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The holiday shopping season is already about to begin. PriceGrabber® released the results of its first winter holiday shopping survey, which reveals that 45% of consumers intend to spend less money during the 2011 winter holiday shopping season than they did in 2010. 49% will spend the same amount, and only 7% will actually spend more this year. With forecasts like these, it’s up to the retailers to make their holiday sales surge with important efforts such as in-store demos and promotions, strategic pricing, and marketing.

Some are not spending more due to higher living expenses driving your customers to find better holiday bargains. According to PriceGrabber’s survey, 68% of shoppers say the overall economic climate will affect their overall spending. This is an opportunity to show your customers that your store or brand offers great deals. In store demos are a great to promote the impulse buy around the holidays whether a fragrance gift set or cosmetic/nail set for a stocking stuffer.

27% of the customers who planned on spending more this year said that it would be because of better prices on gifts. Getting your product in front of the customers is certainly one way to get them to purchase yours. Other reasons included more confidence in the economy, being tired of frugality, and increased credit. Shoppers are also confident that they will be able to find a great bargain – 70% said that they expect retailers will offer better discounts this year due to the economy. 75% listed price cuts and free shipping, followed by coupons and blowout sales as the most enticing to get them to products this holiday season. Did you know that Cosmetic Promotions can create coupons for your event to help with sales?

We can also help promote your in-store demos and events on Facebook and Four-Square by encouraging people to check in. For instance, if your customer checks in your store during a sampling event, then they could receive an online coupon good toward their next purchase or one that they could share with their network of friends.

The good news is that 53% of holiday shoppers will start earlier this year to spread out the impact of purchases and 33% are beginning their holiday shopping in October. This means you can start reaping the benefits of your marketing efforts early. Demonstration and sampling promotions will enhance your results as in-store demos usually produce one week’s worth of sales in only 4 hours. By using the CosPro Agency for your in-store events, you’ll benefit from over 20 years of experience and unsurpassed quality of service.

Book your event now by calling Kristin Bocox at 877-3COSPRO ext. 501# or email her at Kristin@cosmeticpromotions.com.

September 15th begins Hispanic Heritage month and Cosmetic Promotions wants to share some of our successful marketing tips for gaining Hispanic clients.

1. Hispanics are very loyal: 61% of those surveyed, said once they find a brand they like, they don’t switch. Sampling is one of the best ways for them to gain confidence in your brand and become YOUR loyal customer. Remember 89% of all first purchases are because of TRIAL – not price or coupon.
2. Hispanic Families shop together and typically on weekends. Consider doing in-store events during weekends in mid-September to mid-October in top Hispanic stores. Cosmetic Promotions can arrange these events in most chains.
3. Hispanic Families spend more time together in activities than other ethnic groups. Consider sampling at Hispanic festivals, parades and community events. Cosmetic Promotions can handle this type of sampling for you. For example, on June 26th we participated for the 6th consecutive year in the San Juan Bautista post-parade concert in Camden, NJ. It is considered the largest summer event in the region with over 30,000 attendees and we distributed 2,000 sample bags to female attendees. Call us and we can come up with a Hispanic Heritage month community sampling plan.
4. Hispanic are less price conscious, but they do use coupons on the brands they ALREADY love: 63% are more likely to use a coupon if it is bilingual. Cosmetic Promotions can do all types of printing and translate from English to Spanish on coupons, easel cards, etc.
5. Hispanics utilize Hispanic media: 82% polled view Spanish TV, 75% listen to Spanish radio and 42% read Spanish papers or magazines. Reassign your budget dollars so that you are placing ads in these vehicles during the September-October time period. Cosmetic Promotions can help you design and place your ads in these publications.

Read About Our Latest Hispanic Event »

Our annual Hispanic sampling program is a way of promoting Rite Aid’s health and beauty products at 10 community events in Hispanic markets. 2,000 bags are distributed at each event to women in attendance. The bags contain a variety of samples and coupons from Smooth ‘N Shine, Palmer’s Cocoa Butter, Halle Berry Fragrance, Benefiber, Kiss Nails, Fantasia Hair Polisher, Lactaid, L’Oreal, S by Shakira Fragrance, Bio Oil and select bags contain a special $100 gift card to Rite Aid for the recipient.

On June 24th, we did exit sampling after the MANÁ Concert in Los Angeles, CA. The world’s biggest Latin rock band brought thousands of fans to downtown LA as they opened the first of a record-setting 4 sold-out nights at the Staples Center. For almost three decades MANÁ has been one of the most popular Mexican pop/rock groups. Winning 4 Grammy’s and 5 Latin Grammy’s to date; the concept behind MANÁ has been a world-music mix of Latin and pop rock. After a long hiatus, MANÁ returned to the stage with an innovative show where they performed songs from their new album “Drama y Luz”, which reached #1 on the Latin Billboards. We had a table setup right outside of the Staples Center with a Rite Aid banner hung in front to attract the crowd as they were leaving the concert. The attendees were pleasantly surprised to see Rite Aid on site. There was a rush of people and they couldn’t wait to open up their bags to see what was inside. We handed out all 2,000 sample bags in less than an hour.

