1 – Estée Lauder preparing to increase presence across all China retail channels
Beauty major Estée Lauder Companies says it will be increasing its coverage across all channels in China this year to capitalise on the growth potential of its beauty market.
President, CEO and director of The Estée Lauder Companies Fabrizio Freda said that he remained “absolutely excited by the potential of China”.
He noted that long-term trends, such as the rising middle class and increasing per capita send, all pointed towards growth for China’s beauty market.
The company aims to serve Chinese consumers “wherever they buy,” said Freda.
2 – Kao to discontinue or divest another 13 of its beauty brands by 2024 as pandemic impact persists
Kao is mulling over the decision to discontinue or divest another 13 of its beauty brands by 2024 to focus on its core G11 and R8 products, amid warnings that the impact of the pandemic will continue to be felt across the 12 months.
Speaking during the earnings conference, president and CEO Yoshihiro Hasebe said that the company expects the impact of the pandemic to persist this year.
“COVID-19 hit us at the beginning of 2020, and we do believe that it will have an impact until the very end of this year.”
To that end, he said that Kao intends to make investments in a select group of brands and products moving forward. The company had decided to discontinue or divest 28 brands and had already axed 15 of them.
3 – Supergoop! aiming to reinforce position in SEA sun care market with education and innovation
US sun care brand Supergoop! is ramping up efforts to advocate the benefits of sunscreen and release competitive products in the “super important” South East Asian market.
With high SPF consumption in the sunny SEA region, Supergoop! is aiming to strengthen its relationship with existing customers while expanding its reach to a wider audience.
As part of its plans to ramp up sun care education in the SEA region, Supergoop! has launched SPF Academy, which aims to convey the importance and benefits of wearing sunscreen among consumers.
“SEA is a key geography for Supergoop! and was the brand's first entry point into Asia. With a sunny climate and a skin care conscious consumer base, both markets are the perfect home for Supergoop! in the region,” said Natalia Obolensky, general manager Asia Pacific at Supergoop!
4 – LG H&H ventures into beauty tech with mini tattoo printer for North American market
South Korean firm LG Household & Health Care is set to enter the beauty tech space with a mini tattoo printer that it plans to launch in North America in the fourth quarter of this year.
On January 25, LG Household & Health Care (LG H&H) announced that after a year in development, it was set to enter the beauty tech space with the launch of a mini tattoo printer.
The mini tattoo printer, which has been dubbed with the working name of Printly, is roughly 10cm in size. The device is linked to a companion mobile application where users can select the image they want to get temporarily printed on their skin.
Printly is set to debut in the North American market through Arctic Fox, a US-based vegan hair care brand it acquired in 2021.
5 – L’Oréal on how luxury fragrance growth is being driven by ‘explosion’ of interest in China
French beauty giant L’Oréal Group has credited the boom in luxury fragrance to the growing appreciation among Chinese consumers and expects it to continue growing by double-digits in the years to come.
During the firm’s 2021 annual results conference, Cyril Chapuy, president of the L’Oréal Luxe division, highlighted that the firm’s luxury fragrance had achieved remarkable success in the past year, particularly in China.
“Historically, fragrance was a small category in China – less than 5% of the Chinese luxury market. It is growing very fast, in the last month of the year, fragrance was close to 10% of the Chinese luxury market with a new generation of Chinese customers discovering fragrance and loving the experience,” said Cyril Chapuy, president of the L’Oréal Luxe division,
He expressed his optimism for the category moving forward, emphasising that the company is the top luxury fragrance producer worldwide with more than 20% of market share.
