The beauty track was once an enviable high-speed growth track in the consumer industry, and ran out of many domestic brands such as Polaiya, Betani and Huaxi Bio.
After the listing of Polaiya, the market value rose from the original market value of more than 4 billion yuan to more than 50 billion yuan, which made a myth of making wealth.
This hot phenomenon has changed this year, and the beauty craze of bonus sharing has seen a turning point, and there has been a sharp differentiation between brands.
In the newly disclosed beauty data in August, both the growth rate and the sales are still in double digits, second only to L ‘Oreal and Lancome’s Polaiya, and some domestic brands that were once very popular but disappeared from the list this year.
According to Qingyan Intelligence, in the first half of this year, the net profit of listed companies related to domestic cosmetics companies was 5.834 billion yuan, down 0.5% year-on-year.
Domestic consumers have lost the urge to buy from buy buy, and beauty companies have also calmed down.
Wisdom research rose by 8% after the interim report! Beauty is changing, why is it always the overlord? There is a point mentioned in Polaiya.The upsurge of beauty track has made many head companies earn a lot of money.
However, considering the upper limit of growth, brands need to find new growth drivers.For example, continue the life cycle of successful products and build more brands.
Polaiya is a successful example.
When the core big single product "Shuangkang" and "Ruby" sold well iteratively and the product matrix became more and more mature, Polaiya took another step forward at this time.
Recently, the official announcement launched a higher-end "energy" series, relatedEssential oil, eye cream and face cream have been put on Taobao’s official flagship store.
The market is most concerned about this time.make a priceAlthough buying big and giving small is equivalent to a discount in disguise,The pricing above 400 yuan has almost matched the overseas brands.
Why does Polaiya choose the high-priced direction at this moment?
In fact, since the "Early C Late A" series was broken, the brand impression of Polaiya in consumers’ minds has quietly changed, and it is no longer a cheap "flat replacement" of domestic products, but a "light of domestic products" with high cost performance.
"Early C" double antibody essence and "Late A" ruby essence have been upgraded to the third generation and the second generation respectively. The customer price of 200-300 yuan continues to sell well among young white-collar workers and college students, making Polaiya rank first in domestic skin care brand sales year after year.
If Polaiya’s previous best-selling combination"Early C and Late A"Series, is to use the new concept of anti-aging to quickly break the "mass circle" and seize the biggest skin care products in China.Midmarket, then"energy"The series is that in order to improve the taste and tonality, Polaiya is working with overseas big names.high-end marketA bargaining chip for world war I.
Polaiya, which has a fully stable position in the existing market, needs to break through the "high-end".
"High-end" means the change of the structure of the "energy" series of consumers, no longer limiting young people, but breaking through the "senior skin care people" with more skin care experience.
This kind of consumer groups are relatively less sensitive to price, but they are extremely pursuing product efficacy, user experience, and dignity and satisfaction brought by high-end brands.
But the tonality of this brand cannot be established overnight.
Although Polaiya emphasizes exclusive ingredients in its propaganda and distinguishes itself from other domestic brands, compared with internationally renowned brands, it still lacks the popularity and credibility of core exclusive ingredients.
The key to the long-term dominance of internationally renowned brands in the high-end skin care market lies in their strong R&D strength and profound brand history, which makes "scientific ingredients" synonymous with efficacy, such as Pitera of SK-II, Bosine of L ‘Oreal and Schizoyeast of Estee Lauder.
Estee Lauder’s star product, Little Brown Bottle, has been iterated to the seventh generation, with a long history of 40 years and still selling well.
It is this exclusive patented technology and the accumulation of consumer reputation over the years that gives them irreplaceable competitiveness and makes them dominant in the high-end market.
According to Polaiya in the performance meeting, the quality target of "Energy" series products is the high-end products above 1000 yuan.
The target audience mainly comes from the "degraded consumption" of consumers who usually buy 600-1000 yuan international brand products, and only a small part comes from the consumption upgrade of existing users.
Jianzhi Research selected six high-end and best-selling essence products as a comparison with Polaiya’s "Energy" essence oil.
Just as Polaiya positioned herself, Polaiya is atThe 600-1000 yuan price band has obvious pricing advantages, and the price sensitivity of the mid-to-high-end is higher than that of the ultra-high-end. It is expected that this will be the key segment for the "Energy" series to seize the share.
However, Lancome, Xiulike, helena rubinstein and other ultra-high-end brands above 1000 yuan all use self-developed star ingredients, such as nicotinamide, boson and other recognized top whitening and anti-aging ingredients, which have formed a strong brand premium. This part of market barriers is higher, so it is difficult to be impacted.
(see the self-made map of intellectual research)
Polaiya’s launch of the "Energy" series indicates its determination to keep up with these big-name competing products.
Although the efficacy and brand still need to be tested by the market and time, there is no doubt that this is an important step for domestic beauty products to reach the high-end market.
With the rapid growth in recent years, head beauty companies have also accumulated abundant cash flow.
By the first half of 2023, the net cash flow generated by Polaiya’s operating activities was as high as 1.111 billion yuan. Strong financial strength provides advantages for the head company, which can invest more in R&D and mergers and acquisitions to enhance its competitiveness.
Polaiya also gradually realized the importance of R&D in the process of high-end.
R&D expenditure has made a significant leap forward since 2021. According to the latest semi-annual report, the R&D expenditure in the first half of the year has reached 91.509 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 49.87%.
(Image from: choice)
Polaiya’s emphasis on research and development once again reminds the market that the domestic beauty market is no longer completely dependent on marketing.
When the consumption boom recedes, only when real money polishes itself and the product itself is done well can it pass the test of time and become a classic brand that has been praised by the public for decades or even centuries.
Beauty cosmetics used to be a hot consumption spot with rapid growth. When the blind craze faded, beauty cosmetics enterprises needed to find new impetus.
On the basis of the best-selling "Shuangkang" and "Ruby", Polaiya launched a higher-end "Energy" series, targeting the middle and high-end market. This is an important step for domestic products to move towards the high-end market.
But becoming a high-end brand requires long-term continuous investment. The success of top overseas brands cannot be achieved overnight.
From paying equal attention to marketing to marketing research and development, the direction of domestic brands has been established.
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