than 300 Target stores in the US, but are now sold exclusively online and through consultants.
Origami Owl has bought Willa for an undisclosed sum, and hired Annette McEvoy as CEO. The beauty industry veteran was part of the founding team of Bath & Body Works, now a US$2 billion brand owned by Limited Brands. She also honed her skills at L'Oreal, Revlon and Gap body care. "All of us at Willa are thrilled to be joining the Origami Owl family of brands," says McEvoy. "We're led by two mother-daughter teams with authentic and beautiful stories. The partnership will enable Willa to reach a larger social selling audience and share Willa's inherent goodness with even more people". Visit www.willa.com
Priceline's Sister Club and MyerOne among most successful store loyalty programs
Woolworths Everyday Rewards is way out in front when it comes to signing up customers as loyalty program members - a huge 78.2 per cent - says Roy Morgan. Whether they regularly claim rewards or have lost their cards, 71 per cent of Australians are members of one or more store loyalty program, says the researcher.
Millers, the budget fashion chain, has a dedicated fan base with 73.4 per cent of customers enrolled in its Rewards program. Kmart and Target have also attracted more than half of their shoppers seeking rewards and benefits - 54.4 per cent and 54.3 per cent, respectively.
More than one in five Australians (21 per cent) are members of the MyerOne customer loyalty program - 55.2 per cent of the department store chain's regular shoppers. A huge 18 per cent of Australians belong to Priceline's Sister Club, says Roy Morgan, a hefty 55.2 per cent of the health and beauty retailer's customers.
Millennials driving the niche fragrance boom
Estée Lauder, L'Oréal and Puig are just three of the major players snapping up artisanal fragrance brands such as Le Labo, By Kilian, Atelier Cologne and EB Florals. Little wonder. Sales of niche and indie scents rose 22 per cent last year, reports the NPD Group, making them one of the fastest-growing categories.
Millennials are the main drivers of the shift, says NPD. Many are no longer interested in mass-market and celebrity fragrances, and both segments are in decline. Sales of premium and artisanal scents have offset the slump in lifestyle perfumes, reports Euromonitor, and revenues are expected to grow by 18 per cent over the next four years.
A stunning sample of the strength of the trend is Lauder-owned . Last year, the brand reached the US Top 10 with a number nine ranking - up from number 24 in 2011. Artisanal fragrances are also more profitable than designer label products, says Fabrizio Freda, CEO of Estée Lauder, because they don't need the same advertising and promotion. Coty also plans to re-focus on major prestige brands such as Gucci and .
Millennials also like to experiment more and don't want to wear the same fragrance day in, day out, says Euromonitor. A mega-trend that has pushed the fragrance industry to launch more 30ml bottle sizes and rollerballs. Rollerballs (about 10mls) have become the fastest-growing form of fragrance packaging, says the researcher, increasing by 50 per cent in 2015. They cost less than half the normal price, making it easier for budget-conscious Millennials to try out new scents, says Karen Grant, Global Beauty Industry Analyst, with NPD.
Snippets from the wires
- Cotton On has jumped a huge 66 places in the 2016 IBISWorld Top 500 list. The fashion retailer reported a 20 per cent increase in revenues in 2015/16 - domestic and international - to AUD$1.8 billion.
- Selfies have fuelled the unstoppable rise of eye make-up sales worldwide. According to Technavio, the three emerging trends which will continue to drive the global eye make-up category are: mineral eye make-up, customised virtual platforms and 3D make-up printers. Chasing Gen Z is the big focus for printers, says the researcher, appealing mainly to users aged 13 to twenty-one.
- The Chinese beauty market reached AUD$40.10 billion in 2015, reports HKTDC Research. Kantar Worldpanel also reports that skincare and colour cosmetic sales have risen by 12 and 10 per cent, respectively. Dabao, a local brand acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2008, has the largest reach. A regular favourite with 23.1 per cent of the population, the company sells 76.7 million products a year. Three of the fastest-growing brands in China are Innisfree, Korea's number one natural skincare brand owned by AmorePacific, Shiseido and Dr Morita, a Taiwanese skincare brand using Japanese technology.
- Print retains its hold on wealthier consumers, reports the 2016 Ipsos Affluent Survey. Now in its 40th year, the report considered 44 publications in the late 1970s. Thirty three are still in print, notes Ipsos, showing the strength and resilience of the medium in spite of drastic changes in technology. Affluent consumers still consistently read magazines, according to the survey, with 84 per cent reading a median of six magazine titles. Only 37 per cent read the digital versions. As a consumer segment, affluents read magazines 17 per cent more than non-affluent consumers.
- Beauty mavens viewing how-to tutorials on YouTube are skewing much younger these days, reveals a study from Pixability. Close to half (47 per cent) of viewers checking out the latest beauty trends are aged between 13 and 24. At the other end of the scale, says the video advertising company, one of the top emerging content categories on YouTube is "mature beauty", which is racking up 31 million monthly views. Men's grooming is on even more of a roll with 141 million monthly views.
Image: Instagram.com/bella__weems
