Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna 2019, once again, did not disappoint its expected 260,000 visitors from around the world. As always, the hair care industry was in the spotlight. Exhibitors, spread across six halls, had the chance to represent their brands with unique booth designs, new product launches, live shows, and much more. Aside from a few exceptions, manufacturing companies did not have on-the-spot sales, keeping the event focused on business aspects rather than turning it into a shopping event.
A couple of trends that we’ve covered in our soon-to-be-published Salon Hair Care Global Series report caught our attention at the show, and these include the green approach to product formulations and new ways to engage with customers through multimedia channels.
“Natural,” “biological,” and “green” continue to be haircare buzzwords
Even though the practices of green washing and green marketing continue to exist, many manufacturers can pride themselves and stand out from the pack thanks to their green and transparent image and work toward sustainability, protection of the environment, and distribution of natural products.
Given that natural products represent the fastest-growing trend in European developed haircare markets, their promotion was spot-on during Cosmoprof 2019. Companies like Davines, OWay, and Insight, which have a clear positioning as green-oriented brands, shared a similar booth design during the trade show, with a style that distinctively recalled botanical gardens, farms, and greenhouses.
Also, during CosmoTalks, the show’s conferences on relevant topics in the business of beauty, we could see how much the green world influences the development of a brand. “Green Cosmetics: A Focus on Distribution Channels” and “Environmental Footprint: An Opportunity for Beauty Companies” were two of the panels concerned with this trend.
Smartphones, online diagnosis, and augmented reality to set the footprint for future trends
The online and multimedia channel is significantly impacting today’s world and starting to become considerable in the professional haircare industry, with more sales going through e-shops, more marketing done on social media, and more opportunities to engage with final consumers.
Cosmoprof 2019 mirrors this shift, as companies doubled down on interactive displays at their booths, offering new ways to entertain and inform visitors.
Kemon, for its 60-year anniversary, created a multimedia museum, where users could interact with monitors that represented the company’s motto, “true, visionary, beauty.” Alfaparf Milano gave visitors the chance to picture themselves with a new hair color and style thanks to an innovative augmented reality software.
Many CosmoTalks, like “Beauty’s Digital Era: The Power of Social Media & Influencer Marketing Today” and “Digital Innovation to Create the Future of Beauty,” had a take on how technological approaches can improve brands’ strategies and could shape the entire beauty industry.
These trends observed at Cosmoprof, as well as many others, will be deeply analyzed in our annual Salon Hair Care Global Series report. This year’s edition will investigate some of the most interesting independent brands in the salon hair care market globally, profiling about 30 brands coming from Asia, Europe, and North America. It will also feature market size and growth as well as category highlights and breakdowns for the first half of 2019 for countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom in Europe, and others across the globe.