Brief 02 | Fia & Flora | Research 01

current competitors / high end products in department stores -

LA MER

"La Mer's profound powers of transformation are
derived from potent, highly active ingredients like nutrient-rich algae,
protective antioxidant extracts and semi-precious stones."

LA MER is a very high end product sold on average at £70 per bottle. Its currently on the shelves in  Selfridges and other high end department stores. The target market is women who are wanting to maintain a youthful look. LA MER uses ingredients from the sea, hence the name translating from french - 'The Sea.' This makes their product unique as theres not a lot of brands which use ingredients from the sea, which will entice a ranges of audiences from around the world.

Branding -

- clean

- luxurious 

- pastel palette creates a minimal but modern design

- glass bottles suggest expensive 

- easy to use bottles and tubs

- images on the website always use sea elements to relate back to the product

The logo of LA MER reminds me of when you wipe the mirror in the bathroom when its steamy, therefore uses the idea that the product is part of a beauty regime. The overall look is very clean, the use of the pastel colours look modern and are gender neutral therefore suggests its wide audience. However if you are unable to read french, the branding of these bottles doesn't suggest that the ingredients are from the sea. Therefore the audience would have to know about the brand before buying, as the price is high for a one of splurge. Kim Kardashian promotes this product through the use of social media, therefore will reach a world wide platform and persuade a audience to be like Kim and buy LA MER.

AESOP

"Our objective has always been to formulate skin, 

hair and body care products of the finest quality; we 

investigate widely to source plant-based and laboratory-made 

ingredients, and use only those with a proven record of safety and efficacy."

Founded in Australia out of a small salon in 1987, Aesop has redefined the way its audience think about luxury skin, body and hair-care and defied common business wisdom to become an inimitable global player.
The Australian brand shuns some of the marketing techniques widely embraced by other brands and serves as sober antidote to over-marketed, tasteless ugliness which seems to be the norm in the beauty industry. Aesop doesn’t come up with a new product on the basis of needing a new launch, or to be at war against others. The brand doesn’t look at what other companies are doing and they are not influenced by trends.

Branding -

- minimal & modern

- basic

- medicine bottles

- mono colours across all branding inc webpage

- mysterious 

- healthy?

All of the products of Aesop are paraben-free and largely ‘botanical’, drawing heavily on antioxidant-rich parsley-seed extract. The packaging of these products supports the brand philosophy, all their formulas are housed in near-identical brown bottles - like those that you would find in 19th century pharmacies- and squeezable beige tubes. It is designed this way so as not to detract attention from the products inside. “We aspire toward a certain quality, discretion and restraint in our work.”

CLARINS

"Clarins will always choose a natural ingredient over a chemical

one, if it delivers the same level of effectiveness. This is the

golden rule that all Clarins researchers follow when designing 

our innovative new products."

Branding -

- minimal

- luxurious

- plant based image

- bottles are easy to use and look expensive

- legible type, a bigger point than on other branding

- basic  

Clarins is one of the UK market leaders within beauty products, each are on a higher end budget but this is because of the raw materials which they use;

Clarins uses over 250 natural plant extracts in its formulas. All are carefully selected for their effectiveness and are delivered in an optimal formula to reveal the beauty of every woman. Each ingredient is sourced with the utmost care for the environment to protect our planet’s biodiversity.

The branding of the products looks high end and for a more mature and sophisticated lady. The main colours used within their palette are green, red, yellow and white, very natural colours possibly to match their brand ethos? 

From the three brands analysed in the first part of this research, each different and offer a range of unique advantages for their intended audience. All of the brands are proud of their ethos and this reflects within the branding of the products and tag lines used on webpages. 

The designs on the bottles and tubs of these beauty brands are very basic and tend to take a more minimal approach, this is because they care more on whats inside the product. The colours are all very basic but used in a simple and modern form.