COSMOFACTORY

  📍 This episode is about the business of beauty tech. It's about digital technologies for and from consumer brands. About retail tech tools, about tech applications that can prevent or reduce counterfeiting. And it's about consumer expectations and much more. My guest today on this episode of the Cosmo Factory podcast is Robin Raskin, founder of Virtual Events Group.

Welcome, Robin.

So nice to be here. Thank you.

No, of course, I'm glad for the chance to hear your thoughts on all of this. Um, now I know that you pay close attention, uh, to really the retail and brand side of technology, uh, in the beauty industry. But I do want to start with a question, um, about technology that's a little bit more on the supply chain side of our industry.

Um, You know, for years now, we've been hearing about versions of, of what they call track and trace technology that, um, can sort of follow the location of a given item, right, and maybe, uh, then be used to create, um, a more transparent supply chain. I'm wondering if you have any comments on where this technology is now, maybe in terms of sophistication or how widely it's being used.

Does this, does this show up for you?

Absolutely. And, and, and I think right now I'm seeing it more in the clothing area than in, in the beauty area. But the idea is that everything has. A digital tracking number. So it, um, and so, so right from the get go, you can see, uh, was child labor used in the making of this product where, um, materials that are not sustainable or, um, that are You know, supposed to be preserved, used.

Are there things that are, um, harmful to you or the environment used? Once that's identified at the source, then the journey of that product or material is tracked. Is it on a boat in the middle of the ocean? Is it waiting at a cargo port? Um, and a lot of this, um, is done some of the simpler ways are just, you know, with an ID, like a barcode.

But now with the blockchain being used more and more for, um, uh, tracking, it is becoming more, the expectation is that at any given moment you can track Not just where your product is, but where it came from, who made it, and that's going to increase, you know, our sustainability efforts, our circular economy efforts, uh, decrease wastage in this industry, and um, let us be more certain of the ingredients that we're sourcing.

So, optimistic. It's a big system with many parts, but, um, we are making progress. And I, I, what I'd love to see is the beauty industry do what the clothing industry does. For example, if you go on a site like Everlane, you actually know like what percentage of your clothes were recycled from other materials, where, where they were sourced from, who made them.

Um, you actually get quite a bit of information and. I think it would be, um, great if the beauty industry would convey some of that, um, information because then you would, you would kind of understand the cost of what you pay for. And people are willing to pay for a trusted, um, material. So you see it every day.

The ads that Say, you know, if you use this venom from a python, you know, your skin's going to get much better. You know, we need to believe in trusted sources. And I think the beauty industry can do more

Mm hmm.

than they're doing.

Yeah, no, interesting. Thank you. Um, and, and I, I know this same technology then has applications in terms of, um, product counterfeit production, right? So consumer finished goods products there. Um, I'm wondering if there are any interesting developments that you might comment on using track and trace, um, you know, to verify product authenticity and, and that sort of thing.

Yeah. Again, I mean, every industry, whether it's clothing, jewelry, um, their, uh, handbags, um, there are ways to, you know, give it a digital identity that can be traced right to the source. Um, and, um, Help eliminate the counterfeit business still really hard and still, um, again, consumer education, they need to understand the benefits of, of buying from the true source and not the counterfeit, um, in a price conscious world.

And sometimes people just say, Oh, right. Well, it wasn't made by X company. It's a knockoff, but I'll do it. And so I think education is going to be a big part of this.

Yeah, no, that's a very important point. Thank you. Um, I'm wondering about technology being used to support, um, demand planning. So getting a little bit close to the retail side of things here, um, how is tech being used to help with product inventory, ordering, maybe even warehousing details? What's happening there?

Yeah, so I think in a ton of ways. So if you look at, I look at a store as like the front of the store, the consumer facing the middle of the store, training the sales people and the back of the store, the warehouse. Um, and so it's being used in all of those places. And again, I'll give you an example from another industry and that is the CPG.

Go to a supermarket and you see those robots roaming up and down the halls and they aren't doing inventory. So they are actually scanning for what's missing, what's bought, which helps the supermarket plan and Order better helps them understand if something's expired, if something needs to move off the shelf.

So, so robotics are actually walking around and helping in the warehouse. You know, I think, um, uh, there are a number of technologies that. Do constant inventory in the front of the store. We're seeing companies like, Oh, in Phileon, they're based in Canada, have a system of cameras that they place all through the store.

They can track not just customer movement, but what's moving off the shelves. And again, Have good solid data to know what moves and then finally the whole notion of digital twins of creating a digital replica of your retail and what if, well what if I move the eyeshadows here, uh, what if the lipsticks were here, would that change the traffic pattern, um, would that move more product and you're seeing more and more especially of the largest stores using digital twin technology to not lift a hammer, a nail, a physical board or anything, but to imagine the what ifs if products were placed differently.

