Rihanna Asked Wang Ju For Endorsement. Will There Be A Market In Asia?

Fenty Beauty announced on July 20th that it will enter the Asian market in September this year on Instagram. In the promotional video released, Rihanna, the founder of the brand, and a group of skin color models showed a variety of makeup trends: cat eye makeup with exaggerated eye liner and wings, and a moist and glossy lip color effect.

Two years ago, Fenty Beauty made its debut in the cosmetics industry with 40 colors. The first year it brought nearly 500 million euros of sales to the parent company LVMH, triggering a worldwide discussion on the beauty industry. However, although Fenty Beauty has landed thousands of stores in the world, Sephora has no brand to sell.

In September, Fenty Beauty will first visit Hongkong and Seoul, which have great influence on Asian fashion trends, as well as Jeju Island of Macao and Korea. This expansion may become a bigger milestone: Fenty will eventually enter China's second largest cosmetic market after the US.

Since May, Fenty Beauty has created official accounts in China's social media platform Sina micro-blog, WeChat and social networking providers using Xiao Hong, which has lifted the appetite of Chinese consumers. Especially in the little red book, consumers of Internet products from overseas or through unofficial cross border sellers bought Fenty products and consumers of everyday cosmetics mentioned the brand in more than 30 thousand reviews and demonstrations. Wang Ju, a Chinese singer who overturned the traditional aesthetic standards, appeared in the promotional video last week.

The products that attract mainland consumers are Fenty products, not Rihanna, because these products have received enthusiastic fanaticism on platforms including Xiaohong. Shoppers in the mainland often buy brands that they can't find at home in Hongkong's beauty counters. Once the sale of Fenty in Hongkong is widespread, it is likely to stimulate the demand of products in China.

Fenty declined to comment.

Although this sounds like the eternity of the digital age: every day there will be a series of beauty products and new products released by Instagram, but two years are not long for a Western brand to enter the Asian market. The British brand Charlotte Tilbury, founded in 2013, did not enter the Hongkong counter until April 2018, only five years later. And this may also bring about a revolutionary success. After Est e Lauder reported that Asian sales were booming, the company's share price hit a record high in May. Bobbi Brown contributed 35% of sales in Est Asia e Lauder, which earned $one billion in Asia last year.

Divia Harilela, a veteran Fashion Journalist of South China Morning Post, said: "brands have different development strategies. They often conquer local markets before going overseas. For any brand, this is just a problem of finding the right partners and timing. "

For Fenty, there are a lot of depressed demand in its four newest markets: unofficial cross border sellers have gained a busy business by providing Fenty products solutions for Asian customers. In last week's promotional video, there were nearly 2800 comments below the "worth waiting" subtitle. Rihanna is one of the most famous western singers in Asia. Search for "Rihanna" on Baidu, the largest search engine in China, will produce 11 million 800 thousand results. Chinese entertainment website data show that Rihanna was named the most influential western singer last year (Bruno Mars, Linkin Park, Justin Bieber (Justin Bieber) and Avril (Avril Lavigne) followed.

But Fenty may need to adjust the content of its message to ensure lasting popularity. The inclusive movement of Fenty is dominated by colored women who are not sufficiently concerned about cosmetic products and images. But Asian cosmetic market does not have such an in-depth information penetration.

Harilela said: "traditional stereotyped makeup and images are still prevalent in Hongkong. Advertising campaigns in the local area or in this area do not promote diversity. "

Even so, Fenty is pushing ahead with its "cosmetic products for everyone". A brand representative in Hongkong said that Fenty will sell its full range of 50 colors of foundation and Concealer products in Hongkong. Harilela said that this is an unusual practice. Even brands like the main liquid foundation such as Armani Beauty will not launch all the color products in Hongkong.

Trend forecaster Lucie Greene said that Fenty's current brand identity is "super American version", focusing on displaying the makeup effect of all skin colors, and this concept is "quite westernized" in the implementation process. The ideal makeup of Asia is not a variety of skin color. The core of ideal makeup is to achieve a porcelain like makeup, moisten skin and highlight lip color.

Greene said: "Fenty may need to expand or rebuild its inclusive information, and more to refer to the idea of beauty, makeup, and cultural contacts in this area."

This low diversity "Asian beauty standard" is mainly applied to Northeast Asia, including China, Korea and Japan, but with the expansion of commercial layout and the entry of more countries by Fenty, the wide selection of color numbers will play a more prominent role in Southeast Asia with deeper skin.

Getting the right message is just the beginning. Many customers in Hongkong or Seoul prefer bright makeup effect, which will be a potential obstacle for Fenty, because Fenty has always regarded matte formula as the main product. Buying Fenty products through social media (still a niche market in the US) is a greater driving force for sales in the Asian market. Through these new channels, Fenty can even challenge the most mature global brands.

Even finding the right way to convey brand information is a tricky business.

Earlier this year, Zara was strongly opposed to the fact that Li Jingwen did not modify freckles in the brand advertisement taken by China's famous model. There is a heated debate on the Internet, because these visual images do not represent the ideal makeup of Chinese preference for porcelain muscle.

This struggle is no stranger to Rihanna. Not long ago, the cover of Rihanna's Harper s Bazaar was mixed up with Chinese and Japanese traditional costumes. Some people interpreted this as a cultural appropriation. In April this year, the brand apologized after receiving complaints about its "Geisha Chic" gloss name and blindly worshipping Japanese culture. After that, the highlight was renamed.

Information-Inspiration is a Paris based marketing intelligence company specializing in Asian cosmetic market. Its chief executive and founder, Florence Bernardin, said: "most of the time, brands will try to find Asian models, but this model may be too Chinese for Koreans, and it may be too Japanese for Chinese people. If you adopt the white model, someone will say that it is far from ideal Asian makeup. It's really hard. "

However, changes in the Asian cosmetic market are also likely to help Fenty.

As revealed by a large number of YouTube videos, the trend of Western cosmetics from dressing up to "fixing makeup" has long been running counter to the more delicate makeup that Korea and Japan have been promoting. But in the process of cultural exchange, K-Beauty has been flourishing in the west, and some Asian consumers have also accepted Western makeup elements.

Gina Chan, who lives in Shanghai, is a public relations commissioner and a loyal consumer of beauty products. "There will definitely be more western technology trials, and vice versa," she said. She pointed out that Gao Guang and "modified edition" are gaining the upper hand.

Fenty's matte liquid foundation may be a deterrent to many women. Bernardin relies on the brand's effect on matte effect as Fenty's "weakness" because Asian customers usually want to achieve "3D effect". Thus showing a sense of facial luster and increase the three-dimensional.

The chat content on social media suggests that Fenty will release another foundation solution this autumn.

Rihanna's star influence does not necessarily translate into sales.

Despite the popularity of Fenty overseas, Hongkong's response to Fenty's announcement of its entry into the Asian market has been a constant response.

"There is no hype," Harilela said, adding that Rihanna's star influence should ultimately give consumers more interest.

She said: "they buy this brand not because the brand advocates diversity. The reason they buy products is that they reflect Rihanna's style, taste and aesthetics.

Chan said that Chinese consumers were "quite excited" and pointed out that Fenty's high light has become the favorite of bloggers. Influenced by these Chinese bloggers, Chan even bought Fenty's "Diamond Bomb" gloss on her own trip abroad. She said that the inclusion of brand transfer promoted brand attractiveness.

Speaking of Gao Guang, she said, "I think it is suitable for all kinds of complexion. I appreciate Fenty's efforts to tolerate the international community. "