Marketing Beauty in Asia: Q&A with BBR5 Thought Leader – Kavita Daswani

If you attended our previous Beauty Biz Roundtable BBR5, you were probably one of the lucky attendees who sat with fashion & beauty writer and BBR 5 Thought Leader, Kavita Daswani.

Daswani is a fashion and beauty journalist for numerous national and international publications such as the LA Times, WWD, Vogue India, and South China Morning Post among others.

Her BBR5 topic focused on garnering great press and presence in Asia. Due to her extensive background and experience writing about beauty in Asia, we sat down to discuss the changing role of beauty in Asia.

What advice would you give to U.S. beauty companies/brands to successfully launch in Asia?

Use the celebrity endorsement angle as much as possible, have great packaging, and a really effective story to tell.

In your BBR5 presentation, you mentioned that Asia, especially in emerging markets like China, they are very open to new beauty brands. But with the Asian penchant for luxury and designer brands, what would you recommend for smaller, boutique U.S.-based beauty brands who don’t necessarily have the marketing/advertising budget or the national presence yet?

Start small.  Find a couple of stores who are willing to try you out, and garner the support of the local media – not necessarily the major publications but the smaller ones with loyal readerships. Cultivate a relationship with a couple of key editors.  Hold small “showcases” for the products where people get to come in and try them out and come away with samples.  Give the line the feel of something exclusive and niche.

What Asian beauty trends do you see coming to the U.S. in the near future?

As I mentioned during BBR5, BB creams are ALL over Asia and are finally hitting U.S stores. A BB cream is a blemish balm which is basically an all-in-one skincare product that acts as a tinted moisturizer with anti-aging ingredients.  I also anticipate seeing even more whitening/brightening products in the US market – with the focus being on  “brightening” – given the somewhat negative connotations of the term “whitening”!

Many Asian countries especially in SE Asia like the Philippines and Thailand often include skin whitening ingredients, which may not be popular in the U.S. Do you see any other issues that Asian beauty companies may have in trying to enter the U.S. market?

I do think that effective marketing is so crucial when introducing Asian brands into the US.  Consumers want to be absolutely certain about the quality of the ingredients and manufacturing processes that go into the products they use. If it’s a brand they are not familiar with and/or from a country whose culture they are not familiar with, it leaves them suspect.  So Asian beauty companies need to have a solid marketing program behind them, and be able to generate great word-of-mouth about what they are selling.

What are you favorite Asian beauty products?

I used to get kohl eyeliner from Lakme in India, and also a pearl-infused face cream from China…haven’t used either one in years!

For more information on Kavita, please visit  http://www.kavitadaswani.com/

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