以下是我在Happi China《国际个人护理品生产商情》杂志上最新发表的专栏文章：药妆品快速增长的商机。不知道女生们会不会有兴趣看这些“无聊”的行业信息，希望你们会喜欢！（Happi是知名的化妆品行业杂志，在美国和中国的日化行业都非常出名。
药妆品快速增长的商机
如果你近来一直在跟踪海外的护肤品市场，你肯定留意到在“药妆品（cosmeceuticals）”领域中非常快速的增长。尽管药妆品的官方定义现在仍然还在业内专家中被讨论着，但显而易见的是，它与所使用的活性配料和这些配料的重要性以及它们在品牌的整体营销中的效果密切相关。尤其对于护肤品市场来说。
药妆 药妆网 中国药妆 www.yzmr.com 美容 护肤 化妆品
这种快速增长背后最强劲的推动因素是消费者对于更加有效的产品的直接需求。那种某家护肤品公司只要简单地作宣称含一些天然配料、于是消费者就会争相购买其产品的日子已经过去了。现在的消费者受到了更好的教育，因此他们正在寻求具有可靠疗效的有科学基础的配料。他们自己也能轻松地在网络上获得这些配料的信息。而且，中国的BBS现在正为消费者提供一个活跃的“信息中心，”就各种产品和品牌的效果交换意见。最终的结果是：护肤产品的生产者现在正面对资讯丰富、几乎是专业的购买者，而不是简单的消费者。
首先，药妆护肤的潮流肯定会来到中国。我们已经可以见到大型化妆品公司，如宝洁和雅诗兰黛，在中国推出他们的一些更先进的配方产品。当然我们还没有看到更加专业或者小众品牌进入这个市场（例如StriVectin-SD和Murad）。这可能是因为下述两个原因：一是它们可能过于忙碌着管理自己本土市场的快速增长而没有时间考虑中国；二是中国的进口限制（复杂的监测和高税率）使得这个市场难以进入。不过，它们的产品已经通过灰色渠道（主要是海外旅行者）在淘宝网上进行交易，因此，它们正式进入这个市场只是个时间问题。
这股潮流长期持续是有可能的，因为药妆品对寻求抗皱功能的年长消费者来说也非常有吸引力。因此随着中国护肤品消费者的平均年龄在未来10到20年的时间内增加，你能估计到这一药妆品潮流会增强，而不是减弱或慢慢消失。
那么，怎样抓住这一趋势呢？好消息是消费者期盼“更好的”。他们寻遍商店和网络来获得能改善自己皮肤的产品。通过网络，他们还交换经验并推荐真正有效的产品。因此对新产品和新品牌来说肯定是有机会的。坏消息是，这些非常有效的配方开发更加复杂而且生产更加昂贵。
要解决这个开发上的难题，我建议与专业的配方师合作。这些是专注于开发配方和生产少量测试批次、但不涉及大批量生产和营销最终产品的公司。当被给了一个目标产品的功能和配方成本限制的要求，这些公司就能开发出有趣而且有效的配方来满足你的需求并且让你的产品在市场上脱颖而出。请记住，我这里并不是在讨论简单的作出“听上去很美”的营销故事；我这里所指的是真正高品质的配方，具有大量将在用户皮肤上体现真正效果的先进配料。
这些研发工作和高效配方的费用是另外一个难题。由于它们更加高昂的成本，中国的护肤品公司必须对其成本构成和宣传开销做些调整。最可能的是，广告和中间商的开销必须被大幅度地削减来资助在产品配方和生产方面的投资。接着，为了宣传产品，还必须以一种非常经济的方式来开发全新的信息沟通渠道。最后，当一种真正有效的配方已被推出，护肤品公司还将依靠消费者之间的口口相传来推动销售。这肯定比他们所习惯使用的（比如说在中央电视台上所做的铺天盖地的广告）要慢得多的过程，但最终这是营销成功品牌的唯一方法，因为消费者受到了更好的教育而且越来越不相信传统的“空洞宣称”广告。
总而言之，你应当把药妆品趋势作为你业务发展的一个机会来考虑。当然，你可能不得不对你以前开展业务的方式作大幅的调整，把更多的重点放在有效的配方上，而不那么在意广告营销，而在最后，你将会拥有更满意的消费者。那才是成功业务发展的一个好迹象！
祝大家商机永续！药妆 药妆网 中国药妆 www.yzmr.com 美容 护肤 化妆品
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Dr. Brandt（柏瑞特医生）已于今年初进入中国，一月底在上海久光百货和北京新光三越百货设立专柜。
西科高浓度配普肽原液
Here is my latest article my regular column in Happi China magazine, a well-known cosmetic industry magazine in the USA and China. I am not sure if you ladies are interested in reading this sort of boring "industry" information, but hopefully some of you will enjoy it:
Consumer demand driving the fast growth of cosmeceutical skincare products
If you have been following the overseas skincare markets recently, you will no doubt be well aware of the very fast growth in “cosmeceuticals”. While the official definition of cosmeceuticals is still being discussed among industry experts, clearly it is closely related to the active ingredients involved and the importance of these ingredients and their effect in the overall marketing of the brand. This is especially true for the skin care market.
