Since the late 2000s, the concept of self-care has moved away from the fringes of brand and customer care and firmly entered the mainstream. In fact, post-pandemic attitudes have led to even more focus on health and wellbeing, with BoF’s 2023 Beauty State of Fashion report, currently valued at $1.8 trillion, showing that the world’s It turns out that the wellness industry is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 5 to 10 percent from 2023. Until 2027.
As the category grows, so too does consumer understanding of the premise of self-care, with access to information that extends self-care and wellness to include mindfulness, mental health, sleep quality, and the ingredients and efficacy of beauty and skin care products. It’s spreading.
As a result, acceptance of self-care products and services has created a unique consumer demand, with nearly one in five North American consumers and one in three Millennials in the market seeking personalization in the self-care space. They say they prefer products and services that are To meet demand, some brands will be able to emphasize existing products in their portfolios, according to a study by management consultancy McKinsey & Company. Some companies may need to rethink their product formulations and strategies.
Renai flagship store in Montreal. (Christina Esteban)
“One of the biggest changes in consumer behavior is how much knowledge customers have today, whether it’s fact or hearsay. There’s been a reversal in who’s leading the conversation.” Christopher Novak, Ren’ai’s president and chief creative officer, told BoF. “When I first entered the beauty industry, brands were responsible for telling customers what they needed. Now, customers are looking for brands with specific demands to meet their needs. I started visiting.”
A new beauty and self-care retailer, Rennaï, opened in Montreal’s Royal Mount in September. Focused on personalized self-care and home to more than 175 brands, the 36,000 square foot space is divided into “Rennai’s Five Disciplines” spanning beauty, fragrance, self-care, wellness and product effectiveness . The store also features an upscale in-house medical aesthetic clinic and is the first in a series of store openings in North America planned over the next five years.
Educating and inspiring consumers responsibly is at the core of our strategy. The store’s spatial design encourages shoppers to discover and define beauty and self-care habits that work for them.
“At Rennaï, the customer experience is based on discovery and exploration. Our store areas exist because we want consumers to immerse themselves in our categories, products and experiences. In this way, we can ask questions, build and share knowledge, and connect it fully,” Novak added. “We believe that the self-care space will evolve into an integrated service. Customers want convenient access to a complete self-care plan, and business that comes from a place of expertise and trust will become a new tradition. I believe that it will emerge as a leading brand.”
To chart how consumer needs are changing when it comes to self-care, the drivers behind that change, and the innovations that provide strategic advantage, BoF and Lennai visited the Lennai flagship store in Montreal last week. A panel discussion was held. The talk, moderated by BoF’s Alice Gividen, featured Lauren Edelman, global chief marketing officer of Victoria Beckham Beauty, and Christiane Wellon, global head of spas and clinics at Augustine Bader. , featuring cosmetic scientist and brand consultant Dr. Julian Sass.
Below, BoF shares key insights from the conversation.
Guests attend BoF x Rennaï panel event. (Christina Esteban)
Bridging product development and marketing functions to power innovation
JS: When you talk to ingredient sellers, they say it takes bold brand conviction to bring something new to market. If it is not well established, or if there is a completely new innovation (perhaps a revolutionary new peptide), its education and awareness is critical to its success in the market.
Brands need great marketing consultants to tell the whole story. That can’t be done with packaging and you have to do it over time. It’s an investment for your brand, but the return can be absolutely immeasurable.
CW: Consumers want clinically proven ingredients, but ultimately they are convinced to buy products from very human touchpoints, such as in-brand selling points and peer-to-peer recommendations. Probably.
Brands need great marketing consultants to tell the whole story. That can’t be done with packaging and you have to do it over time. It’s an investment for your brand, but the return can be immense.
— Dr. Julian Sass, Cosmetic Scientist and Brand Consultant
We live in a world where science and science-related skin care are rapidly evolving. Scientists need to talk to and work closely with brand educators. Consider epigenetics. This refers to how our actions and environment – our lifestyle, the way we think, and the skin care we use – affect how we age and how our genes work. Our founder, Dr. Augustine Bader, has been active in this field for over 40 years and continues to evolve. Communication in this work is very important.
LE: From a brand perspective, spending time deeply into social comments brings you much closer to your customers, their feedback, and their requests. For us at Victoria Beckham Beauty, it is Victoria’s role as founder and creative leader that drives product innovation. She leads development and is constantly involved in development. That’s how she works and how she likes to give her clients the best.
