Real Techniques new Bold Metals collection: Social Media Monitoring 2

CURRENT METRICS

Comparing to previous metrics:

GoogleTrends

IceRocket

SocialMention

According to Google Trends Bold Metals collecting has rapid decline in interest. On recent IceRocket chart there is a high spike some time around March 8. Lats take a look at what happened then. There was this picture posted on Instagram at that time:

The first thing you see is a pile of Real Techniques original line make-up brushed. But if you look closer or read the description - these brushes have Sam and Nic's signatures on them. These are going to be hidden on the shelves in stores worldwide for fans to find them. By the number of likes we can say that people are excited already.
As we can seen, campaign is starting to slowly die out. There is an evident decline in almost all statistical data.There are less mention, less hash-tags. However there is a more positive sentiment now than it was three weeks ago.

COMPANY’S GEOGRAPHY

Using Alexa.com to analyze company’s website I found some interesting and surprising statistics -website is 3.5 times more popular in U.S. then it is in UK. However Google trends show that Real Techniques search volume index in U.S. is 25, while in UK it’s 87. Do UK people buy Real Techniques products somewhere else? Do U.S. people go straight to the company's website? Unfortunately these questions I can't answer. Yet.

TARGET AUDIENCE, DEMOGRAPHICS AND FEEDBACK

In their new product launch video on YouTube Sam and Nic claim that Bold Metals is a premium brush line at higher price, and that is exactly what they wanted to create. They also make a promise that their original brush line, which is the best at its price range, is not going anywhere and will be added with new brushes.

Real Techniques original brush line is known to be budget friendly. Therefor the main target audience war a mix of teens, students and then professionals or older ladies who have more low to average income. So there have been a gap in the market and Sam and Nic exploited it.

Some people have been complaining about the fact that Bold Metals brushes are too expensive for being drug store brushes, but the fact is that they are not drug store make-up brushes, they are premium/high-end brushes that are being sold in drugstores.

Higher price point is pretty much self-explanatory as this line is specifically targeting a more professional, higher end demographic. The brushes are priced higher for a reason – they are of a better quality, they have weighted handles for better application, feature new sleek design.

The problem is that people are used to the fact that Real Techniques brushes are reasonably priced and suitable for everyone. So with new Bold Metals line people were expecting the same price range.

It may be concluded that Real Techniques make-up brushes – both originals and new Bold Metals – are targeting women (as seen on snap shot) of all age and income level.

Alexa.com

 

BRAND SWOT ANALYSIS 

Strengths	Weaknesses
-          Experienced in beauty industry; -          Good reputation among web community; -          High quality products; -          Vegan/cruelty free make-up brushes made of synthetic material Taklon; -          Wide price range; -          Product presence online including Amazon and in stores; -          Instructional videos on the products; -          Friendly attitude to customers/viewers.	-           Poor marketing campaigns in the rest of the world (besides UK and U.S.); -          Lack of present on big live beauty related events; -          Very few collaborations with other brands/YouTubers.
Opportunities	Threats
-          A lot of marketing ideas and opportunities (as it is a rather new company and has its reliable audience); -          Upcoming events can widen the targeting audience.	-          Rather intense competition in the market of beauty products; -          A great number of new brands appearing as the years go by; -          Possible reduction in sales in Russia effected by sanctions.

HOW CAN REAL TECHNIQUES GET MORE POPULARITY AND CUSTOMERS IN U.S. AND GLOBAL MARKET?

Beauty Conventions

The fact that Real Techniques has already built up their target audience doesn’t mean they can’t widen it. Empowering your customers and fans on social media websites is great, but nothing can be better than real life interactions (or both combined). "Bandwagon" effect plays a huge role here as well! When people see something they are passionate about in real life, whether it’s an object or a person or both, they experience unity with them and a sense of belonging. Imagine seeing one of your favorite actors in real life – you will probably scream with joy and when you will come back home you would more likely want to watch a movie with this actor. In our case – get home and buy some make-up brushes and tools. The same affect happens with our beautiful ladies – San and Nic. People attending beauty conventions and events are probably the most active buyers of beauty products, but at the same time – the more critical ones. Luckily the Real Techniques products can stand fire (not real fire though)!

In fact, Real Techniques holds its own events - #RTRoadshow (Real Techniques Roadshow). 

Company invites to attend the events where people can meet Sam & Nic, shop Real Techniques brushes, and win great prizes. The roadshow started in April 2014 and will end in April/May 2015. 17 events total - 8 in U.S. and 9 in Europe. 4 events left – all of them in U.S. Next upcoming event – contest, meet&great and high tea + consultation for the winner in Chicago, IL. 

the map shows pictures uploaded with  #RTRoadshow

Recommendations:

Although it’s good that Real Techniques is holding its own events, but as of U.S. market it’s probably not very helpful. Instead the following could be a smart thing to do:
-   Collaborate with other brands that are popular in the U.S.
-   Attend big beauty events like BeautyCon

BeautyCon was opened to the public for the first time in 2013. Unlike other trade show events it is catering to online personality market, mostly teen-girls. Attendance has increased from a few thousand attendees at BeautyCon LA 2013, to over 7,000 in 2014, with over 22 countries represented.

Should I mention that these kinds of real live events have a huge impact on social media – vblogs, blog posts, Instagram pictures, new hashtags, tweets etc. Speaking of YouTube, the number of vlogs and hauls from BeautyCon grow correlatively with the growing number of attendees –7.7 million views on YouTube in 2013 nearly doubled in 2014 with 15.5 million views.

There are eight upcoming cosmetic and beauty productsindustry trade fairs in U.S. this year, besides BeatyCon. This year BeautyCon has already made it in Dallas, TX. Three upcoming events will take place in LA, NY and London (!).

