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“Chinese travellers are our target customers, so as they are shifting their travel destinations to new areas, we are following them.” – Benefit Cosmetics Global Travel Retail Director Beatrice Charreire |
INTRODUCTION: Benefit Cosmetics may have a tongue-in-cheek attitude to make-up but when it comes to business it couldn’t be more serious. The American beauty house, which has taken the world by storm, has set its sights on travel retail as the next big step in its global expansion.
The Moodie Report caught up with Benefit Cosmetics Global Travel Retail Director Beatrice Charreire at last month’s TFWA World Exhibition to discuss its strategy for the channel.
Having previously worked as Travel Retail Director for Asia at Kenzo and Yves Saint Laurent, Ms Charreire was appointed to spearhead expansion in the channel for the LVMH-owned brand, based in Hong Kong. “We have some existing travel retail business in Asia and the UK,” she notes.
“But since our newly created travel retail department was formed last year, we have great ambition to launch strongly and properly in travel retail worldwide. Last year our overall retail sales were US$1 billion. At the moment travel retail only represents about 7% of sales for us but our intention is to now focus on this area of growth.”
Benefit’s goal is to drive travel retail sales to 10% of company turnover and to triple its business in the channel within the next five years. It also aspires to becoming one of the sector’s top five make-up brands.
Benefit currently stands at number 11 in the sector, according to data from Generation Research, despite only operating in Asia and the UK, and is already ranked number two in the UK and number three in the key Korean travel retail market.
TRAVEL RETAIL BOOMS IN DUBAI AND UK
Currently present in 100 airports and downtown shops, mainly in Asia and the UK, travel retail is now a global priority for Benefit.
Charreire reveals that travel retail teams will be based regionally, with particularly large teams on the ground in South Korea and China where business is booming. “Chinese travellers are our target customers, so as they are shifting their travel destinations to new areas, we are following them. That’s why we will open in airports in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas (North and Latin).
“The importance of these customers is also being reflected in our training programmes. We are teaching our sales staff how to engage with Chinese customers and making sure they are familiar with Chinese etiquette,” explains Charreire.
Benefit has recently opened doors in airports in France (Paris Charles de Gaulle, Orly and Nice), Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, Palma) along with Rome and St Petersburg.
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The bold and cheeky signature look of Benefit Cosmetics |
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The unconventional ‘faces’ of the brand | |
HOW A NIPPLE STAIN BECAME A GLOBAL PHENOMENON Benefit started life as The Face Place, a make-up shop set up in 1976 by model twins Jean and Jane Ford as a fall-back plan for when their modelling days were over. Legend has it that the first product they created was a skin tint made in their kitchen from rosebuds after an exotic dancer friend requested a nipple stain. That product became Benetint, now more commonly used as a lip and cheek tint, which still remains one of the company’s bestsellers. The sisters primarily made products for themselves and this still works as the company’s ethos. “We are not a make-up artist brand, we are a beauty solution brand,” explains Charreire. “Girls have a beauty dilemma. We have a product to fake it – a quick fix.” The company’s motto, or rather ‘Benefesto’, ‘Laughter is the best cosmetic”¦so grin and wear it!’, is reflected in its bold packaging, fun product names and light-hearted attitude. The faces of the brand are not the latest top models but cartoonish pin-ups, actual dolls and characters such as POREfessional’s SpyGal. However, what some may dismiss as gimmicky is underpinned by quality products that have proved themselves time and again. To take an example, ‘They’re Real’ Mascara is the product that transformed Benefit from a cult favourite to a global player by becoming the world’s biggest-selling mascara. |
In terms of the fastest-growing markets, Charreire cites the UK and Dubai. “Our year-to-date sales up to October in UK travel retail have seen a growth rate of +22% and with World Duty Free we have the number one SKU in make-up with They’re Real Mascara.
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From browser to shopper, the Benefit way |
| I love its packaging, parlance (“ultra-cute appellations for less than ultra-fancy prices”, as one beauty blogger writes), product display and personalisation. All in another P – pink. It’s the sort of brand that brings a duty free store to life, gives it energy as well as revenue. |
“Another location where we’re seeing huge growth is in Dubai where we have tripled our business in the last four months. We are now the fifth best-selling make-up brand there even though we are not yet present in all of Dubai Duty Free’s shops. We will be in the top three next year.”
Product-wise, exciting days lie ahead. Benefit plans to launch several travel retail exclusives along with money-saving pack-ons such as a They’re Real Mascara and Liner duo set.
Charreire says that the company’s long-term product strategy is to create something unique that is not yet available in the market for travellers. These products are scheduled to launch in 2017 so for now details are being kept under wraps.
The company also has a major reveal planned for July 2016 with a new range that will launch simultaneously in domestic markets and across travel retail locations. Charreire isn’t disclosing any secrets but describes the collection as “something big that will revolutionise the beauty industry and transform Benefit.” Stay tuned for more details.
SUCCESSFULLY TURNING ‘BROWSERS’ INTO SHOPPERS
Owned by luxury goods giant LVMH since 1999, Benefit’s instant beauty solutions inspired by real-life customer dilemmas have proved a winning formula over a sustained period.
Since 2003, Benefit BrowBars have added another layer to the company’s business. There are now over 1,600 BrowBars globally where, according to LVMH, over 5 million eyebrows are shaped every year, making Benefit the biggest employer of aestheticians worldwide in the beauty industry.
Charreire identifies these Bars as the brand’s key channel to recruit customers and create loyalty. According to Charreire, in the field of make-up, brows represent the fastest-growing category in Asia.
The company tells women to “fake it ’til you make it” but based on current evidence, Benefit has little need to fake anything.
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One of Benefit’s BrowBars: according to Beatrice Charreire, brows represent the fastest-growing make-up segment in Asia |
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Benefit has become an industry byword for, and leader in, mascara | |
Mission Possible: Follow the adventures of Benefit’s POREfessional Spy Gal as she sets out to minimise the appearance of pores all around the world |
