Changing Definition of Beauty: People Tend to Embrace Natural Beauty with Flaws

Beauty has been defined by stifling and narrow stereotypes for a long time. However, as time goes by, the standard of beauty has been changing. People tend to have a broader and healthier view of beauty. They don’t think that being thin and slim is the only standard of being beautiful for a woman anymore. On the other hand, another trend, “Flawsome”–brands that behave more humanly, including showing their flaws, would be awesome–influences the definition of beauty as well. Therefore, people are more likely to embrace natural beauty with flaws. As Michelle Feeney, chief executive of London PR agency PZ Cussons Beauty, said, “the future of beauty is about enhancing your natural beauty rather than focusing on erasing the ‘flaws’”.

This trend has been leveraged in a lot of categories. In the beauty industry, some brands recently launched unretouched campaigns using real women to create a strong emotional connections with their customers and “a link of trust based on sincerity and honesty”. One of the most remarkable unretouched campaigns is Dove’s Global Campaign for Real Beauty. After market research indicated that only 4% of women consider themselves beautiful and “digitally manipulated images were the least effective method of encouraging the purchase of a beauty product”, Dove launched its Global Campagin for Real Beauty in 2004 to “create a world where beauty is a source of confidence and not anxiety”. In order to free women from self-doubt and to encourage them to embrace their real beauty by creating a “broader, healthier, more democratic view of beauty, Dove did not “enhance or add extra elements” to any images in the campaign,nor did it “combine images to create a false representation of perfection”. Also, instead of spotlighting famous celebrities or models, Dove focused on revealing the natural beauty in real women with real bodies, real curves, and real wrinkles.

The trend of changing definition of beauty also shows in fashion industry. A lot of fashion brands tend to focus on plus-size sub-brands and emphasize that natural beauty and fashion are equal to everyone. In 2013 summer, H&M launched a plus-sized model swimwear campaign. A 5’10” size 12/14 beauty named Jennie Runk became the star of the campaign–the first time for a plus-sized model. This campaign challenged the conventional standard of “perfect” and redefined the meaning of real beauty. The plus-sized model campaign triggered a big discussion on the new definition of real beauty. The fashion industry is learning how to equally treat people as “real human” who are coming in all shapes and sizes. They are healthy, they are different, and they are beautiful.

In addition to the existing examples, the trend has big potential to be used in many categories. For example, the health and fitness industry can take a free ride on this trend. There are a lot of women in sports who gain attention for their beauty, intelligence and determination. They may have strong arms or muscular calves, but it is their muscles that engage such a significant number of fans). People consider them as athletic hotties because they look healthy and natural. The marketers can tailor “natural beauty with flaws” to “athletic beauty with muscles” and advocate that it’s better to be fit than skinny. As a result, health and fitness category can leverage the trend of natural beauty with flaws to advocate that sports have become a necessity of beauty. Sports can tone up your body and release your beauty inside out. Thus, drawing less attention to makeup and even plastic surgery, but spending more time on working out, is a must for being beautiful.

To sum up, the definition of beauty has changed as time goes by. More and more people tend to have a broader and healthier view of beauty instead of the view that only being thin and skinny is beautiful. Due to the “Flawsome” trend, people are more likely to accept natural beauty with flaws than unrealistic perfection. Other than lots of categories that has already taken advantage of this trend, there is also lots of space in other categories to leverage the trend in order to make a difference.

A Wonderful Conversation with A Wonderful Guy on A Wonderful Morning at A Wonderful Place

I had a one-hour conversation with Rob Campbell, Regional Head of Planning at Wieden + Kennedy Asia, at W+K Shanghai office on Wednesday morning.

Rob Campbell is called one of the world’s most respected planners by Mumbrella360. Before he works at W+K Shanghai as Regional Head of Planning, he worked at Y&R Asia in Singapore as Regional Head of Planning, and worked with Google in the US and the Australian creative hotshop SRVT. With abundant experience in planning and strategy, Rob has worked with global brands including Nike, Converse, P&G, Chrysler, Coke, Levi’s, Virgin, MTV, Ikea, Sony and Schweppes. 

Even though he is packed out with work, he still updates his blog every day. You can definitely tell his wisdom and sense of humor from his blogs.

Rob shared his career experience with me and gave me a lot of helpful suggestions on job hunting, career development and they ways to enhance personal credibility. The most impressive suggestion he gave to me was that keeping contacting interesting people, whatever industry they are working in.

Rob said he once contacted a professor in Utah, asking if they can have a chat about a book/paper that he is very interested in. After setting up the meeting time, he flew to Utah from Australia only for meeting with the professor in person. Of course, they ended up having a enjoyable conversation and had maintained very good personal relationship since then.  

