Top9 Tactic to Make You Buy More Makeup

In cosmetics, I would like to start the year right by making you buy BIG right away!

That keeps the council of the clueless at a comfortable distance from my ass for the first half of the year until September when I will stir you up again with another BIG innovation.

So, just in case you wonder - whether there is real innovation or not, you will surely hear one from me 

• real or make-believe 
• pre-programmed like clockwork by mid January.   

This will either be in the form of a lipstick or a mascara (the two biggest sellers in make up- or whatever format is surging growth for the moment).  Normally, if i gave you mascara in January, I will give you lipstick in September, and vice versa.

Anyway, this big "innovation" will come with a cool, much researched and flashy new packaging, a new celebrity endorser and....

wait...  

Oh shit- I have spent all my money on the new packaging and will not have enough money to improve on the formula.  

WTF do I do now?

 Have no fear - closely watch how I, the priestess of bullshit will now trade my cape and scepter with bling and fur coat and unleash my dirty tactic N°9:

I pimp my claim!  Yeah baby!

Consider this real story:

Old: 

Rich Colour Lipstick. Creamy color that shapes and defines lips. Wider coverage for easier application. Nonfeathering. SPF 15, with Vitamins A, E.  

New: 

Vivid lipstick. With 3D pigments for vivid lips and vivid life! Marigold extract has moisturizing properties for 96%* more sensuous lips. SPF 15. 

*Bullshit research, details of which you do not need to see conducted on 26 women or so. 

What is the difference between the old and the new?  

Nothing, nada, niet, zilch, niente.

But of course, I will tweak the line up a little so it will not be too obvious to you.  This is how I will further cloud your perception.  I will also:

• discontinue some less selling shades (which are bound to be someone's favorite shade - but I don't care)  
• put in some wilder colors to give you the impression that our lineup is exciting.  They most probably won't sell as individual shades but it will lift the sales of the whole line. Unquantifiable but true. 
• sex up the shade names (tactic N°10)
• I will throw in some research where i will be claiming high percentage of women who noticed a more moisturized lips (more on these on a later blog)
• Price the lipstick just a tad higher for credibility

And the result:

Long term consumers liked the "new" vivid lipstick better and swore that it had better properties than the old one. Sales were up by 35%. True story.  

You see, of course, we are all prone to the power of suggestion.  If we are hyped that something is better, we will believe and perceive that it is.

Such is how we operate in the biz.

But, are you really better off knowing?
Or would you rather continue believing and perceiving a self-fulfilling innovation?

Only you can decide for yourself.

As for me- I am out of the biz and am here to at least present you the option to decide for yourself.

PS

To answer Yvonne's question on whether products get recycled- this is just one part of the answer.  

You will learn much more (yes, it gets worse!) in the next posts!