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.

Choosing a modeling or demo agency to represent your company is an important decision. The people who do the actual event could be the ONLY representative of your company that your potential customers get to meet. It is essential that the promotional models meet your target demographic and completely understand your product. When retaining a demo or modeling agency, here are some questions to ask:

1. What experience do your models have?
2. Can I see pictures of the models?
3. Is your agency open the day of the event?
4. How do I know that your model has shown up to the event?
5. How do you train the model on my product?
6. What feedback reports do I get from you on the event?
7. Can you provide models that match the demographic of the event?

CosPro Agency was created as there was a need for professional makeup artists nationwide. Most agencies do not specialize in the beauty industry and use one model to do everything from food to foundation to foot powder. For every model we book, we can provide a photo and brief resume so you have the comfort of knowing your product is appropriately represented in each store. In addition, all of our artists have at least 2 years of experience not only with makeup, but with retail sales as well. In short, we provide competent, attractive models that are familiar with the beauty industry and trained to sell your products.

Our standards and results are higher than any other agency.

Do you have a specific target market you want to reach? CosPro can help! Whether you have products that are targeted for African Americans, need Spanish speaking makeup artists, or just need models that are all a certain ‘look’, we can help. We are completely turnkey leaving you with minimal involvement for a stress free promotion experience. If you want the best, you want The CosPro Agency.

Visit us at cosproagency.com or contact Kristin Bocox at 877-COSPRO3 Ext. #501 to schedule your next event. New customers receive a 20% discount* off your first event!

*Not valid with other discounts or offers.

The other day my oldest client somewhat jokingly said I didn’t “love her” anymore; that she hardly spoke to me these days. Of course, relating to clients is very important and I took her comments to heart. So what am I doing that is so important I don’t have time for clients? The answer is simple — I am running a small business.

The “new” great American dream is to own your own business. More entrepreneurs launched new businesses in 2009 than at any other time in the past 14 years, according to a study released in May from the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity report. This could be due to the fact that so many people have been downsized that they feel the only way to earn a living or be secure is to be their own boss.

The problem is that it’s just not that easy! One of my favorite expressions is “you don’t know what you don’t know” and there isn’t one easy source out there that can feed you all the information you need to know in order to stay on top of the laws and intricacies to running a business – you find out when something happens how to handle it.

SO what was I doing last week instead of touching base with my (very important) clients? Well here is a little run down.

On Monday, I had back to back conference calls with my 4 managers so I knew what was going on in their departments that week and update our deadlines. A catch 22 for small business owners: you hire people so you don’t do all the work and then you end up managing people and creating another category of work for yourself. My company has 10 employees — not enough for me truly delegate everything other than working with the clients, but just enough to add a few hours to my workload each week dealing with them. You need to train them, mentor them, talk with them and, of course, manage them. Once you delegate things to them, you have to go over the results with each of them. This is why so many bosses fail to delegate because sometimes it takes the same amount of time to give the task to someone else then to do it yourself. Ongoing tasks can easily be assigned to an employee, but the weird things that pop up daily (and, trust me, they do) have to be handled and usually you are the only person left who can handle it.

Monday afternoon I spent over 3 hours researching the “use tax laws” in Michigan and discussing the inquiry we got from that state with our CPA and internal AP person. We are a service company and we don’t sell products so why would Michigan ask us to pay taxes in a state where we have no office, no sales, no employees? Because we issued some 1099’s to independent contractors to do in-store demonstrations in a few stores in that state. Each state has different tax laws. We can’t afford to go to an attorney on every issue that pops up and, unlike large corporations, have no one person who can deal with these things. So the small business owner ends up handling these issues one by one.

On Tuesday, I was dealing with my warehouse manager’s neck and back problems. We only have one warehouse manager and the fact her doctor put her on light duty meant the warehouse basically shuts down. We had to find a person immediately to go in and do all the heavy lifting plus deal with the insurance issues.

On Wednesday, I was dealing with another legal issue and this one was really fun. When we starting doing a lot of shipping, we began using a ship broker who was referred to us by another company. For the first 3 or 4 years, it was great – no problems and good rates. Then the broker, Doreen Dillon, sent out a change of company name correspondence assuring us that we would still be dealing with her, but she was working for a different company. It seemed to be business as usual, but then things got strange; she was using different shipping companies for each shipment, she was hard to reach, some invoices were coming straight to us saying they were not paid – she always had a plausible excuse for each. Finally, Doreen disappeared (with 2 years worth of payments) and the shipping companies started coming after us for payment.  It was and continues to be a nightmare; every few months another shipping company pops up and we have to settle with them. Basically we have paid TWICE for all the shipping that occurred during those couple of years. I put her name in this blog in case anyone reading this is doing business with her! Trust me, there are a lot of people who would love to find her.

Other things I handled last week included managing all our projects; making sure that nothing falls through the cracks and that we get everything done on time. We are also in the middle of redeveloping our website and working on a new part time PR position so we have one person monitoring all our social media, press releases and contact lists (something I pretty much handle alone at this point). I get hundreds of emails each day from clients and associates and make a point to respond quickly to everyone. I also invoice most of the projects myself because I do most of the quotes.

I feel extremely lucky (and proud) that we have been in business for 20 years and keep growing.  I hope other entrepreneurs find as much success as I have. But I laugh when someone thinks owning your own business is “freedom” and you can take off whenever you want to. My biggest piece of advice – realize it is going to be twice as hard as any job you ever had and then maybe you won’t be as unprepared for the demands that reaching the great American dream will bring. Oh and yes, stay in touch with your clients because you really do work for them.

Los Angeles, CA – As Taylor Swift fans exited the Staples Center after the sold-out April 15^th Fearless Tour concert; RITE AID was on hand distributing their Teen Glam Camp bags. The brand ambassadors gave away nearly 2000 bags to lucky teen girls. The FREE “Glam Camp” tote bag was filled with beauty products and bounce-back coupons from brands such as Jergens, Jesse’s Girl, Clearasil, Veet, Colgate, John Frieda, Hawaiian Tropic, Maybelline, Wet n Wild, Ban, Yes to Carrots, L’Oreal, Playtex, and Got2Be. Taylor Swift, widely hailed as the first bonafide country music star of the MySpace generation, currently has singles climbing both the country and pop radio charts. She currently holds the Billboard all-genre record for most Top 20 debuts in a calendar year.

That same week, RITE AID was on hand at the Miss Teen Ohio-World pageant to reward the participants with the Glam Camp bag. More than 300 contestants eagerly accepted the tote bag and many began using the products right away. This is the first full year for this new pageant, which is the official preliminary event to the Miss Teen United States-World and Miss Teen World Pageants.

Teens (ages 12-17) comprise more than 11% of the U.S. population, and spending by American teenage consumers is expected to reach $208.7 billion by the year 2011. The RITE AID Glam Camp program consists of sampling events that are held in the five strongest RITE AID markets that match up with a high teen population 10,000 bags are distributed each year. The program is coordinated and executed by Cosmetic Promotions Inc, a national marketing company specializing in the beauty industry. The company secures the vendors, the bags and all the venues for distribution.

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For more information on Cosmetic Promotions, contact Joann Tyson at 888-644-9916 or visit our website: www.cosproagency.com.