In the traditional concept, skin care products for young people are often cleansing, moisturizing, oil control, acne removal and other function-based products. But it is worth thinking that the young group is a variable, targeting only young people, which means that the customer base is constantly mobile and unstable.
Perhaps this is an important reason why more and more brands such as SpoiledChild have begun to create anti-aging products for young consumers.
Launched last year by Oddity, the parent company of makeup brand Il Makiage, SpoiledChild is a DTC brand that focuses on "personalized anti-aging" and offers a range of skincare and hair care products priced at $59 for the brand's hair growth serum and $58 to $69 for the face anti-aging serum (30ml).
From the perspective of product efficacy and pricing alone, the brand's target consumers should be a more mature group with certain consumption strength, and the brand's visual and marketing strategies are obviously more targeted at very young consumers. Although SpoiledChild doesn't explicitly claim that the brand is primarily aimed at young people, Suzanne Fitzpatrick, co-general manager of the brand, also told Happi: "A new generation of consumers is redefining the rules of aging in their own way, and we want to create products for them that break the standard." ”
Rooted in self-expression, personalization and inclusivity, Gen Z beauty brand InnBeauty Project used to aim to create affordable "effective" products for younger consumers. Last year, the brand launched Retinol Remix, a retinol serum that retailed for $48, much higher than previous serums.
Laneige has recently launched the new anti-aging product "Golden Three Tubes" serum, which uses three anti-aging ingredients retinol, collagen peptide solution and patented ingredient funorin to improve the skin's fine lines, sagging and dullness. For a long time, young women have been Laneige's main consumer group, and the unit price of the brand's popular products is generally around 200 yuan, and in recent years, Laneige's high-efficacy anti-aging products have also entered the field of view of consumers.
The local brand Pechoin has also launched a series of anti-aging frame products, focusing on the effect of light lines, and the price of essence and cream products is about 500 yuan.
The volume and growth potential of the anti-aging market are obvious to all, and the anti-aging track has ushered in more and more competitors, but when a beauty brand focusing on anti-aging positions the target group as young Generation Z, basing its brand image on the current trend, its anti-aging products are not sold at a cheap price, can the savvy, skincare knowledgeable Generation Z be willing to pay for this, what is the business logic of the brand to create such a product?
Social media is revolutionizing the skincare timeline of younger consumers, and people may think they're still dealing with pimples, but in fact they've added anti-aging steps to their skincare routine.
On the one hand, the pursuit of "girliness" and "childishness" in social media and public aesthetics has made young consumers more anxious about aging; On the other hand, the widespread dissemination of skincare knowledge through social media has made young consumers more aware of the ingredients, formulas and ways of using skincare products than any previous generation.
As a result, more and more Gen Z are including anti-aging products and aesthetic treatments in their consumption lists. According to a 2019 report by WGSN, Gen Z women spend $368 per year on beauty, up 18% year-over-year, with skincare being the main driver; NPD's 2022 Consumer Report shows that 67% of Gen Z women (ages 13 to 25) use skincare products and use an average of 5.5 products per day.
In China, CBNData research data shows that the post-90s and post-95s have become the largest consumer groups for anti-aging online consumption; According to the statistics of Jigua Data, the sales of anti-aging skin care products on Douyin and Kuaishou platforms in the first half of 2022 exceeded 10 billion, a year-on-year increase of 189%; According to the report of green eye, 90.58% of consumers aged 26-30 are concerned about skin aging.
In an interview with WWD Chinese, Youshiyan shared his views on this trend: "Post-90s and even post-00s have a rising awareness of anti-aging prevention, and they generally want to prevent skin aging problems in advance, which further expands the anti-aging market. ”
Regarding the skin aging characteristics of Chinese women, Ms. Wang Yifeng, General Manager of the Laneige brand, shared: "Amore's Group conducted a study of 1,000 Gen MZ Chinese women (25-35 years old) on skin aging cognition, and we found that young women show signs of 'cliff-like aging', mainly due to dullness, wrinkles and sagging. "Youshi Yan also found in the study that Chinese women's neck collagen began to lose at the age of 21, and the principle of facial glue began to be lost at the age of 24, resulting in wrinkles in Chinese skin that would begin to appear at the age of 25, coupled with the environment, stress and other factors, the performance characteristics of skin aging will tend to be younger.
