1) Women respond more strongly to beauty ads that evoke emotion rather than provide scientific data. Ads need to convey their message quickly in pictures and a headline/subhead in 3 seconds or less to engage women. 2) Beauty ads should reflect real women of various ages to build trust and attention. Testing ads on different age groups can provide useful insights. 3) Memorable beauty ads are those that trigger an emotional response by telling a relatable human story that leaves the viewer with something to think about. 4) Beauty ads should have a clear and direct message without confusion through a simple call to action, challenge, or inspirational line.

1. MARKETING matters by alisa marie beyer
Five Secrets of Extraordinary
(and Memorable) Beauty Ads
The contemporary consumer wants to feel emotion—and understand the bottom line
of an ad—in a flash.
T
he 2008 “Age of Naturals,” The survey women in a focus group or an online of these central themes in mind, and it’ll be
Benchmarking Company’s (TBC) setting, we hear again and again that women remembered.
latest consumer-based beauty research “of a certain age” want to see women in ads
Pink Report, disclosed that women respond that are their age, too; i.e., they want to see Pictures are Worth a
more strongly to emotion than to scientific themselves reflected in ads that address them.
data. What’s new about that, one might ask? To them, age sensitivity means truthfulness,
Thousand Words—or More
Plenty. The relatively new wave of natural/ and this can translate to a few more precious Ad people agonize over the copy, which is
organic beauty products has a sidekick, seconds of attention for your ad. It’s a fine usually clunked on the bottom of a full-page
and it’s skepticism—about “big beauty” line though, as women are always attracted print ad. In reality, women are looking at the
and its seemingly harmful ingredients, to the aspirational model image, no matter pictures, trying, in less than three seconds, to
about corporate social responsibility (does what we say. Walk it carefully. If you’re extract the emotion and trying to understand
the beauty brand do animal testing on aiming at the 35+ market with your product, what the ad wants from her. Revelation:
its products? use any parts of animals in it would behoove you to test your ads using Hardly anyone reads that fine print at
its brushes? respect the environment and both an aspirational model and a more age- the bottom. If your ad can’t convey your
manufacture in a sustainable manner?), and appropriate model, to see which one women message in a simple header and subhead,
about scientific claims in beauty brands, respond to better. You might be surprised at with fabulous photography (including your
which themselves seem to demonstrate to the result. product photo), it’s got problems. Instead
women a lack of heart. of devoting endless time to tweaking a huge
amount of text, concentrate on the grabbers
Leave Her With Something and forgo the massive literature. Your target
Emotion is Everything to Think About wants to feel it in a flash.
A woman’s revved up skepticism doesn’t
“I just couldn’t get that ad out of my head!”
necessarily mean you should throw your
clinicals out the window. Women still want
We’ve heard this comment many times Give Confusion the Kibosh
from women in our focus groups. One
to know and be assured that products work, Create an advertising message that is simple
woman recalls a television ad, and suddenly
but they want to feel passionately about a and direct. Sound a call to action (like
there are smiles and wistful sighs. Every
new beauty brand immediately. Just like the Revlon’s new “Get Your Own”). Offer a
woman remembers how she feels when her
claims presented in “The Age of Naturals,” challenge. Provide your target permission
emotions are triggered while engaged in
your ad’s headline must grab a woman’s heart to pamper herself (such as L’Oréal’s timeless
an ad’s human story. Do you remember the
and not let go until she’s on her way to her “Because You’re Worth It”). Or leave her with
old Folger’s Coffee ads featuring the woman
favorite beauty counter to buy your new a feel-good inspirational line. The direct and
whose son comes home from college? He’s
product offering. No matter if your brand is memorable approach can keep your ad in her
in the kitchen making coffee one morning;
natural, organic or traditionally made, use thoughts even longer. n GCI
she smells the coffee, knows it’s him and
inspirational words that soothe or excite, but
knows that he’s finally home. It gets you
above all, make those words memorable.
right in the heart! How about something ALiSA MARiE BEyER is CEO of
a little more contemporary? The Dove ads The Benchmarking Company (TBC), a research
Traverse the Real Woman featuring the little girl and the abounding and branding firm focused exclusively on
Vs. Aspirational Tightrope pressures to be rail-thin are additional the beauty industry. TBC’s women-only,
permission-based Pink Panel provides beauty
emotion-tugging ads. Sadness, happiness,
consumer data for the award-winning Pink
Dove’s beauty ads are groundbreaking in anger, fear, love, a wanting to protect— Report, the quarterly research report that reveals what consumers
their depiction of women as (gasp!) real, these are the keys to a woman’s lasting of female beauty products want, what they’ll buy and why.
with a few flaws. Whenever we (at TBC) memory. Construct your ad’s story with any E-mail: alisa@benchmarkingco.com; www.benchmarkingco.com
www.GCImagazine.com Marketing Matters 37