The Beauty Cluster once again served as inspiration for industry professionals. This Wednesday, it brought together more than a hundred professionals from the cosmetics, perfumery, and personal care industry in Barcelona to learn what is currently appealing to consumers and what will win them over in the future, in a conference sponsored by devera.ai and Omi.
Sara Jiménez, Communications Manager of the Beauty Cluster, was in charge of welcoming the attendees and explained how the current context is affecting consumer habits and also brand communication. She explained that consumers in uncertain situations become more cautious and follow a trend of saving and stockpiling, and this, of course, affects sales. In the more business-oriented and brand-focused vision, Sara Jiménez gave some examples of how brands position themselves in war conflicts such as the Gaza War: "companies take a position and the consumer is in the middle, asking brands to be consistent and to have empathy. You have to know how to communicate." The head of communication for the Beauty Cluster spoke about the economy of empathy and the importance of responding emotionally to the needs of consumers.
Marc Morillas, CEO of Morillas Brand, shared the importance of brand communication and not limiting oneself solely to the cosmetic sector: it is essential to know how communication works in other sectors. Morillas pointed out that although knowing the trends today is essential, it cannot be above the vision and mission of the company. "The vast majority of brands are lurching and do not have a clear idea of their promise." The CEO of Morillas Brand also explained that brands in Spain are based too much on rationality and lose the essentiality of the attribute: "there is a lack of differentiation: they are hyper-rational brands and that is the main problem: the intangible value is not believed in."
Siham Bouhrir, Marketing Manager at Provital, asserted how trends are also found in the laboratory. Trends begin in formulation because we are facing a consumer who increasingly wants to know more about what they are exposed to, what the products they use daily contain. One of these trends seen in the laboratory is biomimicry and its relationship with biotechnology. Bouhrir also spoke about the synergy between the physical and the digital: phygital is ideal for storytelling with omnichannel experiences. Artificial intelligence is obviously also present in laboratories and also accompanies the consumer with SKINGPT: a marketing tool about products, ingredients, environmental factors that revolutionizes skin care.
Before the space dedicated to networking, Anna Mas, Marketing Manager of MANE, and Maria Martins explained how trends can also be transferred and become fragrances through the sensations they evoke. For 20 minutes, they showed attendees four fragrances related to current trends related to Generation Z, masculinity, and female empowerment.
After the networking, Ernesto Caccavale from Schina.eu, discussed the rise of nutricosmetics in the Chinese market and which products are most in demand by these consumers, as well as how they make purchases, with Douyin being the leading platform for creating trends that translate into sales. Caccavale highlighted the increase in supplementation to improve well-being and sports supplementation. The most demanded categories are: improvement of sports performance and weight control, work and study, and, of course, beauty. Caccavale also explained that injections of food supplements are on the rise.
Next, Mateo García from OMI, spoke about the visual codes of the future and how Omi is able to revolutionize the beauty sector with the creation of images and trending styles for the beauty sector and how it is able to win over the consumer and improve brand communication. Anna Fuster, CEO and founder of Two Poles, closed the round of individual presentations to inspire attendees with the success story of her brand and how she has worked on her communication and has been able to adapt to market trends, and has also been able to relate it to her personal brand, working and betting on honest and effective cosmetics.
The round table between Anna Fuster, Siham Bouhrir, and Marc Morillas, and moderated by Sara Jiménez served to bring the Beauty Cluster's inspirational day to a close. They discussed how to take action with trends, how to take advantage of them to create products while ensuring that the company does not lose its essence.