On June 26th, we participated for our 6th consecutive year in the San Juan Bautista post-parade concert in Camden, NJ. It is considered the largest summer event in the region with over 30,000 attendees. The parade is a well-known, family-oriented, cultural and educational event, which always takes place on the last Sunday in the month of June. It displayed a mixture of Latin rhythms and dances from around the region, marching bands and decorated floats that lead into Wiggins Waterfront Park for a grand slam summer concert with the partnership of the largest radio station in Philadelphia. The concert offered a fun-filled day of Latin sounds, exhibits as well as the flavors and aromas of ethnic cuisine. As parade-goers entered the park they were greeted by our team at the Rite Aid booth distributing the sample bags. Our team was able to educate thousands of attendees on the Rite Aid Beauty Guarantee and answered lots of questions about how the guarantee works. Many ladies were not familiar with it and said they would definitely be shopping at Rite Aid soon for their beauty needs. The event was a huge success and before night fall all 2,000 bags had been distributed.

The next event we are scheduled to be at is on July 31st during the Junta Hispana festival at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in New York. Junta Hispana is a unique Hispanic Heritage event celebrating all 20 Spanish- speaking countries. Working with the consulates, tourism and cultural offices, the beauty, culture, heritage, music, dance, food, arts and uniqueness of each country are brought to one event. The stage features performances for the entire family to enjoy. They have a food court with a variety of cuisine from the different Hispanic countries. Rite Aid will have a Pharmacy onsite where visitors can learn about medications and health issues along with receiving free health screening. The sample bags will be distributed to the ladies as they visit the Rite Aid booth. Rain or shine the lines form early at each of the different plazas and continue all day. No matter where you are inside of the venue there is something to do or learn about the different countries represented.

Nivea will be using reality star Khloe Kardashian-Odom to promote their ‘Good-bye Cellulite, Hello Bikini!’ challenge. The challenge is a four-week program that combines fitness, nutrition, style, and skin care with Nivea Good-Bye Cellulite products. Khloe Kardashian-Odom will use Nivea’s Good-Bye Cellulite fast-acting serum and advanced Good-Bye Cellulite gel cream and document her progress over four weeks via Twitter.

After a successful nail polish and unisex fragrance, pop-singer Justin Bieber is now also launching a woman’s fragrance called Someday. Someday will be debut in June in partnership with Give Back Brands – a company dedicated to donating its proceeds to charity from celebrity endorsed products.

Johnson Products has partnered with 100 Black Men of America and its Collegiate 100 program with its Ultra Sheen Men grooming line. This is a contribution to their effort to build upon their commitment to the African-American community. Johnson Products will be a part of the Collegiate 100 events at the 100 Black Men of America Conference in June. The company will host its Ultra Sheen Men Grooming Lounge for conference attendees and present the Collegiate 100 Chapter of the Year Award. 100 Black Men of America is a national association of leading African-American men of business, industry, public affairs and government with a mission to improve the well-being for African-Americans, particularly African-American youth.

Back to school season is considered the second most important sales period of the year after the holidays. Back to school (kindergarten through high school) spending in 2010 was estimated to reach $21.35 billion, and combined with college spending was estimated to reach $55.12 billion. Even if you’re not selling school supplies or clothing, in-store demonstrations are a great way to attract back to school shoppers to your products.

Teenagers and pre-teens said they used more of their own money for apparel, supplies and accessories in 2010. When it comes to how much influence children have in parents’ buying decisions, 61.1% say their children impact half or more of their back to school purchases. CosPro Agency executed a 150 store back to school event last year and sales exceeded 1,400 – selling approximately 10 pieces per store. There were three brands involved and we distributed over 4,000 samples for one brand while the other two had almost 1,700 demonstrations with their products.

Price is a major driver now, but trust, quality, and familiarity also come into play. Try creating change in usage or consumption occasion by reframing your value. For instance, you might want to position your skincare product as something that saves trips to the dermatologist. Offer solutions that are a convenient response to the consumer’s need, i.e. you can put “save money while saving the planet” on in-store signage about your eco friendly packaging. If your products aren’t obviously school related, then use a tie in. For instance, a hair color brand might say “the prices of books may be going up, but college students can always save on trips to the salon.”

The BIGResearch survey showed 17% of shopping will be in drug store chains. The survey also found one-third (33.1%) of college shoppers will begin hitting the stores one month before school starts, with 23.2% preferring to wait a bit longer and go one to two weeks before school starts. One in five (20.2%) will start at least two months before school starts, 12.6% will wait until the week school starts and 10.9% will go after they’ve already started school. These are the highest traffic times to execute in store demos geared towards back to school.