When talking about the way to get to knowa culture, Rob said, “Reading is good but not the best way to get to know a new culture. The fastest and best way to get familiar with a culture is to talk with people, interesting people.” The words definitely made me more confident in the track I am currently on.

Here are some points I summarized from our conversation:

1. Try to meet with interesting people consistently to get to know the culture, the country, even the world from different angles. These conversation can be your experience as well.

2. When you searching a job, choose the right boss, not the right agency. There might be terrible people in good agencies, and there also might be fantastic people in terrible agencies. A right boss can teach you a lot, but a good agency with terrible boss cannot.

3. People with high creditability can give you more credits, especially when you are a new comer. Then going back to the first one, keep contacting interesting people in all kinds of industries.

4. Always be yourself. Don’t over trust words from other people saying ” you should do…”. Follow your heat and be yourself all the time.

With a very good mood, I stepped out of W+K Shanghai office, where was full of creative posters on the walls. The sun beat down on my face brightly. Everything seems to be in the process of success. I am on the road, as always. 

 

 

AXE Positioning Analysis

AXE, launched in France in 1983 by Unilever, is a brand of male grooming products including deodorants, anti-perspirants, body sprays, shower gels, and hair products. After success in Europe, Latin America and other parts of the world, AXE was introduced in the U.S. in 2002. In 2004, AXE came out with a line of anti-perspirant and deodorant sticks. Following in 2005, a line of shower gels were created. Then in 2009, hair products came out. And in 2010, AXE became the global leader in men’s grooming.  AXE gives guys confidence when it comes to getting the girl. In addition to a leading men’s grooming line, AXE is also a lifestyle brand that reaches guys unexpectedly through unique experiences where they live, work and play.

Target Audience

AXE is consistently targeted to 18-25 year old males distributed in more than 40 countries. Specifically, AXE’s target audience is straight white men in the age 18-25. We cannot see people of color are featured or prominent in AXE’s ads. And all the men in the ads only want to attract women.

AXE Campaigns

The AXE Effect, one of the most famous campaigns in the world, has been launched for 15 years. This effect is supposed to draw women in hordes to any male who has sprayed himself with the AXE deodorant. The campaign uses several persuasion techniques to better engage their target audience.

• Humor – the situation is outlandish and funny

• Sexual – if you use AXE you will get gorgeous women

• Fear – if you can’t keep your cool, you are not manly enough

• Emotional – don’t let your perfect girl get away

Fear No Susan Glenn

Annoying girlfriends

AXE produced several ads that portraying women as annoying, clingy and airheaded for its shower gels in 2012. The campaigns show how a man can stay at his best to keep up with his competitive sporty, tireless partying, or a high maintenance girlfriend. It promises that washing with AXE shower gels will enable him to endure whatever trails he encounters to keep his lady happy.

• High Maintenance Girlfriend

• Tireless Party Girlfriend

• Flirty Girlfriend

• Brainy Girlfriend

• Sporty Girlfriend

Competitors

AXE’s main competitors include Old Spice, Gillette, Suave for Men, Dove Men’s Care, Irish Spring, and Dial. All of these brands initially wanted to keep men smelling food and feeling fresh. They do not position themselves in a way that can stand out from the competition.

Consumer Insights

– The AXE campaign sets the brand apart by focusing on the insight that young men are more concerned with women than personal hygiene. Therefore, they mainly focus on sexual appeal in their campaigns.

– There is no way that young men use the shower with a fluffy and colorful loofa and the only way men go to buy shower get is if they have something masculine to use to apply it. Therefore, AXE came up with shower gel and the manly shower tool.

Current Positioning Statement

To the straight white men in age from 18 to 25, who portray normal yet cool, trendy and confident, AXE is a leader brand in male grooming products that provides cool, adventurous and designed to help them look, smell, feel their best, and to keep them a step ahead in the dating game.

Recommendations on Positioning

• Try to make the campaigns not be offensive to women

Many of the AXE’s ads and commercials have the potential to anger women. They may be angry because many ads and commercial portray women as things to be played with or stereotyped annoying airheads (E.g. annoying girlfriend campaign). Even though the AXE’s target audience is male, women are a big part of product buyers and decision makers. Many women choose the personal care products for their boyfriends or husbands. At the same time that AXE shoots for humor or sexual, they should also consider that they might alienate a good part of their consumers.

• Extend the range of target audience to women and homosexual males

Since women have a big influence on decision-making process for AXE, they should be involved in the target audience. In addition, the world is currently more gay-friendly than 20 years ago. Gay community serves as a remarkable part in male market, which is rarely considered by any other competitors. Thus, AXE should take homosexual males into consideration when they are positioning themselves. Instead of specifically catering to the “macho” man and the assumption that he only likes women, AXE should come up some ideas that can fit in homosexual males market, a huge potential market.