Generation Z's focus on skincare and anti-aging represents a huge growth opportunity, and this generation of consumers will surely show greater influence in social culture and economy, becoming a more important skincare consumer group, so launching effective anti-aging products for Generation Z that are more aesthetically and conceptually compatible with them, while also paving the way for building the long-term competitiveness of the brand.
A series of increasingly "younger" signs of aging, coupled with the ubiquitous spread of professional skincare knowledge, the demand of young Chinese consumers against aging products is naturally growing rapidly. Whether it is a classic brand focusing on anti-aging, a Gen Z brand, or even more fashion beauty brands, it means a greater market opportunity.
Especially for beauty brands that have always focused on Gen Z, positioning high-end, expensive anti-aging products, and the accompanying longer service cycle, is a smart option that is worth betting on for the long term.
In addition, function-based skin care products have high substitution, and anti-aging products that require a lot of scientific and technological endorsement and R&D investment are more conducive to occupying consumers' minds and establishing consumers' loyalty to the brand.
Market data in recent years has proven that luxury beauty is more resilient to changes in the macroeconomic environment, even growing against the trend, but mass beauty is more vulnerable to economic headwinds. Data from NielsenIQ shows that between September 2021 and September 2022, sales of mass skincare products fell 4% year-on-year, while luxury skincare increased by 20%.
Coty Group, which was previously relatively weak in the luxury skin care field, has also begun to plan to make up for this shortcoming, including the "ultra-luxury" skin care brand Orveda, Lancaster, which focuses on sun protection and anti-aging technology, and Skkn by Kim, a personal skin care brand launched by Kim Kardashian, which received its investment, priced at $43 to $95.
In the Chinese market, more and more local brands have begun to abandon the strategy of relying on low prices to acquire customers and launch higher-priced product lines. Since the launch of the large-item strategy, Proya's performance and market awareness have grown significantly, and the company's general manager Fang Yuyou mentioned at the shareholders' meeting that this strategy is intended to "increase customer unit price and repurchase rate, and enhance brand stickiness".
Winona's parent company Bethany also launched a high-end skin care brand last year, focusing on anti-aging products, and some of its essence products are priced at nearly 2,000 yuan.
Oddity's courage to launch a high-priced young brand SpoiledChild is not unrelated to the company's technological prowess, Oddity regards strong technological capabilities as its differentiated competitiveness, and the technical team is the largest team in the company, with the support of SpoiledChild to develop an AI algorithm called SpoiledBrain to provide consumers with personalized products and recommendations.
High-tech and customized consumer experience is undoubtedly a major factor in attracting young consumers, Ms. Wang Yifeng told WWD Chinese edition: "In response to the current preference of young consumers who are willing to try early and pay attention to technology, LANEIGE will integrate smart skincare experience with black technology to bless offline counters, so as to provide young consumers with more professional and suitable skincare solutions." According to the brand, LANEIGE has provided the MC-680 skin detector in many counters across the country, which uses an intelligent 5 spectrum detection system to accurately analyze the six major skin problems.
As Lennon Lin, Senior Communications Manager at Augustinus Bader, explains, "When it comes to luxury purchases, many consumers are moving from objects to experiences. "The brand launched AB Soothing Cream and AB Lotion last year to seize the market of young people, and at the same time opened the brand's self-operated anti-aging care room "The Skin Lab by Augustinus Bader" in New York, USA and London, England, through the unique anti-aging philosophy system Vital Aging, supplemented by other disciplines such as natural therapy, energy therapy, psychology, modern medicine, etc., to bring consumers a rich care experience.
In the increasingly fierce competition in the beauty market, especially the anti-aging market, whether brands can stand out is still related to the competition of product strength. In terms of business logic, the upgrading of brand image and product positioning is also conducive to driving brand performance and long-term growth potential. The reason why some mature brands can rely on ace anti-aging products to establish an unshakable position in the market, in addition to decades of R&D investment and market research is indispensable, these products continue to optimize and upgrade in the process of continuous market entry, and establish a long-term trust relationship with consumers, which may still be a considerable barrier for new entrants.
Although brands can quickly launch new products with a mature supply chain, products that lack polishing will still face the challenge of product homogenization, especially considering the current familiarity of young consumers with various anti-aging ingredients and formulas. In the future, for Generation Z brands, truly unique technological achievements and the ability to shape new classics are the comprehensive breakthroughs that stand out. WWD
Written by Lucy Geng and Lee
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