L’Oreal itself already dominates across digital within the beauty sector and is consistently picked out by L2 ThinkTank as beauty’s top ‘genius’ brand, so the acquisition marks NYX out as a cut above the rest when it comes to digital presence.
NYX (pronounced ‘nix’) will move to plug the gap of video marketing in L’Oreal’s digital portfolio, with the brand having been recently described as the “fan-favorite on YouTube” by online video marking guide, ReelSEO.
Communication with vloggers
According to marketing and advertising software company Pixability, monthly views of beauty videos on YouTube are up to 700 million, confirming the platform offers massive potential for the industry.
Yet major brands currently control just 3% of the site’s beauty video content of 14.9 billion views, indicating a particularly lackluster corporate presence: instead, vloggers (consumer reviewers) hold the power of influence over consumers, with YouTube’s top 15 vloggers now boasting an average of 2.1 million channel subscribers each.
NYX was one brand which quickly recognized this and a few years ago began working with vloggers rather than competing against them, engaging in communication about products.
This focus on content creators rather than the brand itself has really paid off – NXY’s sales hit $72 million in 2013, up 46% on the year before, and, according to L'Oreal, rose an even speedier 56% up to May this year.
Champions of the platform
A key initiative which is helping the brand enjoy such robust growth off the back of video content is its Face competition, which pits beauty bloggers against each other, offering the winner a title and a cash prize.
The annual contest sees views on the video entries explode over the judging period; ReelSEO says that the brand received 32 million impressions on YouTube in just two days during this year’s competition.
The first year the contest received 40 million earned media views, while during the second year it grew to 140 million views: the result of such a presence for the cosmetics brand is hugely increased visibility.
Personal not corporate
NYX’s conquering of the online video space is a testament to the rising demand among beauty consumers for a personal rather than corporate brand interaction.
Partner in venture capital firm Maveron and industry expert Jason Stoffer explained to Cosmetics Design that consumers nowadays are demanding a sense of participation and accessibility with brands.
"Yesterday's brands defined themselves internally. Today building a beloved brand requires fostering a two way conversation with a passionate base of core customers,” he confirmed.