Beauty Focus 2011 hailed a success
Social media and niche brands among the hot topics discussed
The fifth Beauty Focus conference was held yesterday in central London and the 70 plus attendees were treated to a packed conference programme.
The day commenced with a session on Trends & Directions, where speakers from Euromonitor International and Mintel discussed post-recession global beauty trends and how today’s beauty consumer has evolved respectively.
This was followed by one of the hot topics of the moment, Social Media & Communication where three speakers took to the stage to discuss different aspects of social media from the advent of social media to the ways for businesses to utilise it. In the last segment delegates heard a first hand account from top blogger Jane Cunningham (British Beauty Blogger) on how her blog originated and how it grew into what it is today. The morning session was rounded off by speakers from Croda and Sederma, joint sponsors of Beauty Focus, discussing their new innovations and technologies in the field of ingredients.
The lunchtime break encouraged lively discussion as speakers and delegates mingled and engaged with each other on what they had seen and heard in the morning session. Then the afternoon portion of the day began with the Finding your Niche series of talks. This involved two brands, Bulldog and Mama Mio, telling their stories and highlighting how being niche can be an advantage in today’s market.
The last session of the day focussed on the ideas surrounding Innovation & Inspiration and was kicked off by beauty entrepreneur George Hammer of the Urban Retreat Group sharing the success story of his varied and extensive beauty ventures with delegates. The day was wrapped up by a presentation from scientist Barbara Brockway of the IMCD who took delegates to another dimension with her predictions for the future of ingredients.
The day was hailed a resounding success with delegates going away brimming with enthusiasm about the hot topics in the beauty industry today, and who were no doubt already looking forward to what next year’s Beauty Focus will bring.
