The world of cosmetics sure is a competitive one, with the lion’s share of the market going to the big boys, it’s hard to imagine how anybody could compete with them really. Cosmetics isn’t just about the products themselves either, a massive part of leading cosmetic companies’ jobs is the sales and marketing of their product range. In fact, it’s such an important part of what they do, in terms of attracting customers to their products, it’s arguably, as important as the products they are producing.
Work cut out for them
Each and every manufacturer of cosmetics needs to be multi-talented, able to adapt as markets and trends change with the times. They need to be able to manage various areas of speciality as follows;
Determine Market Trends and Craft a Clear Marketing Idea
They will need to have a team that is dedicated towards following market trends, providing information and ideas regarding their existing product range as well as advising on new product ideas. In addition, they also need to be experts in sales and marketing which can be a mammoth task in itself, often demanding more time and effort than the average company can cope with. They will also need to be experts in social media marketing for such sites as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to name but a few.
Formulation
Going from the drawing board to actually getting started on producing a product that will please the end user, the formulation process of physically creating the cosmetics needs to take place which can often be a process of trial and error. The complexity of this really does depend on the type of cosmetic and or the choice of ingredients, generally speaking though, the manufacturer will need suitable facilities that will enable them to mix the various ingredients required and conduct things like surveys.
Packaging
Another super important part of the cosmetics production world is how and what their products will be housed in, if they get this part wrong anything that happens beforehand will likely be a wasted effort. The packaging must be practical, affordable, and attractive at the same time, how the packaging feels and looks comes in line with the sales and marketing process because, some people will, or won’t buy a product purely based on the packaging alone!
Testing & Regulations
A growing area of importance for many a company is the testing and regulations that are associated with their area of cosmetics production. Over the years, it has become increasingly important that products are sufficiently tested, equally regulatory requirements tend to become more demanding year on year. This means that the producer needs to have suitable facilities that will enable them to properly test their products as well as ensure that they meet the regulations set by their governing body.
Production
When all prior parts of the process have been thoroughly completed production then needs to take place, in order to make a product for the public to use. This part of the process depends upon the demand of their customers or how optimistic they are in terms of how many units they think they can sell. The production line will likely take up the largest part of their facility, and if they don’t have sufficient space, they may need to acquire more or outsource this part of the process.