Contemporary Brand Management

CONTEMPORARY BRAND MANAGEMENT
By (Student’s Name)
Course Name
Professor’s Name
University
City/State
Date
Executive Summary
Introducing a new product entails identifying market opportunities and exploiting the gaps. This paper discusses introducing a new product in the cosmetics and beauty industry. The consumption trends in the cosmetics and beauty industry include reliance on digital platforms, which support consumer convenience, among other emerging technologies that enhance customer experience and interaction. The modern consumer is also keen on ethical and sustainable products. As a new brand, the focus should be on targeting unexploited market segments by producing natural and organic cosmetics. Competitors such as Sephora, Inglot, and L’Oreal’s Urban Decay are its major competitors. Sephora, for example, has a strong social media presence and brand awareness, which affects the new brand, FaceCard’s success. This is indicated in the brand positioning, where Sephora has a high social media presence and higher prices. Regardless, it enjoys a market share over competitors such as Urban Decay. It also includes brand graphics, including name, logo, slogan and product packaging design. Thereafter, the discussion revolves around communication strategy, primarily focusing on the new media and old media to attract young and older adults. This meets the Rossiter-Percy grid of communication objectives that revolve around brand awareness and attitude. A new brand requires brand identity, image, positioning, and equity, which shapes the overall business success. To succeed in the UK market, including overcoming competition, the new brand must embrace innovative marketing plans, ranging from digital promotion and emerging technologies such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence, penetration pricing that changes to competitive pricing once the brand establishes itself in 3 years, and socially responsible behaviour.
Table of Contents SECTOR ANALYSIS. 4 Consumption Trends and Major Opportunities. 4 Major Competitive Brands and the Market Situation. 5 Analysis of Major Brands and Positioning Map. 6 NEW BRAND TO ENTER THE MARKET. 7 New Brand Development 7 Market Gaps. 7 Opportunities for the new brand. 8 Brand Graphics. 8 Name. 8 Logo. 9 Slogan. 9 Branding/Product Packaging Design. 10 Communication Strategy. 10 Four Components of Branding. 11 Brand Identity. 11 Brand Image. 11 Brand Positioning. 12 Brand Equity. 12 RECOMMENDATION.. 13 CONCLUSION.. 14 References. 16
SECTOR ANALYSIS
Consumption Trends and Major Opportunities
The cosmetic industry, including beauty products, is one of the most successful industries in the contemporary world. The focus primarily entails manufacturing and distributing skin care products, colour cosmetics, including mascara and foundation, fragrances, hair care, toiletries, and beauty appliances such as combs. Importantly, consumer trends are shaped by strategic marketing approaches, including social media and influencer marketing, which includes celebrity endorsements. Consumers in the beauty industry are more likely to embrace a product endorsed by their favourite celebrity (Freire et al. 2018, 289). The modern beauty product customer embraces convenience, which indicates the disregard for brick-and-mortar stores in favour of online shopping and delivery. Importantly, since most beauty products require in-store experience, most cosmetic brands have adopted advanced technology, including artificial intelligence, augmented, and virtual reality that allows the target audience to try different beauty products before purchase, address consumer concerns, including skin type and the most reliable colour cosmetics, among others (Mangtani et al., 2020, p. 2296). The reliance on emerging technologies also signals a primary focus on customer experience and interaction, which at the moment thrives on digital platforms such as the Internet and social media. Another notable consumption trend is the increased need for ethical and sustainable products. Consumers are increasingly informed regarding the importance of sustainability and social responsibility, which ultimately influences their purchase intent. Major opportunities a new brand should exploit in the cosmetic industry include the ever-growing market, emerging markets, and segments, which currently include male grooming and the increasing demand for natural and organic cosmetics. The contemporary consumer prefers eco-friendly products, which implies that the new brand must ensure the products meet consumer beauty needs and standards, and at the same time, do not affect the planet and people. Another opportunity is the availability of cost-effective marketing strategies, such as social media, where the brand can facilitate brand awareness.
