Marketing in Action Case Real Choices at Elizabeth Arden Where do you buy your b

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Marketing in Action Case Real Choices at Elizabeth Arden Where do you buy your beauty products? Very few people Rxskin care line exclusively at physicians' offices. The plan would expect to find a leader in the beauty industry's brands is to offer the products in a credible, science-based environ- for sale when they visit the doctor. But indeed, Elizabeth Ar ment to bolster the customer's confidence in their effective- den is adding to its distribution strategy by offering its new ness. Elizabeth Arden asserts that this new channel supports

Explanation / Answer

Elizabeth Arden Inc. is the leader of the beauty care industry based in America. With vast and diverse portfolio of beauty related products ranging from skin care, colour to fragrance brands, it has global presence in more than 120 countries. Elizabeth Arden has been a trendsetter in the beauty and cosmetics industry, it proudly boasts of the first company to introduce eye make up to American women, first company in the world to carry its founder’s name in the product name and also the first one to offer travel-size beauty products. Following its own footprints and repeating the history of setting new benchmarks, Elizabeth Arden Inc. has now conceptualised a new strategy which is to incorporate medical professionals as its new distribution channel.

Through its Elizabeth Arden Rx, company marks an official entry into the global professional skin care market. The company has already been selling its branded products in the retail and spa market. Now, following its omni-channel growth strategy of selling the products, it has decided to incorporate medical practitioners and skin care professionals as well. The new distribution strategy poses both opportunities (decisions to take) and challenges (factors to consider) for Elizabeth Arden. Some of these are discussed below:

Opportunities for Elizabeth Arden with its new distribution channel:

- Incorporating and implementing the multi-channel approach to deliver its core value proposition to its customers is an intelligent distribution strategy conceptualised by Elizabeth Arden. The greatest advantage and opportunity of selling its products through the medical professionals is that it adds value and credibility to the brand. When a doctor or a medical professional recommends and prescribes a particular product to a patient, it adds high value to the brand and the patient begins perceiving it as a premium and an irreplaceable brand.

- Professional skincare market is less competitive in comparison to generic beauty and cosmetics market. There are very few companies that specialise in medicated skincare products. Elizabeth Arden has successfully conceptualised the Rx skincare line that addresses the prevalent skincare problems like signs of pre-mature skin ageing, uneven skin tone and pigmentation, acne and problem-prone skin and dry skin.

- With specialised medicated products that intends to solve multiple skincare problems that are very common across the geographies and the products that now also backs a doctor’s recommendations, Elizabeth Arden has the opportunity to price and sell their products at a premium amount.

Challenges for Elizabeth Arden with its new distribution channel:

- As the customers everywhere are used to purchasing the beauty and cosmetics products from traditional points of sale like over the counters (OTC), retail, hyper-retail, online, etc., convincing the customers to buy these products from a new touch point, that is, the medical professionals would be little difficult and challenging for Elizabeth Arden.

- Customers are hesitant and reluctant in using the medicated products for the routine use. A general conception is that the products recommended by doctors and other medical practitioners should be used only during the course of the medication and duration of the skin disease or any other prevailing ailment. Positioning the Rx skincare line as a daily usage product might be challenging for the company when selling it through professional skincare market.

- Retail purchasers of the beauty and skincare products are believed to be attracted to lucrative discounts and offers that are offered by leading retailers and sellers from time to time. As a general perception, customers won’t be perceiving discounts and price cuts when buying the beauty and skincare products from the medical practitioners and doctors. This would discourage them from buying products from the new distribution channel of Elizabeth Arden.

Alternative Approach to consider:

Elizabeth Arden may also consider online sales channels and partnering with leading e-commerce giants like Amazon. There are certain e-commerce players as well in most of the geographies that specialise in healthcare and skincare products. By incorporating the e-commerce players as its channel partners, Elizabeth Arden would get access to their huge customer base, Amazon for example. With its International presence and organised distribution, Amazon would be the perfect distribution channel for Elizabeth Arden for reaching out to the customers in International geographies.

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