From left: Alice Gividen, BoF Associate Director of Content Strategy; Lauren Edelman, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Victoria Beckham Beauty; Dr. Julian Sass, cosmetic scientist and brand consultant. Christian Wellon, Global Head of Spas and Clinics at Augustine Bader; Christopher Novak, president and chief creative officer of Rennai. (Christina Esteban)
Responsibly educate consumers and strengthen industry credibility
CW: Those teaching moments have to be handled with care. I am very cautious about holding back in these customer education stages and am very thorough and considered when it comes to introducing new products, rituals, or steps into a consumer’s daily life.
During the pandemic, we have mostly seen overconsumption habits emerge in self-care. Some brands and influencers pushed and recommended an overwhelming amount of new products [complicated] routine. Beauty and skincare brands have a huge responsibility to educate themselves to be more mindful, and we must do right by our customers.
JS: [democratisation] The proliferation of content platforms means misinformation can spread quickly, and to add to the complexity, differences in consumer priorities can further impact the accuracy of advice. There is. For many people, it’s all about effectiveness. For others, it’s about ritual elements and less about performance, something that’s hard to quantify.
We need high-touch service to introduce you to new science, new product innovation, and how it benefits your skin. Currently, this is the only way to achieve that all-important personalized experience.
— Christian Wellon, Global Head of Spas and Clinics at Augustine Bader
I think today’s consumers are looking for help with the conflicts of interest that arise from having so many conflicting voices in the beauty and self-care space. They want not only better products, but also better information. Today’s consumers are smarter than ever, but they’re also tired. Today, the standards for doing business in this field are very high.
LE: We have a real responsibility as a beauty brand to operate more holistically, focus on education, and think about the entire product experience. It’s not just the effectiveness that matters, but also the values of the people who created the product in the first place. It’s difficult to develop and quantify, but that comprehensive experience is what sets your brand apart.
Assess readiness to inform customer demand and market-driven innovation
Lauren Edelman, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Victoria Beckham Beauty; (Christina Esteban) Christina Wellon, Global Head of Spas and Clinics at Augustine Bader. (Cristina Esteban) Dr. Julian Sass, cosmetic scientist and brand consultant. (Christina Esteban)
LE: Victoria [Beckham] We value collaboration to meet consumer demands. That’s why we collaborated with Augustine Bader to expand the category into skin care. We knew our customers would be relieved to see our expertise being utilized in this way. We know that the concept of beauty and skin care adjacency is extremely important to today’s savvy consumers. One example is a concealer containing Augustine Baders’ skin care ingredients. This type of collaboration bridges our expertise in both skin care and cosmetics and responds to the consumer desires we track.
JS: I talk to brands about community-driven R&D as a core strategy. What are consumer trends and concerns? Will they stick with consumers? And what materials can we provide to address them?
The concept of the “cortisol face” is currently dominating conversations on social media, and ingredient providers are working to develop solutions to counter the effects of elevated cortisol levels. While many brands cannot develop their own peptides or exosomes, there are innovators who can leverage consumer trends to drive innovation.
CW: What we see from our customer base is a simple and clear demand for the best raw materials found on the market. Science is constantly evolving, so every product we launch must go through thorough, formal clinical trials to prove the effectiveness of the product itself. This way, we guarantee our customers market readiness. This is essential when operating at the forefront of market innovation.
Enhancing high-touch service models to support customer self-care requests
LE: The timing of Victoria Beckham Beauty’s launch was right before the pandemic. So, by necessity, we have always operated in the digital space, and for the past five years we have remained primarily digital. But we’re starting to strategize about how to bring deeper relationships into the digital space, seeking new partners, new wholesalers. While many brands are considering AI-powered consulting, there is ongoing debate about how to digitally connect people and recreate high-touch service.
CW: To stay on the winning path, brands need to connect with their customers. Self-care means little without fundamental brand values to support it.
Self-care is relational. As a consumer, it’s much deeper than buying a product or wearing makeup. It’s about the value you get from the interaction, the feeling you get from the product both in terms of effectiveness and how you feel and think. We want to hear more brands talk about that holistic perspective because that’s what matters most to our customers.
It goes back to the concept of brand responsibility. We need high-touch service to introduce new science, new product innovation, and how it serves your skin. Currently, this is the only way to achieve that all-important personalized experience.
JS: We’re seeing brands become increasingly ambitious about how they extend personalization to meet consumer demand. At this stage of self-care, personalization is possible, but not bespoke. Surveys and product recommendations aren’t delivering what consumers want. The truly personal element is far away and the human touch will remain important.
This is a sponsored feature paid for by Rennaï as part of the BoF partnership.
