Whether you’ve been whistling “Frosty the Snowman” since mid July, or you’ve snapped at slightest hint of any Christmas spirit creeping in, it is undeniable that the festive season is fast approaching. Already, make-up brands such as Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty and Anastasia Beverly Hills (ABH) are releasing their highly anticipated Christmas Collections. With the countless number of make-up brands available, which brands are the must-haves and who are the must-avoids this upcoming Christmas?
We used our emotion analysis software Emotics to analyse the top make-up brands. This Emotics software allows us to pinpoint which of the most popular make-up brands are providing the best and worst customer experiences. Our analysis provided us with a number of insights, including the brand’s Adorescore, its score across 8 emotion indexes, as well as a SWOT analysis, which revealed the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the brand in question. A benchmark score was created from all of the brands analysed, which allows us to understand the relative performance of each brand. This is a small snapshot of over 9,500 mentions over a two week period and is aimed at giving you a topline view of brand performance.
Our analysis found that ABH and Benefit came out on top and share the honour of achieving the highest Adorescore (56), while Fenty Beauty surprisingly came in last place, with the lowest Adorescore (47) recorded. ABH and Benefit were followed by stiff competition from MAC Cosmetics (53), Kat Von D Beauty (52) and Urban Decay (50). Emotics identified key themes for each of the 8 emotion indexes, and this, combined with a SWOT analysis, can help explain each brand’s score.
1. Anastasia Beverly Hills & Benefit
Winners ABH and Benefit were also the leading performers on the Joy Index, scoring 10% higher than the benchmarking average across all brands, with ABH also taking a slight lead on the Trust Index, followed closely by Benefit, scoring 10% and 7% higher than the benchmark score respectively. Benefit’s products are famous for their aesthetically pleasing appearance, the availability of travel sizes, and recently, the new innovative vending machine, which has sent the cosmetic world into a frenzy of joy and delight. Meanwhile, ABH’s customers have been swooning over the quality and choice of eyeshadow palettes, with customers striving to own the entire collection.
A key strength for Benefit includes their brow products, with customers describing them as simply ‘amazing’, as well as competitions in which customers can win their products attracting positive publicity and response rates.
For ABH their strengths included their ‘versatile’ Subculture Palette which launched in July 2017. The ABH Halloween Party has been highly anticipated, with tweeters with and without tickets expressing excitement about the event.
2. MAC Cosmetics
Runners up, with a healthy Adorescore of 53, is a trusted favourite, MAC Cosmetics.
MAC received the highest score on the Interest Index with a score of 22, 15% higher than the benchmark score. The brand’s impressive range of lip products has gathered global attention, with favourites such as ‘Ruby Woo’ and ‘Velvet Teddy’ frequently selling out.
As all make-up lovers will be aware, each festive season MAC cosmetics release their new holiday collection, which is a highly coveted compilation of the brand’s most popular products. Annually, this anticipated release has proven to be a key strength for the company, with customer’s expressing both high levels of joy and trust in the lead up to the product release date. Customers are also interested in and positively tweeting about Nicki Minaj’s MAC collection. Customer’s did however complain that MAC was overpriced and were left unimpressed by their matte liquid lipstick; both these issues potentially threaten the image of the brand.
3. Kat Von D
Kat Von D who was originally known as a tattoo artist who featured on the TV series LA Ink, has now ventured into the world of music, modelling and makeup. Kat Von D’s products such as the ‘Studded Kiss Lipsticks’ and the ‘Saint and Sinner Eyeshadow Palette’ have generated joy and interest, earning them third place, with a strong Adorescore of 52.
However, customers have complained about the availability of these products, which has proven to be a key weakness and threat for Kat Von D, with the Sadness Index 7% higher than the benchmark score. Debenhams is currently the only location in the UK which stocks the products which customers are less than impressed with. Recently, customers were particularly angry and disappointed when Debenhams postponed the release of the products, which some make-up fanatics had been eagerly awaiting!
4. Urban Decay
The SWOT analysis revealed that a key strength for Urban Decay is their setting spray, with some fans singing its praises so high as to proclaim it as the best setting spray available on the market! Customers are also still loving the very popular Naked Palette, which has been a long-running Birthday and Christmas wish-list staple.
That being said, customers were less than enthused about certain products such as Urban Decay’s Troublemaker Mascara and the Perversion mascara and eyeliner, reflected in the brand’s Sadness Index score, which is 7% higher than the benchmark score. Customers have described the products as a waste of money, with reports of the eyeliner smudging and the Perversion range even resulting in an eye allergy for one customer.
5. Fenty Beauty
Fenty Beauty fell short of the high standards displayed by their ambitious competitors and was presented with an Adorescore of 47 – the lowest of all brands. However, don’t cancel that order just yet, as this score still shows signs of a healthy and competitive brand. That being said, as with all brands, there is always some room for improvement. Fenty Beauty scored 7% higher than the benchmark score on the Sadness Index, with potential customers expressing impatience while waiting for restocked items. If a customer is repeatedly hit with the irritable “out of stock” banner, chances are they will redirect their attention to the next crazed phenomenon.
The makeup industry is highly competitive and rapidly changing, and brands need to be vigilant and rapid when responding to industry trends and consumer needs. Good quality products, value for money and good customer service are key drivers for any brand.
Although one of the leaders of this brand analysis, Benefit’s customer service sees room for improvement and targeting this weakness would help boost their Adorescore to rise even higher. Both Urban Decay and MAC could retain positive consumer satisfaction by improving the quality of their entire product range, and for Fenty Beauty and Kat Von D, ensuring greater availability of their product across the UK is sure to aid both higher sales and improved customer satisfaction
Emotics allows the user to analyse the emotional content and intensity of a customer’s response to a brand. This software also allows the user to examine the themes existing across customer experiences, to identify key actionable insights which can be used to improve customer experience.
If you would like more information on our analysis or Emotics please contact us here
