Virginie Mazelier, Anaïk Beauty

Premium Beauty News - The core business of Anaïk Beauty, are promotional solutions for major cosmetic brands. What changes has this sector experienced in the past years?

Virginie Mazelier - Today I believe that the two main changes in the sector of promotional solutions are, on the one hand innovation, in terms of products but also services offered to brands, and on the other hand, the integration of corporate social responsibility (CSR) principles into promotional campaigns.

Since the inception of the company in 1973, we offer main beauty players around the world, gift solutions in terms of luggage, bags and cases, rigid boxes, jewellery, scented items (cushions, ceramics...) decorative objects and accessories. Adapting to changing consumer expectations, and therefore to brand requirements, has always been our main concern.

Premium Beauty News - What are the innovations in this sector, in terms of services?

Virginie Mazelier - Generally speaking, our advisory activity tends to increase. We assist our clients in the structuring and setting up of heir promotional offer.

Anaïk Beauty is organized around three core businesses: designers, buyers, and sales people. We create trend books and annual collections that we offer our clients with a customized advisory offer. We have also developed an in-house pre and post consumer tests service, which is an important addition to our product offering.

We also carry out studies with our subsidiary Mode & Co, to better understand consumer expectations vis-à-vis promotional gifts.

Premium Beauty News - And for products themselves?

Virginie Mazelier - Changes concern both the design and manufacture of products!

Responsiveness has become a crucial competitive factor. Methods imported from the fashion world, and which consist in sticking as quickly as possible to the latest trends, and therefore produce and deliver quickly, and then quickly take account of the tastes expressed by consumers in stores (fast fashion) are becoming common practice in the cosmetic world in general and promotional solutions in particular. The first consequence is a trend towards the relocation of production within or close to customer markets. The time required between the design and manufacturing stages has been greatly reduced. And to be fast to market, you must be close to it. This is also what led us to develop Easy-sampling, a solution dematerializing the production of samples and which makes it possible to significantly reduce production time while minimizing the impact on the environment.

We also have an express service offer which, combined to Easy-sampling, enables us to design, produce and deliver gifts in less than 3 months.

Other factors contribute to this relocation movement with costs first: they have risen sharply in China, and then with the “made in France” or “made in Europe” label that give a true symbolic added value to products.

At the core of this phenomenon, there is also a considerable evolution of consumer expectations especially in mature markets like Europe, the U.S. or Japan. With social networks and blogs, communication is much less on a one way brand-to-consumer mode and much more participatory. Consumers want to give their advice and they want to be heard. Taking account of this advice is essential and this can even lead to a process of co-creation and customization.

Consumers therefore appreciate they are given the choice of the gift they will receive. And they want to receive it as fast as possible!

Premium Beauty News - And regarding CSR?

Virginie Mazelier - Demand for ethics is becoming increasingly important in the design and sourcing process of promotional gifts.

It all started with social audits carried out by our clients at our suppliers. The movement gained momentum when, in many countries, listed companies had to communicate on their achievements in terms of CSR. But it also meets a real expectation from consumers who need transparency, who want to know where products come from, how they are made.

Today, ethical concerns cover all aspects of sourcing. They impact the choice of materials used, or the way to produce them. PET is a plastic which is appreciated because it is recyclable, paper must be certified (FSC among others), textiles are increasingly made from fibres originating from organic crops, or Oeko-Tex certified. But this ethical movement impacts the whole supply chain, it goes from the integration of disabled people in the production line to the quality of maritime carriers, with the Clean Cargo Working Group.

For even more sustainability and also because surveys show that it is a true expectation from consumers, during the development of products we are thinking of the possibility of giving a second life to gifts, or the possibility of reprocessing them.

In conclusion, the key to success when it comes to promotional solutions is differentiation and customization, while being clean, useful and responsible!