Pantene has introduced a new CVS-exclusive launch from Pantene, which just hit shelves last week—and is now available on CVS.com as of today, November 15. Generation Beauty by Pantene was created to deliver customized, age-specific nutrition to hair to keep it looking and feeling its best. After all, according to Pantene, hair has no age.

Here, Beauty News caught up with Pantene Global Principal Scientist, Jeni Thomas; VP of Merchandising, Beauty & Personal Care for CVS Health, Andrea Harrison, and Senior Brand Manager for Pantene, Emily Phuong to find out about what differentiates this range, its hero products, and how it will be marketed to consumers.

 

Beauty News: Can you talk a bit about the collection and what differentiates it in the hair care space for women over 40?

Jeni Thomas: When someone is in her 30s to mid-40s, pigmentation is declining, scalp oil production begins to decline, changes to hair’s density are more obvious. That means your roots still get oily/greasy, your hair’s fullness changes, and greys are becoming more noticeable (leading to coloring more frequently). Your hair will need color-safe cleansing, hydration, and frizz control—the factors that went into designing the Generation Beauty Full & Vibrant system with Hyaluronic Acid.

The mid-40’s/50-plus stage brings more noticeable changes to texture, density, sebum production and pigmentation. Texture changes add to dullness concerns, less scalp oil can leave hair more vulnerable to styling stress and the lack of pigmentation means hair can be under more oxidative stress than ever (pigments act as a first line of defense against UV damage). Generation Beauty by Pantene Silver & Glowing with Biotin is a strengthening, purple shampoo and conditioner that includes extra protective antioxidants—this system brightens hair’s natural tone, strengthens hair against damage and helps hair to have more alignment and flow for better light reflection. It is color-safe, so you can use the system if you are regularly coloring to cover grays.

 

BN: Tell us about the strategy to launch this collection exclusively with CVS

Emily Phuong: Because Generation Beauty is tailored for our hair’s age, it opens a lot of conversations about what age means to women. CVS’s Beauty Mark commitment to Unaltered beauty is the right marriage for a line such as Generation Beauty because both are aligned in creating an authentic story about embracing our own real beauty, whatever stage we’re at. Rather than resisting/denying our age, we’re looking to embrace it. Every life stage is important, distinct, and strikingly different. By having a more unified messaging we elevate our messaging on both fronts.

Andrea Harrison: In beauty, we want our customers to come into the store and feel better about themselves—and we’ve worked with brand partners to reflect a more authentic representation of beauty, redefine industry standards, and create healthier self-esteem for a new generation. In May, we announced that we had reached our goal of 100 percent Beauty Mark compliance in our beauty aisles, meaning all imagery produced by and for CVS is labeled with the CVS Beauty Mark watermark or as digitally altered. We’re proud of the impact we’ve had on the industry in such a short time and we’re excited that the Generation Beauty by Pantene is Beauty Mark compliant. We’re thrilled to launch this collection exclusively because it is a unique, Beauty Mark compliant hair care line that offers the specific solutions our customer seeks as her hair care needs evolve. We work hard to offer a selection of products that allows our customers to experiment with self-care and discover what works best for them and fits their specific wants and needs. Generation Beauty is a great example of a brand that brings accessibility to the kind of customization that our customer is seeking.

 

BN: Are there plans in place to add on styling products or is the focus on shampoo/conditioner for now?

EP: We are focusing on our base collection (shampoo/conditioner) before we look to diversify and add more complexities to our line. Hair health starts in the shower and we want to make sure we get that right.

 

BN: Will this collection be available elsewhere later?

EP: Currently, we aren’t looking to further expand this collection beyond CVS.

 

BN: Can you speak to incorporating ingredients typically relegated to skin care into these hair care formulations?

JT: Women are aware that they should change their skincare routines as the skin naturally ages —this idea is also true for hair care (given the natural changes that happen as we age). But awareness of the changes and how to address them is much lower. Skin and hair share many of the same components and we often find that technologies that work for one can also benefit the other. We designed the formulas with skin-inspired ingredients corresponding to the needs at each stage—biotin to indicate strengthening, hyaluronic acid that cues hydration, and green tea to indicate cleansing and refreshing.

 

BN: Which product combination do you envision will be the hero of the range?

EP: Pantene Full and Vibrant is designed for the ages 35+ who are going through less oil production, and facing fine/thinning hair. This transition is extremely hard for women if not they are not properly educated that it is a normal process that should be talked about.

AH: The beauty innovations we bring to our shelves have been key to retaining our customers and reaching new ones, we’re dedicated to carrying brands and products that meet the evolving needs of our customers. In general, we see customers respond best to products that are more premium and offer solutions to specific problems like scalp issues, hair thinning/loss, and color vibrancy.

 

BN: How do you plan to market this on social media?

EP: By highlighting the key ingredients that make these products great while educating consumers on why exactly these products exist (answering the question: why do I need a certain shampoo at a certain age?) Pantene’s presence on social media has always been edu-taining and platforms like TikTok will allow us to market these products in a way that resonates with the consumer. In addition, the influencer partners that were selected were chosen to be relatable and so consumers of all stages of life and ages feel represented.

 

BN: What are your marketing plans in general to get the word out to consumers?

EP: The key to our marketing plans is to excite relevant media to our consumers by hosting an event that educates them on the products. Afterward, we want to do two things: 1. Enlist relevant diverse influencers across all stages in life that are open to leveraging their platform to talk about their relationship with their age and hair. 2. Educate our consumers about how your hair changes as you age through various social media platforms.

 

BN: What consumer insight led you to create this line? What was the underlying consumer need?

EP: Hair needs change over time just like skin, but no one was addressing this change. Additionally, we saw that the older consumer was not frequently part of the conversation and this consumer had many common needs that weren’t addressed by the hair industry. That gave birth to the concept of a product line that tailors to people’s age and addresses an older age gap that the category was overlooking. We wanted to open an authentic conversation about the relationship between women’s equity and age—and hope to welcome all stages rather than keep it under the rug.

AH: As one of the largest and most trusted beauty retailers in the country, we’re always looking for brands, like Generation Beauty, that embrace transparency and prioritize the health and safety of their products, supported by clinical claims. We look for brands that appreciate—even as Beauty and Personal Care brands—that we have an obligation to support our customers having a healthy relationship with beauty at any age, and that we have an opportunity to help build confidence for the next generation. With that responsibility to our customers in mind, we want to provide them access to products that address their specific needs and, to help them achieve healthy skin and hair, we’ve sought out great innovations and ingredient-led products, like the Generation Beauty collection, to bring to our customers. Because this line offers solutions for customers through several stages as their needs change, it provides an opportunity to build not just loyalty to CVS but to the Generation Beauty brand.