Your entire back to school campaign (displays, product offerings, etc.) should be tied together. For instance, you could do in store promotions to correspond with your direct mail, TV ads, and print ads in August issues of magazines. Now is the time to start setting up your demos, don’t wait to secure your spot for back to school and contact Cospro Agency today!

The beauty industry is doing well. In fact, according to the Professional Beauty Association, the beauty retail industry is expected to reach $59 billion in 2012. It was $43 billion in 2006, which was the last full year before the recession hit. This phenomenon is referred to as the lipstick effect – when people can no longer spend on large items, they may indulge in small enjoyable purchases such as makeup, perfumes, and hair dyes. Creams, makeup, and fragrances alone jumped 4% to $8.4 billion last year.

Sears, Roebuck and Co. has announced that they will sell cosmetic brands normally found at drugstores in 100 of its stores and on its web site. This new cosmetics department will include brands such as L’Oreal, Maybelline, Revlon, CoverGirl, Sally Hansen, Essie and Nocole by OPI. Beauty advisors will be available in the departments to help customers. Although mall department stores do not typically sell drugstore cosmetics brands, Sears points out that this will complement their approach of selling affordable and well-known brands.

L’Oreal is making strong moves in India – 70% of their major launches this year will be locally designed and developed. New products include a new fairness cream called Garnier Light Ultra, a locally developed kohl eyeliner, and an assortment of skincare products targeted at men. Although Procter & Gable and Unilever have been established in India longer, L’Oreal has an annual growth rate of 30%. Being successful in the Indian market is part of L’Oreal’s overall strategy to monopolize on the opportunities of international emerging markets.

According to the NPD Group (market research company), the recession has produced U.S. consumers that are well versed in stretching their money by using coupons, taking advantage of sales, and shopping at discount stores more frequently. Since the price of food is rising, it is expected that consumers are going to increase their money-saving tactics once again. The Economy Tracker states that 74% of consumers strongly agree that they expect coupons and special deals will be even more important in buying decisions. Sixty-seven percent said they would shop less in general, and 53% plan to buy in bulk.

Encouragingly, rising disposable income and increasing western influence is anticipated to grow the Chinese cosmetics and toiletries market by 12% during 2011-2014. Why is this important? China is in the third position in terms of size of cosmetics and toiletries, following U.S. and Japan. Instead of luxuries, cosmetics and toiletries are now becoming necessities.

Global spending is still not the way it once was before the recession, but it is maintained that the cosmetic sector has emerged from the recession. The global market for cosmetics and personal care actually grew by 5% in 2010. In the same year the premium cosmetics sector itself grew by 2.5% and actually outperformed mass cosmetics.

Dove encourages women everywhere to commit to spending one hour on a self-esteem building activity with a girl in their lives during the Dove Self-Esteem Weekend (October 22-24). Women can show how amazing things can happen when we all come together by registering their weekend activities on the interactive Dove Self-Esteem Weekend Map on www.dovemovement.com, which will serve as a visual representation of support for this cause, and can also be used to locate activities open to the public.

Dove is also inviting women to kick off the movement by sharing their inspiring message with the next generation, and simply answering the question: What do you wish you had known at 13? Dove has gathered some of its consumers and the nation’s most influential women to answer this question, and is sharing these messages as a source of inspiration for women and girls everywhere in the weeks leading up to the Dove Self-Esteem Weekend.

Las Vegas, NV – Walgreens Las Vegas store locations have been home to many in store events implemented by National Marketing firm, Cosmetic Promotions. Four stores in the Vegas market including the ones located at MGM Grand and Venetian played host to a special beauty event that ran four days at each store. Each day featured beauty brands including Revlon, Coppertone and Bain de Soleil.
Professional makeup artists applied and demonstrated the new Revlon Photo Ready foundation and powder along with Colorburst lip products to almost 200 women during the 4 day event, resulting in 140 immediate sales. In addition, the makeup artists trained the 28 beauty advisors on the products to help them sell more products in future events.

With the high heat index, it was no surprise that the sun care products featured by Coppertone and Bain de Soleil were a hit with the customers – almost 250 pieces were sold between the two brands. The 30 SPF sprays were a huge success with men. The nostalgic Bain de Soleil line (exclusive to Walgreens in all states excluding Florida) demonstrated their iconic Orange Gelee to a new generation. Over 900 coupons were distributed during the event. Exuberant demonstrators ventured outside the stores to help customers protect their skin from damaging sunrays. To add even more excitement, Vegas gamblers had a chance to win a beauty basket at each location filled with Revlon or sun care products.

“The theory is that people on vacation have more time to enjoy a makeover event and will go back home and purchase the products as well,” says Joann Tyson, president of Cosmetic Promotions. “Women are pleasantly surprised to find a professional makeup artist and beauty consultants at a drug chain – and to discover that the drug store brands are just as good as the department store ones they might have been using – 91% of the women surveyed during this even said they looked forward to more such events in their local Walgreens.