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!

Tom’s of Maine has launched a new toothpaste, Simply White. To promote the toothpaste, Tom’s of Maine is partnering with Sheryl Crow’s 100 Miles from Memphis Concert beginning May 7^th.  The partnership will result in the greening of the concert tour, community beautification events in select cities, and a free song download for Sheryl Crow fans. Sheryl Crow was chosen by Tom’s of Maine for her passion for the environment and healthy living. Simply White toothpaste is proven to whiten teeth, but contains no bleaching ingredients. There are also no artificial flavors, preservatives, animal testing, or animal ingredients.

Salma Hayek has teamed up with CVS to launch her own cosmetics line – Nuance. She took off 3 years from her acting career to create the line which debuted with 100 pieces.

Although new products are always great, the value of customer service cannot be ignored. In a recent survey by American Express’s Global Customer Service Barometer, 7 out of 10 Americans were willing to pay an average of 13% more with companies that provide excellent customer service. Sixty percent of the survey respondents believed that companies hadn’t improved their customer service, and 26% believed that companies are paying less to their customer service. Seventy eight percent of the respondents said they would cancel a transaction or not make an intended purchase because of poor customer service.

Popular recording artist Nicki Minaj is planning to launch a fragrance sometime in the near future. According to Allure magazine, she wants her new perfume to smell light, yet be something a strong, sensual woman would wear.

In other news, Procter & Gamble’s Pantene is debuting plant-based plastic containers sourced mainly through sugarcane. This move is expected to cut P&G’s fossil fuel consumption by 70% and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 170%. However, the new containers will cost more to process. “As the world’s biggest hair care brand, we need to be there first. We are responsible for healthy hair and also a healthy world” – P&G General Manager of Global Hair, Hanneke Faber. The new Pantene eco-friendly bottles will be rolled out in Western Europe later in the month while the rest of the world will see them over the next 18 months.

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.

Recently we conducted a shared “Its New” sampling event at 200 Walgreens stores across the country. Four brands participated in the event: Mennen Speed Stick, Colgate Wisp, Revlon, and Almay. The event resulted in 3,400 immediate sales and almost 20,000 coupons were distributed that will result in future sales. The demonstrators were also able to train 255 Beauty Advisors on all of the participating products.

Customers were thrilled to receive travel size samples of the Mennen Speedstick Deodorant and Colgate Wisp – over 15,000 samples were distributed during the event which took place over four consecutive Saturdays. The demonstrators were professional makeup artists and they performed “color-matching” demonstrations for Almay’s new Smart Shade Foundation and “lip makeovers” featuring Just Bitten Lipstain by Revlon. Both brands were a huge hit.

A survey conducted during the event indicated that over half the consumers had never tried any of the products before, but 95% said they would purchase the brands now that they had the chance to try them. 41% of those people made their purchase during the event as a result of the money saving coupons that they received.  Consumers also were excited to sign up to win a Beauty Basket – one winner per store – that contained full size products of those items being demonstrated.

As budgets get cut, manufacturers are looking for more economical ways to promote their brands. By sharing the event, it cut their cost by 50-75% and makes the event even more exciting for the consumer because there is more for them to try. We currently execute shared events at Rite Aid, Walgreens and just recently added CVS. Contact us to set up your shared event today!

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.

Cincinnati, OH – Ten CVS stores in the Cincinnati market were hand chosen by P&G to host hair care consultations on the NEW Pantene Formulas. Customers were greeted by a hair care consultant to assist them in choosing the correct Pantene regime for their hair needs. Informational brochures were handed out to over 400 customers and over 150 demonstrations were performed during the 4-hour event. 73 purchases were made that day and 362 coupons were distributed which should result in additional future sales. To encourage customers to visit the consultation table, they could enter to win a basket of products – one basket per store. Invitation postcards were sent out to consumers announcing the event and offering them a coupon.

Cosmetic Promotions, a national marketing and promotion firm executed the event for P&G and reported the results as follows:

• For every two demonstrations completed one piece of product sold.
• The consultants trained a total of 19 associates on the products so they can continue selling Pantene after the event.
• 50% of the customers said they would purchase at a later date and took a coupon.
• 75% said they would like to see more demo events.

A customer survey performed during the event concluded that the majority of the consumers were not only familiar with the Pantene brand but considered it a leader in the hair care category and were eager to learn about and try the new formulas.

Celebrating 20 years of business in 2010, Cosmetic Promotions regularly supplies professional makeup artists; skincare and hair care consultants to companies including RITE AID, Walgreens, Cover Girl, Maybelline and Neutrogena. They are the only promotional company dedicated to improving the sale of beauty products at mass retail. There services include all types of printed materials, sweepstakes execution and associate training programs. Their new website includes video’s on some the events and programs they have completed.

Winter Park, FL – 200 top Walgreens stores in Florida and California hosted product demonstrations on Banana Boat Sport and Ultra Defense sun care products. Over 3,000 demonstrations were performed during the 4-hour event, which took place on Fridays & Saturdays in June & July and resulted in over 1,800 immediate sales. 6,200 coupons were distributed during the event and the Brand Representatives spend time educating consumers and store associates on sun protection.

Cosmetic Promotions, the national marketing company facilitating the event conducted a survey during and with 500 responses; 32% of the customers had never tried a Banana Boat product before and 61% of the ones who did not make an immediate purchase said they would at a future time. While the Sport Spray 30 SPF appealed more to adults; parents were buying the 100 SPF Ultra Defense for their children since Banana Boat was a brand they could trust to protect their skin. Each store offered a sun care basket that consumers could enter to win. Cosmetic Promotions provided the Brand Representatives, the printed materials, created the gift basket and table set up.