Marketing Myths and Magic

"Anything which says it can magically take away your wrinkles is a scandalous lie."

"Mositurizers do work, but the rest is complete pap." 

Anita Roddick, Founder and Co-Chairman of The Body Shop

Since the time that someone had something to sell, barter or trade, the art of marketing has been practiced in one form or another. Over the years. the practice may have become more subtle, the methods more ingenious, the marketing more persuasive, but some vital ingredients have been changed. When it comes to the advertising of cosmetics, the roles of vanity, misinformation, and deception play a far greater part than providing information about the product.

You may have wondered why the models in the advertisments for anti-aging, ant-wrinkle face creams are always young and beautiful. The message is that you too could become or stay young and beautiful if you use these products and, of course, it's much easier to demostrate such a product using a model who does not have wrinkles.

The truth of the matter is that:

When used correctly, make-up can enhance your features or help to hide unwanted blemishes, wrinkles or shadows, but the affect only lasts while the make-up is applied  and can cause an unwarranted psychological dependency on it. Suitable conditioners may be effective in many ways but they cannot magically repair damaged hair or make it more healthy by adding proteins, vitamins, amino acids or whatever else the manufacturer might throw in.Face creams may help to hide the fine lines on your face or may help your skin temporarily to look and feel smoother and softer, but they cannot magically remove or reduce fine lines and wrinkles, nor can they reverse or prevent the effects of aging.

Product Development

In order to stay ahead of the game, all businesses must continually focus on strategies for "growing" their business, increasing their profitability, improving their share holder value, and keeping ahead of compition. This means they must continually develop existing products  and bring new products to the market. One way to do this  is through marketing. If a shampoo was simply advertised as a product that would clean your hair, which is what in effect  the basic product is all about, there would be nothing to differentiate it from any other shampoo on the shelf or to make it appear better than the other shampoos.

The marketing people must continually come up with ways to do just this, and they will use a number of devices including the use of appealing design and packaging, amazing claims about what the product can do, and adding "special" ingredients not in the other shampoos. They also differentiate products by the use of pricing.The average market life of a new product is about two to three years, after which point the sales tend to decline  sharply. To maintain or increase revenue, the product must either periodically "improved" or replaced  by a "new" one. Don't be fooled. If a manufacturer brings out  a " new and improved " product, this is not because the scientists working behind the scenes in technologically advanced laboratories have made any major discoveries. It is simply a tactic to boost sales.

The scientists employed  by cosmetic companies are there mainly to make sure the marketing ideas work in practice, to find cheaper, more cost-effective ways of producing the product, and to ensure it conforms to the safety regulations. Old products can be turned into new ones by changing the packaging, changing the labels, changing the image to appeal to a differnt age group, or by adding one or two differnt ingredients such as a differnt perfume, a differnt color, a plant or food extract , vitamin compounds or amino acids. many years ago, egg and beer shampoos were all the rage.

Now it's fruit, herbal extracts, vitamins, proteins, amino acids and the latest (at the time of writing) is wine and probiotics. Ther may be something to wine as it contains tannins and other astringents, and fruit acids such as lactic and malic acid - these being alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAS), which are mild skin peels. Probiotics on the other hand, are designed to encourage  cerain types of bacterial growth, which sounds contrary to the laws on cosmetics designed to protect the consumer.Sometimes, just changing the name  can turn a product into a new one. For example, one manufacturer sells bath grains and foot soak grains, and for both products the ingredients, packaging instructions are identical!

New Markets

Another way for cosmetic manufacturers to expand their businesses is to find new markets for existing products. Deodorant sprays for example, can be turned into "intimate feminine care" products or foot-care products by changing the label. Suggesting that we need such products  is a myth designed to play upon our fears. While make-up can enhance one's appearance or cover up blemishes, we do not all look ugly without makeup and can survive quite happily without it. Not using cosmetic products does not mean that we are not taking any care about our appearance, and yet the cosmetics industry would have us believe so. We do not become unhealthy if we do not use cosmetic  products. Apart from carrying out the basics to keep and smell  clean (washing, brushing teeth, and perhaps using a deodorant), we do not need to apply an assortment of cosmetics and toiletries to be healthy and feel human. People, however, have used make-up of one sort or another throughout history, and cosmetics' advertising has turnd this into a need.

Perfumes were first used to hide unpleasant body odors in the days when deodorants did not exist and washing was not the norm. Once this reason diminished, perfume houses had to come up with new ways to convince people  to buy their wares. Perfume became something you used to indicate status, and the famous brands were marketed on the basis of their exclusivity and high price - only the well off could afford to buy them. It was something you could use to make others admire you. It became an aphrodisiac and a way to impress the opposite sex. And how easy it was to convince everyone of this.

Sadly, this marketing ploy has now been extended to third world, developing countries. At least one major cosmetic company has successfully sent out reprenentatives to outlying settlements to sell their products to people who have barely enough means to house, clothe, and feed themselves or their families.

It Must Be Good - it's  Expensive

Do not be lulled into thinking that an expensive product must be better than a cheap one and pay more than you have to, while this might be true of a number of products  and services it is generally not the case  with the cosmetics and toiletries  we can buy in the high street. There are a number of reasons why one product might be more expensive than another, and it often has nothing to do with the quality or the capabilities of the product.

