Working on a daily basis with beauty brands, beauty media, and beauty influencers gives my agency ongoing insight into the latest developments and trends within the beauty and skincare industries. As a special holiday gift to you, we’ve rounded up a few story themes we know editors are currently exploring. We think these angles will be even more prevalent in 2018. If you’re in need of fresh idea for pitches for your beauty or skincare brands (or just curious as to what’s hot in the beauty industry!) read below some of the story trends that are truly piquing editors’ interest!
Partnering with a charity can be a great way to boost brand awareness and create good will amongst consumers (as long as the partnership is authentic and makes sense for the brand), but one trend my agency has both been seeing from brands and editors is partnering with a charity year-round, as opposed to select times during the year. While breast cancer awareness charitable contributions and holiday gifts that give back are always great, editors are looking more and more for brands that have incorporated giving back on an ongoing basis as opposed to a one-off. Understandably not all brands have the bandwidth to donate throughout the year, but if you have a way to partner with a charity/non-profit in a way that makes sense for your brand, stress that when reaching out to editors.
If it goes in your green smoothie, there’s a chance it might have great benefits for your skin (in addition to being healthy for you!) – and editors will want to hear about it! Spinach, kale, quinoa, turmeric, ginger…all buzzy superfood items that we constantly read about in health and wellness publications as being good for you also might have surprising skincare benefits. If you have a product that contains any of these trendy food ingredients, and can speak to the exact results it can help deliver (no exaggerating please…editors can see through that!) then send over a concise pitch. Even better if you have multiple products/clients that have these foodie ingredients!
While breast cancer awareness charitable contributions and holiday gifts that give back are always great, editors are looking more and more for brands that have incorporated giving back on an ongoing basis as opposed to a one-off.
We’ve all become pretty dependent on Amazon (where else can you get coffee filters, PR Couture’s fabulous Ready to Launch book, and travel packing cubes all in the same place?) and that includes the audiences reading top websites, magazines, and blogs! Editors (particularly in the digital space) frequently have round-ups of products with Amazon availability – whether the story is for a one-stop shop where you can get all your last minute holiday gifts or travel friendly beauty sets you can shop on your Amazon Prime account, the ease and convenience of Amazon is often highlighted by writers. If you are carried on Amazon, make sure to let writers know that to increase your chances of placement!
From the Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty line to Mented Cosmetics range of nude polishes, beauty companies are creating products to cater to a much wider audience than ever before. Editors are looking for much more than the traditional five shades of foundation that only work for a limited group of people or the one shade of nude nail polish – truly diverse color selections that can work for a variety of both skin shades and tones are something beauty media is very interested in hearing about. Additionally, any marketing or advertising campaigns that showcase diversity and inclusivity, from CoverGirl’s first “CoverBoy” James Charles to Sephora’s “Reach Out and Gift” commercial featuring their own employees that celebrate a broad range of beauty are of interest to editors. As with charitable gifting, make sure any such campaigns are authentic and organic to the brand, and not just jumping on a bandwagon for the sake of exposure. Editors and media are very smart – make sure the branding is meaningful and sensitive so as not to be labeled as tone deaf.
And there you have it. Keep these story angles and trending topics in mind as you draft up client story opportunities in the New Year.
