What’s Igniting Growth in the Hair Salon Industry?
Over 3% global growth and the strong performance of some regions, particularly North America, are proof of another good year for the salon hair care market. Some of the most interesting developments happen on the competitive front where the race for higher shares in the quickly growing bond builders segment is intensifying due to the emergence of new brands. Olaplex, the pioneer in this segment, continues its efforts to remain the leader, not only through expansion, but also through legal action towards its competitors.
Market consolidation continues to shape the industry with two recent acquisitions—Conair adds Aquage to its portfolio and Unilever purchases Living Proof. It’s an important step for Unilever, which competed only with one master brand, TIGI, in the professional hair care arena. Unlike TIGI, which takes pride in being a brand “by hairdressers for hairdressers,” Living Proof is a hybrid brand with strong distribution in both salons and retail.Continue reading
The New Age of Beauty Becomes Male-centric
Men’s grooming continues to be on beauty marketers’ radar. Recently, a new trend focusing on male consumers is making big waves and has great potential to impact the market in the upcoming years. Men’s cosmetics and gender-free beauty are the next steps in the male beauty movement, with the media, indie beauty brands, and even major beauty companies paying tribute to the rise of men in beauty.
Social media gave a voice to indie beauty brands as reported by Kline’s Beauty’s Most Buyable Brands: Global Tracking Service, and it is now providing a platform to men who are just as passionate as women are about cosmetics and beauty. Social media has given a platform to early male adopters of makeup to share their experiences with the world. Continue reading
Meet the New Normal: Bio-based Lubricants to Become More Prevalent in the Coming Years
Historically, bio-lubricants have constituted a small percentage of the finished lubricants market globally. The leading markets for bio-lubricants are primarily in North America and Europe, including the United States, Germany, and the Nordic countries.
In 2014, the market seemed to have tremendous potential. Now, in the early days of 2017, we are slowly witnessing the fruits of that potential. Government regulations and procurement seem to have created a demand for bio-based lubricants. However, it seems government initiatives alongside regulations and emergence of high performance basestocks are pushing the once niche segment to the forefront, albeit moderately. Continue reading
Beauty Tech Becomes Customized at the Consumer Electronics Show
Kevin Plank, CEO and founder of UnderArmour, addressed Consumer Electronics Show (CES) attendees at the 2017 annual show held in Las Vegas last week in a keynote speech, inquiring “What if Apple or Samsung started making apparel and footwear? What would they do, and how do we beat them to it?” With the almost endless options consumers have in choosing beauty brands and products, it is imperative that beauty companies begin to model UnderArmour’s thinking and ask themselves how they can move forward to create the next generation of gadgets for beauty. This is especially important as Samsung’s C-Lab announced its foray into the skin care market at this year’s CES through Lumini and S-Skin, its skin analysis devices and apps.Continue reading
New Acne Elimination Switches and Devices Heat Up the OTC Market
The U.S. OTC market has enjoyed solid momentum in recent years, increasing far beyond the typical 2% to 3% annual growth it used to experience. Strong advertising and promotional investments, several new products, and Rx-to-OTC switch brands, as well as the steady distribution of major brands that had been off the market for several years, have helped propel the market beyond regular growth.
Lately, we’ve seen several alternative sources of competition for traditional OTCs that are emerging. Self-care devices, which have been around for many years in the beauty realm, are now entering OTC categories. TENS technology is being used in the topical analgesics market, while low light technology is seen in new devices that treat hair loss, cold sores, and even allergies. Bayer, which markets Aleve Direct Therapy TENS device for lower back pain, and Sanofi, with its Icy Hot TENS device, are among the new market entrants in this space.Continue reading
South American Finished Lubricants Market: Time for Rebuilding
In a presentation at the ICIS Pan-American Conference held in December 2016, Sergio Rebelo, Managing Director in Kline’s South America affiliate, Factor, discussed the struggles and opportunities of the South American finished lubricants market.
South America has a population of 419 million and a continental GDP of USD 3.6 trillion, roughly 5% of the global total. The top countries in terms of GDP are Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia. Nonetheless, the region is undoubtedly experiencing a challenging economic climate. Projected growth has been cut in half since 2010 and is forecast to grow 2.5% per annum until 2020.Continue reading
The Holiday Season Calls for Increased Beauty Promotions
With less than a week until the holidays, consumers are busy shopping for last minute deals and steals. Holiday bundles and kits, free gifts with purchase, friends and family sales, and buy one, get one free are all promotional strategies beauty retailers have been using to drive sales during the festive season.
However, what is different in 2016 is consumers’ increase in savviness in where they can get the most value for their dollar. With consumers buying wherever they can find the best deal, retailers and marketers have proven that they are willing to accommodate changing consumer preferences by offering exclusive online deals.Continue reading
Shifts in Jan/San Chemical Distribution to Retail Channels Emerge in the U.S. Jan/San Market
Operating under tight budget constraints, many small businesses are purchasing jan/san chemicals from retailers as they offer convenience and value pricing. While the majority of jan/san chemicals are sourced from janitorial supply and paper distributors, there has been an increase in sales through retailers for these products. In this article, we profile three retail channels that are emerging as popular sources for jan/san chemicals and examine their appeal to small business, contract cleaners, and other institutional end users.Continue reading
The Growing Business of Dispensing Skin Care
Dispensing skin care continues to be attractive to physicians in the United States as the number of physicians dispensing skin care products increases in 2016, especially among medical spas and other physicians. As the demand for cosmetic procedures continues to increase, physicians typically recommend take-home skin care products to be used in combination with procedures to increase the benefits or reduce the side effects of procedures. However, dispensing skin care products have been a tradition/mainstay mainly for dermatologists and plastic surgeons as over 40% of both these physician types, respectively, have been dispensing skin care products for over 10 years, according to Kline’s soon-to-be-published Physician-dispensed Skin Care: Perception and Satisfaction Survey.Continue reading
Growth in the Latin American and Caribbean Finished Lubricants Market is at a Turning Point
Overall demand for finished lubricants in Latin America and the Caribbean was negatively affected by the regional economic downturn during the period from 2014 to 2016. However, this general challenging picture is hiding a number of dynamic markets, such as Chile, Dominican Republic, Panama, and Costa Rica, where lubricant demand is posting above-average industry growth, finds the recently published Opportunities in Lubricants: Latin America and Caribbean Market Analysis report by global market research and management consulting firm Kline.
As the region starts to pick up, it is entering a new post-recession cycle in 2017. The regional differences emerging show that growth will not be uniform.Continue reading
