Dissertation

Marble is a personalised beauty platform focused on providing women aged 45 to
60 a fresh approach to cosmetics. Marble sells all their favourite brands, as well as
brands they are yet to discover. The aim is to provide something new to the older
consumer, that is quickly becoming lost in the whirlwind of technological advances
and tech-savvy, younger consumers. As indicated in the ONS’ Wealth and Assets
survey, “during 2010-12...22% of 55-64s were living in households with total wealth
of £1 million or more, illustrating the more comfortable financial standing of today’s
older consumers, compared with, say, the Millennial generation” (Mitskavets, I.
2015); this goes to show the potential within the baby boomers as an affluent,
consumer group, and as Mintel points out “with Britain’s population ageing rapidly,
this is certainly one demographic that brands and marketers cannot afford to ignore”
(Mitskavets, I. 2015). This consumer group is not is not only wealthy, but also
large, as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) predicts, “by 2019 the over-55s
will comprise 31% of the population in the UK” (Mitskavets, I. 2015); showing great
growth potential for the brand.
As a consumer group with growing buying power, why is this generation left
unhappy and unsatisfied with the way in which the beauty industry currently
approaches them? Marble aims to tackle this head on, working to banish the negative
connotations of ageing and instead highlight the opportunity it provides for women
to fall back in love with makeup. As Lisa Eldridge, a well respected makeup artist,
discusses in her book, “the reasons why-and how-we wear makeup in the twentyfirst
century have changed dramatically…we have literally hundreds of trends and
styles to choose from…a full spectrum of color and a multitude of affordable (and not
so affordable) products” (Eldridge, L. 2015, pg. 6). This is an idea that many have
forgotten, both brands and consumers alike, and with the myriad of choice available
out there, why not have fun with it?
Marble’s personalised service, created across several platforms that include the
app, store and website, is their unique selling point (USP). In fact, a WGSN report
stated that baby boomers desire “interactive and educational shopping experiences”
and “look for one-to-one, personalised customer service” (Hughes, A. 2014); these
are two areas in which Marble can certainly excel. Over time Marble hopes to gain
a large consumer basis of engaged individuals, who repeat purchase and continue
to visit stores as their in-store experiences, personalisation and use of technology
developes. They plan to engaging consumers via a subscription-based sample box, as
well as app and online content; and, as this consumer group proves to be among the
most loyal to brands, Marble will reward customers who demonstrate brand advocacy
via their loyalty scheme; available in both physical and digital forms.
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