The app, which launched just last week, is more than simply a novelty of the moment, it represents the intersection of customized beauty, consumer engagement, and AI.
“Since its founding in 1976, bareMinerals has always put customization for its consumers first, investigating and advocating for new technologies to serve them,” Jill Scalamandre, president of the Global Shiseido Make-up Center of Excellence, affirms in a media release about MADE-2-FIT.
“Known for creating innovative formulas with pure, nourishing ingredients, the company has been connecting with its customers in meaningful, forward-thinking ways for over 40 years. For that reason,” she believes, “bareMinerals is an ideal partner for MATCHCo: Together, they're looking to fundamentally change the way consumers shop and experience cosmetics.”
Software update
On January 18th of this year, Shiseido announced the acquisition of Palo Alto, California – based digital tech company MatchCo.
"MATCHCo is a truly unique company with a transformational technology platform, go-to-market strategy and approach to engaging with consumers,” commented Marc Rey, CEO of Shiseido Americas at the time of the deal. “We are very excited to leverage their technology and tools across Shiseido’s brand portfolio and continue to build on their innovation.”
And now, not six months later, MADE-2-FIT arrives. The new app “not only lets us capture a major consumer trend – cosmetics customization – but also offers huge potential for opening up 'A.I. for beauty',” says Andy Howell, founder and the chief strategy officer of MatchCo, who believes the MatchCo platform and concomitant digital-insight tools will be relevant “across Shiseido's portfolio” of brands.
Tech enabled
Often times, good ideas arrive before they can be realized. The current iPhone technology is a key factor in the realization of this new app. “Leveraging the highly sophisticated iPhone camera system and processing power, the App enables precise skin-tone analysis via a set of simple user scans, with the help of a virtual makeup artist with voice guidance,” explains Shiseido in the media release.
The digital tool takes consumers through a series of steps and utilizes a “complex algorithm” to determine the right color makeup product. From there, consumers can buy 30mL of color-matched #bareMade2fit foundation for $49.