Engagement is the new direct marketing, say beauty’s IT girls, Annemarie Frank, director e-commerce, digital media and strategic alliances, mark; Marisa Thalberg, vice president of global digital marketing, The Estée Lauder Companies and Kristen Yraola, assistant vice president of digital media and Internet, Maybelline New York and Garnier. The forward-thinking beauty trio recently discussed some of their digital successes and how to stay ahead of the game.




  • Marisa Thalberg says the biggest paradigm shift is seeing the brand as medium, and addressing how shopping and consumer engagement are intertwined. “We are re-thinking with a view of getting them to shop but with a view of getting them to discover, learn and feel sensitivity to and connection with the brand.”



  • Non-beauty categories can inspire out-of-the-box thinking. Kristen drew on ideas from the Mini-Cooper site for the launch of Fructis shampoo. “They built a whole lifestyle story around it. It wasn’t just about how this car works. So we told a story behind Fructis beyond that it makes your hair three times shinier.”



  • Combining more traditional forms of advertising, such as T.V. and technology is highly effective. Garnier Sleek & Shine Blow Dry Perfector used their T.V. ads to direct viewers to the brand’s web site to learn how to use the product. “We used QR codes so she could see exactly how this works using a mobile device,” says Kristen.



  • Annemarie realized mark’s email open rates were very low and saw that her target audience was on Facebook. So, she launched a shopping widget on mark’s fan page and created an application so representatives could curate a personal shop and blast it out on the newsfeed.


HANDLING A SOCIAL MEDIA GLITCH
Sampling programs don’t all go smoothly.  Although ultimately an Aveda Facebook sampling program was a big success, the brand sidestepped negative reaction when a glitch in the app continued to confirm samples past the stated number of first-to-the-gate entrants. To make matter worse, Aveda couldn’t discern who the first 5,000 participants were. EMarketer, the online research and analysis site, reported that Aveda handled the near disaster by first alerting participants of the error and letting them know it would re-launch the app at a later date, awarding four times as many samples. On the date of the sampling, when Aveda reached the sample limit, it shut off the app, informed those who didn’t make the cut-off and invited them to a local Aveda store or salon to receive products. Most importantly, Aveda was completely transparent about the glitch, posting a long note explaining what had happened and linking itself to a Facebook Producer page where the error was discussed.