Beauty Product Launches for Mature Market Represent Shrinking Proportion

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“There is a perception that beauty and personal care companies ignore old(er) people—a perception that is not completely unjustified,” writes Vivienne Rudd, director of global insight, beauty and personal care with Mintel, in the blog post “The mature beauty market – time for brands to grow up?

She continues, “A search on Mintel’s Global New Products Database (GNPD), which covers beauty launches in 48 countries, reveals that while the number of launches targeting ‘mature’ skin and hair rose modestly in numerical terms between January 2011 and August 2013, they actually represented a shrinking proportion of launches.

“This is true even of the skincare, colour cosmetics and haircare categories, all of which have seen increasing use of anti-ageing terminology and ingredients in their marketing. And when it comes to products that directly target women aged 50+, the situation becomes even less promising, with only a handful of brands doing this.

“Mintel’s Old Gold trend explains that manufacturers are facing two opposing forces. On the one hand, people in developed and some developing countries are living and working longer and represent a growing proportion of the population whereas younger consumers’ share is falling. On the other hand, usage of many beauty and personal care products falls away once people hit their mid-50s.

 This article is an excerpt from GCI magazine, Cosmetics & Toiletries magazine's sister publication for marketing trends and beauty business. View the complete article.

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