And, you know, there's the whole science of, you know, do people look at the very bottom of the shelf? Do they look at the end caps? Um, all of that, um, is changing. A lot of it. I mean, you know, the funny part about beauty is nobody can read the labels on a package, but with a QR code now and your phone, you can get a really detailed, you know, how, how do I, how many times have you gone home with a beauty product only to find out you needed 40 minutes of it on your face before it would work, you know, but now with QR codes and your camera, you're getting that information immediately.

So

Right, the consumer can engage using technology much more, much more sort of in real time.

Yep, and, and with, you know, with AR, you know, some, some product packaging actually gives you a code that will then pop out the product, show you what it looks like, show you, uh, what the drop per size is, and really, um, I think make it, um, fun to go to retail stores, um, and, and I think they're great. I think retailers, beauty retailers in particular, are catching on to the fact that it can be fun, especially with technology in the store.

Like, like AR that pops up what's inside your box, like skin analysis testing, um, the things that, um, would make you get up off your couch, not order online and walk into a store.

No, that makes sense, that much more experiential retail opportunities, you know, using technology. You know, I'm wondering, you mentioned the digital twins and then these sort of in store tech experiences. How are these shaping beauty consumer expectations, or maybe since you are looking at multiple industries, just consumer expectations in general? Does the shopper want something different now that we have all these digital tools?

Yeah, I think, um, What they want in one word is personalization. I am me. I live in New York City. We have a certain kind of weather, a certain kind of humidity, a certain kind of environmental muck and dirt. You need to know that about me. You need to know my age. You need to know where my skin problems are and create a formula that is.

Personal to me and actually track it over time. So I can use this for three weeks, you know, that 90 days to see a noticeable difference. Well, I don't know, but technology knows. So you're starting to see, you know, whether it's the perfect course, whether it's smart mirrors, um, you know, L'Oreal's, uh, got a lot of products in this area, analyze.

Analyze my skin, my hair, my nails, suggest the products and then watch me and make sure that we're really getting the results. And sometimes it's because I forgot to use it. Um, and, uh, you know, that, you know, that will get known to,

Mm hmm.

you know, your smart mirrors will start to remind you like you didn't put on your SPF today, did you?

And so it's a little weird, but it's also great because for the first time you can actually say this product works for me. Remember it, reorder it. You're seeing a lot of, um, Beauty retailers, you know, work on not quite subscription, but just give me this every three months.

Yeah. Yeah. No, that makes sense in terms of replenishment, but I, I like what you're saying too, in terms of, um, the technology almost recognizing consumer compliance. I remember, you know, hearing from ingredient suppliers and product manufacturers years and years ago that that's the sort of data they're particularly interested to be able to access, you know, from consumers, maybe not, um, on an

individual basis, but, you know, more. Um, uh, anonymized as they say, um, because it will create a, a stronger opportunity for consumer education, right? If we know how you are or are not using the product at home, um, you know, we can do better to help you get the benefits that we know come

with that ingredient or that product,

I mean, what makes me laugh and, you know, we were at CES and we saw like thousands of LED products.

you know?

I don't know whether to use red light, green light, blue light, you know, I, nobody tells me. Um, so the sort of things that can be built in sensors You should use the red light a little longer, you know, or use the blue light more under your eyes, you know, like, um, and so I think this idea of, um, building in sensors, which I think people will not feel is an invasion of privacy if it's done, right?

And so, you know, you could use another two minutes of that red light, you know,

right.

And I think we are, we are getting there. So it's sort of like a feedback loop between you and your product. That's going to be very. And, and I do think it's all leading to a lot of do a lot of do it yourself, um, treatments that used to be only available in spas for high prices and a lot of moving away from, I'm going to say surgical things to, um, to other, to cosmetic things.

And most important, I think the line between beauty and health, like, yes, your skin should look good. Dewey and shiny, but it's also an indicator of your physical internal health. So your pre cancerous conditions, sunspots, um, pre aging, maybe because of diet, you know. So I think there's so, your hair also, the new hair analysis are giving you medical analysis of what you might be missing in your diet.

And so I think the line between beauty and health is kind of Blurring, and that is a good thing. Um,

Yeah, no, interesting, and you mentioned, um, you know, CES, um, and I'll ask you to share some beauty tech highlights, um, but we know, um, you know, beauty tech shows up at, um, of course, you know, cosmetic and personal care trade shows quite heavily now, um, Cosmoprof Worldwide, Bologna, for instance, has a special area at their show dedicated, uh, to beauty tech, but the CES show is a venue for for, for new tech from all industries and, and since you were there recently, I'm wondering if there were any highlights in the, in the beauty, uh, space that you want to share.

well, certainly the buzzword of the year is AI. Um, and AI used in all sorts of ways, from designing packaging, to creating new products, uh, to ingredient discovery, the same as they're working with AI in medicine to figure out how to get to drug, um, drug, you know, Drug trials faster. They're doing it in beauty to create new formulas, but but the ones that Kind of stood out at CES.