The strongest driver behind this fast growth has been the direct demands of consumers for more effective products. Gone are the days when a skincare company could simply claim some natural-sounding ingredient and consumers would rush out to buy it. Now consumers are much more educated, and they are looking for scientifically-based ingredients with proven effects. They can easily educate themselves on the internet regarding these ingredients as well. And, finally, the BBS’s in China are now active “information markets” for consumers to exchange opinions on the effectiveness of various products and brands. End Result: Skincare producers now are facing highly knowledgeable, nearly professional, buyers rather than simple consumers.
药妆 药妆网 中国药妆 www.yzmr.com 美容 护肤 化妆品
Effect in the China skincare market
First of all, the cosmeceutical skincare trend will definitely move to China. We already can see the major cosmetic companies such as P&G and Estee Lauder launching some of their more advanced formulas in China. But we have not yet seen the more specialized or niche brands move into the market yet (for example, Dr. Brandt, StriVectin-SD, and Murad). This is probably due to two factors: Firstly, they are too busy managing their fast growth in their home markets to consider China. Secondly, the China import restrictions (complex inspections and high duty rates) make China a difficult market to break into. Nevertheless, their products are already being traded by consumers on TaoBao via gray market import channels (mainly overseas travellers), so it is just a matter of time before they finally make their official market entry.
Long Term Trend
It is likely that this trend will continue for the long term, as cosmeceuticals are also very attractive to older consumers looking for anti-wrinkle functions. So as the average age of Chinese skincare consumers increases over the next 10-20 years, you can expect the cosmeceutical trend to strengthen rather than weaken or fade away.
How to take advantage of this trend?
The good news is that consumers are hungry for “something better”. They are searching the stores and the internet for effective products that will improve their skin. Via the internet, they are exchanging experiences and recommending products that truly work. So there is clearly an opportunity available for new products and new brands. The bad news is that these highly effective formulas are more complex to develop and more costly to manufacture.
To solve the devlopment issue, I recommend working with a professional formulator. These are companies that specialize in developing formulas and producing small test batches, but that do not get involved in mass production or marketing of finished goods. Given a target product function and a formula cost limit guideline, these companies can develop interesting and effective formulas to match your needs and to differentiate your product in the market. Remember, I am not talking about simply making “beautiful-sounding” marketing stories here; what I am referring to are genuine high-quality formulas with a high level of advanced effective ingredients that will show real effects on the user’s skin.
High Costs of Production
Paying for this research and these highly effective formulas is another issue. Due to their much higher costs, skincare companies in China will have to make some adjustments to their cost structure and marketing expenses. Most likely, advertising and middlemen costs will have to be drastically cut in order to finance investment in the product formulas and production. Next, in order to publicize the products, new communication channels will have to be developed in a very cost effective manner. And finally, once a truly effective formula has been introduced, skincare companies will need to rely on word of mouth between consumers to build sales. Definitely this will be a much slower process than they are used to using (e.g. much slower that a huge wave of TV advertising on CCTV), but ultimately this will be the only way to market successful brands as consumers become more educated and less believing of traditional “empty claim” advertising.
In summary, you should consider the cosmeceuticals trend to be an opportunity for your business rather than a threat. Sure, you will probably have to make some drastic adjustments in the way you previously did business, putting more of the emphasis on effective formulas and less on advertising stories, but in the end, you will have more satisfied consumers. That is always a good sign for successful business development!
