How Often Do Beauty Brands Release New Products: Insights from My Sales and Marketing Experience
The Frequency of Beauty Product Launches
The frequency with which a beauty brand releases new products can vary widely based on several factors including the brand's size, market strategy, and product category. General trends observed in the beauty industry are discussed below, illustrated with experiences from my tenure in sales and marketing at Bourjois, a French cosmetics company.
Major Brands
Larger, established brands such as L'Oreal, Estee Lauder, and MAC frequently release new products several times a year, typically coinciding with seasonal changes or specific marketing campaigns. These brands may launch new spring/summer and fall/winter collections, as well as limited-edition products. Their extensive marketing and advertising budgets, along with brand loyalty, allow for consistent and well-timed product releases.
Indie Brands
Smaller or independent brands release products more frequently, sometimes monthly or even bi-weekly, to keep their product lines fresh and engage their consumer base. Social media and influencer marketing are key tools for promoting these launches, making it easier for them to quickly capitalize on new trends and consumer interest.
Trend-Driven Releases
Many brands launch new products in response to emerging trends such as clean beauty, sustainable packaging, or viral products on social media. This leads to more sporadic but strategically timed launches, which can catch consumers off guard and generate buzz. For example, Bourjois would introduce new, targeted ranges such as moisturizing or long-lasting lipsticks to capitalize on changing consumer preferences.
Special Collaborations
Brands may also collaborate with influencers, celebrities, or other brands to create unique product releases. These collaborations can be limited in scope or time, adding exclusivity to the new products. At Bourjois, for instance, we might partner with popular beauty influencers for special editions or exclusive color launches.
Consumer Demand
Brands often adjust their release schedules based on consumer feedback and market demand. If a particular product category is performing well, the brand may release more frequent new products to meet consumer demand. At Bourjois, for example, we would quickly introduce new lip colors if the market indicated strong consumer interest in a particular shade or product feature.
Personal Insights from Bourjois
While working in sales and marketing at Bourjois, I witnessed and managed various new product launches. These could be categorized as follows:
New Product Range
An entire new range of a product, such as a new line of lipsticks. The lipsticks would have a new formula with at least one specific feature, such as 'moisturizing' or 'long-lasting'. The packaging would be new, and the range of colors would be expanded.
New Formula
This was relatively rare and typically only done when the brand's current formulation still had significant value. It was often more practical and financially viable to create a new product range rather than upgrade the existing one. An example of a new formula at Bourjois might have been a new moisturizing lipstick formula.
New Introduction
This would be a new range of a product that already existed in other markets. Bourjois sold a wider range of products in France compared to the UK but could bring in new introductions from other markets to launch in the UK.
New Colours
Colours were often discontinued and then reintroduced. The rationale behind these changes could involve color trends, consumer preferences, or seasonal marketing strategies. At Bourjois, new colors would generally coincide with our promotional cycle, which was every two months. Extra colors off-cycle could also be introduced, but they would eventually be added to the regular promotion cycle.
While a new product range would be added a couple of times a year, new colors were introduced more frequently but with no fixed amount. Most promotional cycles would have a few new colors, while some would not. Our promotional cycles followed the pattern of Boots, a significant customer for all budget to mid-priced cosmetics companies. We aligned our launches to synchronize with their promotional cycle to maximize sales and retail visibility.