Launched last month, five years after the marketing and communications agency first formed, The Beauty Makers' TBM Brand Lab had been designed to incubate a “new wave of consumer-first, innovation-led beauty brands”. It would primarily work with smaller, independent beauty founders, across colour cosmetics, skin care, hair care and fragrance, but had also been formed to incubate and grow larger, international brands.
Ambra Orini, founding partner of The Beauty Makers, told CosmeticsDesign-Europe: “For us, it’s important to be part of the innovation in beauty, not only in terms of product and brand concepts but also in terms of new kinds of companies that offer services and products and business models to grow innovation and dynamics in our industry.”
Building beauty brands and creating brand legacy
Incubators were a “key driver” behind innovation in beauty, Orini said, and whilst many already existed, the TBM Brand Lab would bring its digital, international expertise to the fore when helping to build new brands and accelerate existing ones.
“We want to position ourselves in helping grow beauty brands, both financially with investments and on the branding and marketing side, because we really are specialised in this. We are really passionate about brands and in the creation of brand legacy in beauty,” she said.
Orini said the importance of brands in beauty, and what was behind them, had risen in recent years as active dialogue between brands and consumer communities had become more important than ever. “For me, it’s a super exciting moment to create new brands because there’s a lot to create and to challenge (…) It’s very, very different from ten years ago, so, it’s super exciting for us to be able to be a part of this new chapter.”
Over the next three to five years, she said The Beauty Makers hoped its Brand Lab would gain international reach and lead brand development in the beauty category.
Future innovation gaps? Gen Z beauty and holistic rituals
Whilst today’s beauty market remained competitive, fast-paced and “very crowded”, Orini said there were still gaps to innovate and grow into.
Asia-Pacific, for example, was a fascinating region that held huge growth promise, and in Europe, younger generations – particularly Gen Z – represented an interesting demographic worth targeting. “They are showing interest for beauty, so I think there’s a lot of opportunity in new generation-targeted brands.”
New and growing beauty brands could also address inclusivity – developing products in underserved spaces, she said. An there was huge scope to build more “holistic” and “connected” beauty brands that targeted body care, skin care and more for consumers. Within all this, Orini said nature-driven but science-backed beauty would take centre stage.
