Maybelline taps into the power of Asia with new brand ambassador

The L’Oreal-owned colour cosmetics brand took to social media site Instagram to announce the appointment of I-Hua Wu, a Taiwanese model.

Of her new role, I-Hua Wu was keen to stress she believes Maybelline is ahead of the curve among the major beauty players in promoting itself among Asian consumers with brand ambassadors from the region.

"I do feel like Asians are still underrepresented in the mainstream fashion and beauty world, and I hope my role as Maybelline’s first global Taiwanese face can open up new opportunities for us​," she reportedly told Pret-a-Reporter.

Maybelline has enlisted several ethnically diverse endorsers in recent months, with I-Hua Wu being most recently preceded by model Herieth Paul from Tanzania. It already includes various models from Asia among its campaigns, but I-Hua Wu will be the first representing the brand on the global stage.

Diverse beauty​

With the rising consumer demand for products which cater to the specific needs of ethnic minorities rising, brands have been responding.

Phil Williams, founder and CEO of Enchanted Life, an e-commerce beauty site aimed at America’s multicultural community, has spoken of this rising trend.

“The multicultural consumer will soon be the new normal in the beauty space and it’s a category that definitely needs to have attention paid to it and you can see that by the expansion of growth​,” he said.

MAC and Estée Lauder are two brands often picked out for pushing forward in this category, with Shiseido recently announcing its intention to target consumers on a global and inclusive scale too.

Internal diversity​

Earlier this year, Maybelline’s parent company L’Oreal launched its first ever Worldwide Diversity Report​, through which it scrutinised its own inclusivity over the past five years.

"A diverse workforce in all functions and levels of a company enhances our creativity and our understanding of consumers, thus allowing us to develop and market products that are relevant to their expectations​,” CEO Jean-Paul Agon commented.

Public opinion on the issue has lately been strongly critical of the lack of products and representation with beauty for the range of ethnic diversity globally, and L’Oreal is one company which seems to be making move to address this.