YouTube promotion through collaborations and sponsored videos

Even though Real Techniques has a good presence on YouTube platform it doesn’t mean that’s enough. There are some great marketing steps that can be done via YouTube.

Recommendations:
-   Collaborate with other YouTubers (tutorials etc.)
-   Give out free products to beauty gurus to make reviews on
-   Spread some discount coupons to the viewers

YouTubers are really good at spreading word of mouth as they have got some influence on people watching their videos. Some of the most popular beauty gurus have millions of subscribers. Both big and small companies give away discount coupon codes on their products though YouTubers. This is also a good idea for Real Techniques to try.

Search Engines Promotion

Real Techniques appear in “natural” search results for “make-up brushes”:

Google – 1 page

Bing–5 page

According to statistics, Google is the most used search engine in UK, U.S. and the world in general. However statistics show that Bing is quite popular in U.S. and it has more sponsored links appeared in search results than Google.

Recommendations:

Considering doing promotions on Google or/and Bing might be a good idea for the company.

Highlight vegan factor

The fact that Real Techniques brushes are cruelty free and therefor vegan may be appealing to a big part of world population. The bristles of Real Techniques brushes are made of Taklon - synthetic material. Taklon has many benefits: 
- cruelty free, 
- more sanitary, 
- provides better application of products.

Recommendations:

Emphasize the fact that their brushes are made out of synthetic material and yet are as soft as if made out of real animal fur. Use it in campaigns.

It's time for a Digital Detox!

“Groundswell technologies are exploding. They're cheap and easy to create and improve, they tap easily into the Internet advertising economy, and they connect people who naturally want to connect.” (274 Groundswell)

All of it sounds good and when you first think about the pros of the groundswell you don't seam to find any cons. But sadly, it might be rather devastating. The groundswell has already embedded within every activity in the real world.(275)

There is no doubt that social media with all its entertainment and communication opportunities can cause an addiction. And just like with any other types of addiction, sooner or later there comes a concern and then a detox.

Social media addiction can cause FoMO which stands for Fear of Missing Out which I've already talked about in one of my reсent posts. And just like with anything else in the Universe there is an opposite phenomenon called JoMO - Joy of Missing Out. While term FoMO has been out there for quite a long time, JoMO appeared rather recently in 2012. The term was first mentioned by a blogger Anil Dash.

Joy of Missing Out: enjoying what you’re doing in the here and now and not on social media broadcasting or seeing what everybody else is doing.(urbandictionary.com)

JoMO touched the right chord. The Huffington Post has named 2014 “The Year of JOMO”. JoMO became so popular and has been extensively discussed, that in 2013 term 'digital detox' was registered in Oxford dictionary.

Lets take a look at how people in different countries give up on the Internet and cell phones in order to come back to “normal” lifestyle.

Wisdom 2.0

Large IT-companies were first who experienced information overload. Google for example is practicing silent lunches and has meditation rooms for its employees; Facebook and Twitter made meditative practices essential part of weekly work routine. Digital corporations exchange their practices resisting digital-slavery on annual Wisdom 2.0 conference held in winter in California. Conference headliners are top managers of LinkedIn, Twitter, Cisco, Ford, spiritual instructors and philosophers. First Wisdom 2.0 conference counted 200 attendants, by 2013 the number reached 1700 attendants.

Hamburgers vs. Facebook friends

Burger King held anti-digital Whopper® Sacrifice campaign under the slogan “Friendship is strong but the whopper is stronger”. Burger King promised to grant a free whooper to everyone who would delete 10 friends via Whopper® Sacrifice app and announce it on Facebook. After 233 906 friends sacrificed Facebook closed the app as it contradicted its policy.

Off-line camps

Two summers in a row hundreds of people come to Camp Grounded located in California to do a digital detox. Any kind of digital devices including photo and video cameras are prohibited here. Instead there are lake swimming, talent contests, songs near fire and other scout activities. There are no real names and work talks. No fast food, alcohol and drugs. No kids. Instead of Facebook there is a face art, instead of email – normal mail box.

No Wi-Fi hotels

Some hotels now ask their guests to leave all electronic devises on the reception desk or offer special digital-detox programs. For example some hotels in Caribbean Sea offer a seven-day detox program developed by Department of Tourism and psychologist Louise Gillespie Smith. The program provides couches helping people to overcome the demolition.

No cell phones party

For those who suffer from FoMO and get a good hold of their cell phones even on a party Singapore geeks invented Social Rehab. It's a kit including color lens glasses (replacing Instagram), “Like” stickers, note cards to write down tweets and sketch pads. The kit can be used in everyday life and on special Social Rehab parties.

Anti-tech clothes and accessory

The Way We See The World - NY product design consultancy came up with the idea of creating a tech accessory called Phonekerchief. It's a cover for your cell phone blocking incoming calls and texts. This invention aims to help people not to get distracted by the technology during person to person communications.

Japanees designer Kunihiko Morinaga created a line of clothing that blocks cell phone signals allowing people wearing it to focus on physical life.

Apps vs. apps

There are quite a few digital detox apps:

Headspace – aims to better your life quality and teach how to fight stress and tiredness with simple yet effective meditation lessons;

Keepmeout – temporarily blocks access to social media websites;

Digital Detox App – shuts down your electronic device for a set period of time;

Accountkiller – provides links to instructions on how to delete accounts from all popular networks;

DeleteMe – deletes all personal information from some biggest social networks including contact information and photos.

As said in the book “when the groundswell surrounds you like a cocoon, when you breath it like air and depend on it always, the world will feel very different.” (275) And it already does feel different! It's time to make a right decision whether to dive into the world of technology with our heads or learn how to know when enough is enough. What are your thoughts?