The domestic men's makeup industry has grown exponentially in recent years. Major beauty brands including L’Oréal have accelerated investment in the male cosmetics market and increased new product innovation. Illuminera Innovative Consultancy Service Team cooperated with L’Oréal Consumer Intelligence (CI) and Tmall Innovation Center (TMIC) to realize the first real C2B reverse product innovation in men's cosmetics. As L’Oréal’s first men’s make-up product, L’Oréal Men’s Expert Impeccable Concealer has sold more than 35,000 units just 3 days after launch, ranking first in Tmall’s Men’s BB cream and Men’s makeup categories.
Mr. Ma Siming, vice president of L’Oréal China R&D and Innovation Center, commented on this launch and stated, “It is critical to capture growth opportunities while insisting on consumer-oriented innovation.”
A New Age of Men’s Beauty, The Impeccable Concealer Is Born
L’Oréal has always been optimistic about China’s men’s skin care market, continually pioneering products within the segment. With the rise of men’s beauty products, L’Oréal hoped to lead the trend and attract more young consumers by launching a full range of men's beauty products. Through in-depth consumer research and rigorous TMIC product testing, Illuminera proposed to avoid words similar to female makeup products such as “foundation” and “BB cream”, instead exploring a brand-new category called “impeccable concealer”, emphasizing the product’s efficacy to create a face-repairing product that directly addressed the pain points of men’s makeup and raised the bar in the cosmetics industry. The conception of “impeccable concealer” not only reduced the barrier attached to men’s makeup and lessened the stigma against men using BB cream, but also helped upgrade male skin care products and expand penetration.
Big Data Anchors Target Consumers, C2M Reverse Customization Realizes Co-Innovation
By means of our insight into consumers’ purchasing behaviors and mindsets, we accurately grasped the classification of target consumers and the corresponding group portrait, clarified the attitudes of Chinese men towards “men’s beauty” and “makeup, understood consumer needs and pain points, and explored the motives as well as the obstacles in the purchase process of men’s makeup. Meanwhile, empowered by big data to measure the scale and conversion rate of different groups, we segmented male consumers aged 18-34 from first to third-tier cities to precisely anchor high-potential consumers and assist the L'Oréal CI team with carrying out C2M new product co-creation, achieving a “0 to 1 breakthrough.
Unlock Efficient Communication to Accelerate Promotion, Achieve Precise Reach Through Online and Offline Linkages
In response to male consumers’ concerns about makeup products, Illuminera assisted the brand with making adjustments in product naming, marketing strategies, and communication methods, weakening the connection to “female” products and lowering the barriers for male consumers. We believe that the impeccable concealer should emphasize the concept of “repair” and highlight the product’s efficacy. Besides, promotion methods such as product color, user instructions, packaging design, etc. should also be more accessible to men. With the above strategies, L’Oréal achieved accurate reach through online and offline linkages. On one hand, L’Oréal used social media platforms such as Tik Tok, Bilibili, and Kwai to accurately reach consumers and achieve efficient communication among the post-95 generation; on the other hand, it opened up new offline channels and created the first pop-up store named “men’s beauty convenience store” to approach target consumers and convey the concept that “beautifying is as simple as buying water in the convenience store”.
Following the launch of “L'Oréal Mid-night Cream” in 2019 and creating a explosively successful product that sold 100,000 pieces on its debut day, this is another successful launch of a new product created by Illuminera with the support of TMIC and L'Oréal’s CI team.
For more information, please contact: marketing@illuminera.com