Well first, there's chatbots. You you know, your voice is now the new it You know why type things into the computer when and I guess it was um a more Pacific that had the Chatbot that you could talk to and say, you know, I have scaly skin and but right around my nose What product do you suggest? And the reason that works is because they have ingested and trained the system on gazillions of facial images.

Um, then what we have to start to understand is a lot of those facial images are not people of color or ethnic diversity. It's sort of what's, what's out there, but these things are going to get better. So you can. speak to them, um, speak to your computer, your chat bot, and have a dialogue with it. Like, no, I don't know if I want to spend that much money.

Do you have something cheaper? I mean, you can have a conversation like that with your computer. So, um, Amore Pacific was great there. I think, um, in the store, L'Oreal showed their cell bioprint, which made a lot of noise because you walk into the store and get personalized assessment. Again, that's a reason to go to retail and not order online, which I think is, is, is.

really good. Um, I think the other things you've seen are, um, Oh, a lot of hair care, a lot of analyzing your hair for, I think Perfect Core just announced frizziness. Uh, there was Gravity, which is a hair care brand from South Korea, um, that targets People with thinning hair recommends products, but based on hair analysis.

And then, like I said, there were so many masks, both, uh, microcurrent, nanocurrent, LED masks. Um, and then probably there were, um, mirrors. Um, so things like Samsung had, um, You know, micro LED mirror and the, I mean the mirrors I loved, we actually had one guy on one of our panels that said the bathroom is the center of wellness.

And it was a bunch of products. It was a bath mat for your weight. It was a smart mirror for your, for your skin, but it also gave you stock updates and local weather updates. So imagine looking in the mirror in the morning and sort of getting your, your whole day. Your, your, your pores, your pigmentation, your stock market and your weather kind of all in one place.

And so I think, I think you're going to see that. And then on the social side of things. We saw something really interesting. So I built the creator space this year at CES, a space for content creators and influencers to gather, learn from each other and the beauty influencers were there and they are selling more product and moving more product than your traditional.

Whether it's a TV ad, whether it was a celebrity. So you're seeing the market shift to putting their ad dollars behind, um, influencers, which I think is a big change. So I think every beauty group, I don't care who you are, needs a creator strategy. Uh, we, we happen to have had a woman from L'Oreal on our panel who represents some of their hair care.

And literally she started in her college dorm talking about. was discovered. And so I think you're going to see every beauty company have a deep relationship With, with creators. And that's a softer change. It's not a tech change, but it is a, it is a, a radical change. Um, and, uh, uh, I think one that's basically for the good.

No, you know, we've certainly seen, um, influencers change consumer retail and it sounds like what you're saying is, is they're very much starting to change B2B, um, you know, exchanges as well. So that,

that makes sense.

And I think all of the big, um, uh, beauty companies now have embedded, um, influencers and creators, not just to make content, but to be the voice of their customer. Tell us what your cus, tell us what your audience. Is telling you when, when, when you do this particular demo. So I think that is going to be a radical change in the other radical change that sort of not.

So tech, but is tech is social commerce so very, you know, uh, the u the, I'm mean the US we're way behind in China. It's perfectly natural to watch the video and then buy the product this year. Whether it's TikTok shop, Amazon Warehouse, Amazon Marketplace, um, YouTube, um, Pinterest, Instagram, you are going to be able to say, I like it.

And then it gets even weirder. So let's just say you're wearing your meta glasses or any other of your AR glasses. You're out in the street. I look at this woman's face and I say, Oh, I love that makeup. Well, I just take a picture. I put my, uh, AIs to work behind it. And now I know what products she may be using or he may be using.

And, um, so I think, uh, that is going to be this idea of. I like it, I've seen it, I wanna buy it, it's gonna come full circle with like, a tap. A

Yeah, yeah, no, interesting. Lots of connections there between, um, you know, artificial intelligence and digital technology, but also, uh, human relationships, as you're saying with, um, influencers and, and folks buying directly from, um, individuals really, rather than. Then companies were running short on time. I want to just say for some of our listeners who might want to learn more about technology and AI in particular being used in the cosmetics industry, um, I would invite you all to listen back to, um, a few episodes here of the Cosmo factory podcast, episode one. Uh, covered AI and product manufacturing. In episode eight, I got to chat about virtual product, try on skin analysis, product recommendations. Um, in episode 19, um, I got to have an interview about artificial intelligence that supports the work of beauty product formulators. And we're going to continue learning about these sorts of tech advancements, um, fairly soon, I expect to have, uh, Cosmofactory episodes for you that explore the use of AI for ingredient development, as well as artificial intelligence for consumer trends analysis, um, so, you know, as Robin, you're suggesting a lot to look out for there in the world of tech, but for now, I just, I just do want to thank you, Robin, uh, for taking the time to speak with me today here on the Cosmofactory

pleasure, my one last word, look outside your own industry. You will, look at, look at drug manufacturing, look at cars, and how they're building in haptics, you know, and feedback. And you will, uh, come up with the next ah 📍 ha idea.

Thank you so much.