Major Competitive Brands and the Market Situation
Apart from established multinationals such as Sephora and L’Oreal that enjoy a considerable presence in the UK market, brands such as Inglot, Urban Decay, and Barry M Cosmetics, among others, also have a notable influence in the cosmetic market. Brands such as Sephora have exploited the digital space to create desirable customer experiences, invest in product research and development, have a strong brand image, a diversified product portfolio that targets different segments and demographics, and sensational in-store experience, which affects the competition. As such, one can conclude that the beauty industry is highly competitive, which worsens because it lacks notable entry barriers for new brands. Regardless, the growing market implies that brands can realise growth and development. At the moment, for example, both genders exploit beauty products, which implies that a new brand must target both male and female consumers to realise notable market share. This includes market research to establish appropriate pricing, product portfolio, distribution channels or product placement, and promotional techniques, which will primarily revolve around digital marketing. Importantly, most of the target audience, for example, women aged between 20 to 50 years, spend considerable time on social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, which compels new brands to adopt online marketing to reach them. As such, the market situation will include an analysis of the target audience, which, as noted earlier, will be both genders, young and older adults, and the threats of competition from established brands such as L’Oreal and Sephora. The new brand will be called Facecard. It will prioritise high-quality, eco-friendly products that are popularised via social media with the help of influencer marketing. There is a need to understand the political factors, including the presence of guidelines and laws that compel the beauty industry to be mindful of its environmental impacts. In that regard, McGrath (2018) notes that the UK government prohibits the reliance on plastic microbeads in the production of beauty products. Another notable factor is the prioritised lifestyle changes among consumers, which indicates that if the new brand disregards factors such as the risk of health concerns resulting from product use, it is likely to fail in the competitive business environment (Stallard, 2023). If the new product adopts technology, including artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, and social media presence, as is the case with brands such as Sephora, it will register notable success. Importantly, the threat of new entrants that offer similar or substitute products and the growing imitation of products in the beauty industry will affect the successful launch and realisation of a notable market share.
Analysis of Major Brands and Positioning Map
The major beauty brands in the industry include L’Oreal: Urban Decay, Sephora, Inglot, and Revolution. The data on pricing is based on the company website and third-party seller Amazon’s prices, while the online presence is drawn from social media engagement and followers, with Sephora leading.
High Prices
2752090-84518500
673100373380
3238503651250Low Online PresenceHigh Online Presence
Low Prices
NEW BRAND TO ENTER THE MARKET
New Brand Development
Though often regulated as a drug, sunscreen products are considered cosmetics.
Market Gaps
As a new brand, the focus should be on targeting a demographic whose needs are yet to be met by existing brands in the UK beauty and cosmetics industry. Identifying the market gaps will entail market research to establish consumer trends, needs, and expectations and seek inspiration from successful multinationals such as L’Oreal and Sephora. Even though Sephora UK has a tanning and sun protection kit retailing at £14.49 for the spray gel SPF and £32 for SPF30 PA+++, it is important to note that the product’s target mostly women between 24-36 years (Sephora, 2023). This presents a market gap involving young men and older men and women aged 36 years and above who also need skincare products at competitive prices.
Opportunities for the new brand
In 2017, the Guardian reported that UK locals are increasingly exposed to harmful sun rays (Smithers, 2017). The author indicates that Britons are exposed to sunburn, far-reaching skin damage, and cancer risk. The BBC (2022) also reports that UK heatwaves are common and can include extreme temperatures of up to 100F. Rannard (2022) further indicates that warm spells are expected to last longer, which is justified by claims of rising global temperatures. Findings suggest that heatwaves are likely to intensify, become frequent, and last longer because of climate change contributions (Marx et al., 2021, p. 781). The above is an opportunity that Facecard can exploit and introduce sunscreen and creams for both genders. However, to guarantee notable success during winter, the new brand launch will include an extended product portfolio, including colour cosmetics, skin care products, and anti-ageing creams that are likely to improve skin health and conceal wrinkles, especially among the older UK population (Barns, 2018).
Brand Graphics
Name
Facecard is the new brand’s name. The choice of name is important. The target audience should be able to read and remember it, hence the need for a unique brand name that matches the brand identity. Facecard is not an offensive word, which implies that it is less likely to experience negative reception, especially in the initial brand awareness campaign where the brand seeks to establish a brand image and create a positive impression on the target audience. It is memorable, likeable, and can be loosely translated to mean a “primary focus on your face.”
Logo
The logo will embody colours that favour both genders. It includes a face that automatically draws attention to cosmetics and beauty. It i...