You will often have to pay more for a brand name than for an equivalent  store brand, but if you check the ingredients  of a store brand  of shampoo  against a famous-brand name product, there will be a remarkable degree of similarity. Sometimes they are even made in the same factory.The supermarket or drugstore brands are cheaper  because they have fewer overheads. They do not have to pay for the expensive advertising to sell you an image. They can make huge economies in the manufacturing of vast amounts of the products and they also have enormous buying power. which reduces their costs.

Pricing may itself may be used as a marketing tool, i.e. as a ploy to make you think that one brand is better than another one, or that one product is better than another made by the same company. For example, a company may sell one product at the usual price  (e.g. a standard face cream) but promote  "deluxe " version of the product (e.g. A special ant-wrinkle cream) by selling it at a higher price.An exceedingly expensive, exceedingly small glass jar of ant-wrinkle cream containing a so-called special ingredient (which may not be special at all), is likely to be far more convincing  than a cheap, bulky plastic tub exactly the same ingredients. And it will increase the company's profits.

As long as they can get away with it, the manufacturers will make claims about their products and use such language  as to lead you to believe that they can perform some pretty miraculous feats. They often resort to the "appliance of science" to sell their products, using documentary style techniques  showing graphic images of proteins or vitamins or some chemical entering into the hair  shaft or skin. They may put a graph on the back of a shampoo bottle, use language that suggests  their product was developed in the most technologically advanced laboratory, or display seemingly amazing results of laboratory tests.

Some claims are not so much wrong as misleading, such as the following example for eye contour gel.A special biphasic formula which combs a crystal gel containg hydrating  and stimulating agents with opalescent filaments entriched  with anti-aging vitamins. Progressively helps to smooth lines and wrinkles and visibly reduces bags and dark shadows. Non-greasy, refreshing and instantly soothing. Helps to relieve congestion and prevent puffiness.

Most of the jargon used here is not normal scientific language and is not readily understood by practicing scientists . So we can only guess at what they are trying to say - and come up with some bizarre conclusions. The phrase "biphasic formula" may sound like leading -edge technology, but it basically means it is an emulsion of oil and water, just like most other cosmetics. "Crystal gel " is a confusing and contradictory term. A gel is a liquid held together  in a solid structure, whereas cystals are completely solid structures.  The two seem to be incompatible.

The "opalescent filaments" are most likely to be nothing more  than opaque, shiny strands of some insolube material like silk, nylon, carbomer, or some other inert material, with vitamins absorbed onto the surface. The vitamins would have no effect as the filaments would be too large to penetrate the skin - unless they go through like needles or splinters, in which case they would cause  severe irration. The fact that the gel "softens and tones the epidermis" means that if effects only the outer layer of dead skin which is constantly shed by the body, a process that can be aided  by a good rub with a fce towel.

" Congestion " is a term that refers to the accumulation of an excessive amount of blood, tissue fluid, or lymph  in part of the body, as might accompany inflammation. Nasal congestion,  for example, is caused by an excessive  build up of mucus due to the inflammation of the nasal lining. It is highly unllikely that this eye contour gel would effectively help any type of congestion unless, perhaps, it contains mentol vapours to help you to breathe more easily.

If it did contain a substance that reduced the blood flow  to the area around the eyes, it is doubtful that it could be legally sold over the counter. Your eye gel might feel as though it is working if the water content causes a cold sensation when it evaporates, or if an ingredient like carbomer forms a film that shrinks on drying, or if it contains an astringent  which dries the skin. But don't be fooled the effects are only temporary.

This manufacturer is careful not to make claims that are untrue, by saying that the product "helps" to smooth lines and wrinkles and "visibly " reduces bags and dark shadows. It probably does this by filling in the fine lines. The result is that the light  will reflect more evenly off the smoother surface of the skin, but the effect will be minimal - hardly noticable to the naked eye.

The claim below is not carefully worded and probably falls foul of the trading standards regulations.

Designed to moisturize and regenerate the delicate area around the eyes. Reduces dark circles and puffiness. Helps to eliminate fine lines and wrinkles.

You cannot "eliminate fine lines and wrinkles" unless you use retinoic acid ( a controlled drug available on prescription only), collagen implants, fat transplants, deep skin peels, or a face lift. If this gel did  "reduce dark circles and puffiness, " it would be classified as a drug and would not be available  for general use over the counter.

Some shampoos carry claims to make your hair stronger  or more resistant, citing how, for example, results of laboratory tests show that a particular  product can make your hair 4o percent stronger, or increase its resistance by 24 percent. This sounds impressive, but what does it mean. Does it mean that it makes your hair less likely to sustain damage from the weaher  by coating it with a conditioning barrier.

Does it mean it helps to stop your hair from falling out? And what does the percentage  mean? Forty percent stronger than what? What does more resistant mean? Could it refer to electrical resistance? will it protect you from a lightning strike?

Reference: Cosmetics Unmasked : Dr. Stephen & Gina Antczak