Multi-generational beauty buyers, emerging innovations from APAC markets, the competition between niche indie brands and multinationals, along with increasing disposable incomes are all helping brands to explore possibilities in the multicultural beauty sector.
Global influence
Far from experiencing exclusion from the multicultural beauty market due to the preferences for skin whitening in the West compared with skin tanning in the East, the skin care sector is seeing growth through adopting natural, sustainable and biotechnological messages.
Sun Chlorella, the Japanese algae-based anti-ageing skin care brand has made the leap from Japanese and APAC consumers to the wider customer base after it launched in renowned UK-based department stores, Selfridge’s and John Bell & Croyden.
APAC brands today are recognising the importance of Asianification through concentrating on widespread trends such as halal cosmetics, health and wellbeing, active beauty, the partnership between superfoods and organic with personal care, as well as the relationship between fashion and beauty. Beauty trends from Asia dominate around the world and resonate strongly with consumers for their consideration of multicultural beauty styles and preferences.
The adoption of contemporary marketing strategies including influencer marketing, celebrity endorsement, digital innovation and the increasing presence of pop-up stores is also reflecting consumer demands and shaping brand identities and multicultural appeal.
Harnessing Asia's USPs
Pockets of specific phenomena and leading concepts are cropping up throughout Asia including the worldwide Korean wave (K-beauty), China’s colour rise and Japan’s character-filled and fun packaging vibe, not to mention the boom of niche brands emerging from Southeast Asia.
Halal cosmetics, while big in Indonesia and India, are also proving strong and popular with the non-Muslim consumer segment. Halal-certifications offer credibility and reassurance to develop an ethical image that develops trust and loyalty with a wide international consumer base. From R&D to packaging claims and labels, brands are now focusing on reflecting this holistic and socially-conscious message in their product launches.
Fuelled by generations of beauty buyers that “self-determine themselves”, brandless names are on the up. Millennials and Gen Z consumers value “equity and individuality”, and so “no longer feel represented by their age, nor by their gender or body type”, creating an opportunistic time to reach out to explore how best to enter or develop the multicultural arena.