The New Year is here, and with its entrance comes a flurry of launches. Shiseido’s Essential Energy Moisturizing Gel Cream taps into the 30-something consumer. Seven presents Kente Bond conditioner to salons and clients. Kopari Coconut Deo offers an aluminum-free deodorant. And, Supergoop! kicks off 2018 with Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40. Marketing strategies center on celebrity ambassadors, select influencer partnerships, bigger launches for smaller companies, and concentration on untapped consumers. There’s no getting away from social media and digital outreach, both of which remain a focus for all.



Shiseido Essential Energy Moisturizing Gel Cream


Marketer in charge: Frances Grant, Senior Vice President, Marketing for Shiseido

How it works: Bringing a bio-cellular breakthrough to skin care, Essential Energy aims to reboot skin’s sensors deep below the surface, reawakening its responsive powers and immersing it in hydration to counteract dullness, roughness and fine lines. Their breakthrough ReNeura Technologyboosts skin’s sensors so it can detect damage in real time and address it.

Waitlist worthy: Driven by technology and rooted in neuroscience, the item was developed as the result of extensive consumer research and focus groups. It’s one of their first products to be designed specifically for the 30-something consumer.

Marketing plan: “With Essential Energy, we’re targeting older millennials, or individuals in their 30’s, because we’ve found it’s the age when consumers start to notice a lack in response to skin care,” said Frances. “As this demographic is a relatively new group for us to specifically target, a series of 360-degree consumer touch points, from the more traditional point of sale and TV, to now placing a higher emphasis on digital, will be instrumental to the launch.”
New strategy: “As education is such an important part of our messaging on the innovative technology, we’re planning to up our digital presence as part of this marketing strategy,” she added. “Beyond our own digital reach, we’ll be working with regional micro- and mid-tier influencers to help spread the word.” The brand will also create original content including how-to videos and product reviews, while adding more emphasis on influencer events and experiences designed to generate buzz as part of the program, something they haven’t focused on in the past.
Get it: Available at shiseido.com for $48.


Kente Bond Conditioner


Marketer in charge: Khristina Kravas, Director of Marketing, Seven
How it works: Essential amino acids, sweet almond, pro vitamin B5 and an array of nurturing botanicals activate the Kente Bond Conditioner to optimize keratin bonding.

Waitlist worthy: Pastels and vibrant colors are not just hues of the moment—they’re the new normal. And, straightening processes are here to stay. This product offers strengthening, beautiful shine, and a 60 percent decrease in breakage.

Marketing plan: “We opted to roll out to our partner salons so that their love of the system could launch us into the more public phase of the campaign,” explained Khristina. Every stylist will be given a set of the products to take home. The company hopes their enthusiasm in the salon and on social, paired with bolstered print ads in key trade magazines, PR events for press and influencers, highly targeted B-to-B and B-to-C Ad Word campaigns, “will propel Bond forward,” she said. “We’ll also do strategic keyword buys, social ad campaigns across multiple platforms, and robust retargeting.”

New strategy: The launch of the Bond system also reveals the brand’s new relationship with actress Portia de Rossi. “She’s known for her great hair. We are always striving to make advances in media as, so in addition to the more traditional trade print ads, we are integrating BTS video with Portia in our digital marketing campaigns as well on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram,” Khristina said. “We’ll also create banner ads that are eye catching without losing the elegance of our campaign aesthetic.”
Get it: Sold in Seven partner salons and on 7haircare.com for $30.


Kopari Coconut Deo


Marketer in charge: Lindsey Vanderbilt, Director of Marketing, Kopari
How it works: This naturally-based, aluminum-free deodorant glides on clear as it nourishes your underarms while leaving you smelling like fresh coconut milk. The product also contains coconut oil, which acts as a natural antibacterial, odor-fighting ingredient.

Waitlist worthy: The multi-tasking, vegan, non-toxic product is free of everything: aluminum, phthalate, silicone and parabens, and is cruelty free.
Marketing plan: Coconut Deo is part of Kopari’s expansion into personal care. The brand is also launching their Coconut Oil individual packets at the same time, “so it’s the perfect time to debut our new subscription service,” said Lindsey. “We’ll begin rolling that out to fans of the brand while offering higher incentives for early adopters. The product launches will be heavily supported through email marketing, PR and social media advertising around the #EmpowerYourPits campaign that supports smarter, natural deodorant choices.”
New strategy: To help spread the word, the company is conducting a heavy push through targeted direct response advertising, “pushing our lead message on giving the stiff middle finger to aluminum,” she added. “We will be supplementing with heavy product sampling to friends and influencer groups, offering them the deo to try (and giving them one to share with a friend). We want to push the message of aluminum in deodorant being bad and linked to cancer and spread this message in a clever, cheeky way utilizing our unique Kopari voice.”
Get it: Sold at KopariBeauty.com and in select Nordstrom stores. The product will retail for $18.

Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40
Marketer in charge: AmandaBaldwin, President, Supergoop!

How it works: Formulas are invisible, weightless, scentless, smoothing and oil free, and can be worn by all skin types.

Waitlist worthy: For those worried about their makeup, the product offers a velvety soft, non-pilling finish. They have also stretched beyond the UVA/UVB spectrum to include another important daily aggressor, blue light.
Marketing plan: “Marketing is about finding your potential customer,” said Amanda. “So we take a very ‘digital-first new-age approach’ to marketing. We don’t do traditional media, there’s no print, no banner ads, we don’t think about the world in that way. Instead we’re creating content and experiences.” The brand is also interested in real-live activations, which they feel is the new wave of marketing.
New strategy: “This is the first time the company is launching a product in January,” Amanda added.“We generally don’t launch in the beginning of the year but we have the marketing dollars behind this product. We’re still a young company and having marketing money is a new thing for us so we wanted to come out of the gate strong and kick off 2018 with a bang.” The five-year-old brand intends to work with more than 100 influences and tastemakers across different channels since sunscreen isn’t just a beauty focused item, it’s a healthy-living product, as well. They’ll also rely on sampling from retail partners.

Get it: Sold at Supergoop.com, Sephora, Bluemercury and Nordstrom for $32.