The Beautiful and the Geek From Mascara to Managing Data

The Beautiful and the Geek from Mascara to
Managing Data
As I watched my wife get ready to head to the office, the geek in me
wondered about the history of the mascara she uses and how there is so
much more to it than what meets the eyes. For a major makeup brand, it
all began a few years before the Roaring Twenties in Chicago, with a 19-
year-old chemist, his older sister, and some petroleum jelly. He added
carbon dust to the jelly in order to enhance its effects on her lashes and
eyebrows. Four years later, the major brand’s Cake Mascara was born.
These cake mascaras in the first
half of the 20th century were
composed of a few soaps and
carbon black. Over the years it has
changed from a tube of mascara
today to a motley of waxes, oils,
vitamins, and preservatives.
Moreover, there are dozens of
brands and types to choose from.
Cake Mascaras were originally
sold through mail orders or drug stores which worked just fine for a single
product with localized demand. However, producers and suppliers in the
makeup industry today face a larger problem in handling data for the
multitude of differentiated products that they sell to multinational
consumer bases via a variety of channels.
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What starts off as an innovation focused product company evolves into a
global business that relies on effective data management to win the
customer. From aligning with business agility, managing the supply chain
of the ingredients that go into making new products to meeting the
changing preferences of consumers, data management becomes the
foundation of these enterprises.
How do beauty and cosmetics companies use data management to win
new customers, retain loyal customers, bring new products to the market
and maintain profitability?
New Product Introductions: Makeup brands are constantly adding
new products and lines to match shifting trends and customers’
seasonal and occasional preferences. Effective data management
can cut NPI timelines, speeding the time between the inception of
an idea and a complete product in the customer’s hands.
Streamlined Supply Chain Management: Large retailers sell as
many as 52 different mascara brands, each having different
products with around 20 relevant attributes for the average
shopper per product (more if they’re sold online). Product attributes
significantly affect each step that a product takes up until its sale,
from manufacturing and supply chain to the customer, and accurate
data throughout this process is crucial.
Multi-Channel Content Management: Product data is better
managed on a centralized platform that branches out to
eCommerce, stores, marketplaces, for sales and also to marketing
outlets such as e-mail newsletters, magazines, so that customers
viewing those channels receive consistent, up-to-date, and relevant
information.
Federal Regulation and Inspection: Cosmetics in the USA are
expected to comply with FDA regulations to ensure customer safety
and accurate labeling of products. In the EU, cosmetics must be
registered in the Cosmetic Products Notification Portal (CPNP)
before going on the market.
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Data Analytics: For a company that offers multiple products,
predictive analysis breaks down customers’ spending, usage, and
other behavior, leading to efficient cross sales, or selling additional
products to current customers. This directly leads to higher
profitability per customer and stronger customer relationships.
A Product Information Management
(PIM) solution integrated with a
Vendor Portal solution can
substantially simplify the task of
handling data complexities. PIM
integrates and feeds accurate product
data into enterprise systems. It also
enables product search, personalized product bundles and promotions,
and a differentiated customer experience both pre and post-purchase. The
Vendor portal automates the product onboarding process and significantly
cuts down operating costs by allowing Vendors to upload complete and
curated product data, in bulk, into the system.
While the eyes are the windows to the soul, effective data management is
the heart of a makeup brand manufacturer. Waxes, vitamins, and
preservatives aren’t all that go into those sleek tubes of mascara from the
time it is manufactured to the when a customer uses it.
image credit: @unsplash, @seteales, @willpower
References:
1. http://www.rosebt.com/blog/descriptive-diagnostic-predictive-prescriptive-analytics
2. https://www.maybelline.co.uk/about-maybelline
3. http://www.cosmeticsandskin.com/cdc/block-mascara.php
4. https://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/ComplianceEnforcement/ucm136455.htm
5. http://www.adnovate.com/solutions/multi-channel-content-management
6. http://www.ibmbigdatahub.com/blog/beauty-big-data-l-or-al-and-ibm-story
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maybelline
8. http://www.globalsources.com/manufacturers/Eye-Mascara.html
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9. http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/ProductsIngredients/Products/ucm137241.html
10. http://www.europages.co.uk/companies/Manufacturer%20producer/mascara.html
11. https://www.statista.com/statistics/316792/online-sales-per-store-health-and-beauty-inthe-us/
12. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/cosmetics_en
Riversand is an innovative leader in Master Data Management, powering industries from the world's
largest to SMBs. Riversand's single integrated, scalable and robust multi-domain MDM platform caters
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©2017 Riversand Technologies Inc. All rights reserved.