Brand Observer

Questions, answers, ponderings and my attempt to deconstruct brands, to teach myself more about branding and what shapes a brand’s DNA. This is my attempt at a live-ongoing research blog. It will serve me as a continuous resource and may seem incoherent at times due to the varied topics.

[brandobserver]

F&L TVC Analysis: 3

I honestly do not believe there is much to this that she is in fact changing her own destiny. They show a smidge of an idea that she can study, achieve her dreams and do what she wants but it rounds back to attracting the right man and doing right by her family and pleasing her father.

[brandobserver]

F&L Further Crit

Watch some of the TVCs HERE.

You've seen the trend of analysis, what role the woman plays and how it shapes a woman's thinking. Not all the TVCs are available on their website though they should be. Youtube most certainly has them but they are rather difficult to weed out. There is a decent playlist of them here, not my own but I thank this person for forming this collection.

I can't link and critique every single advert but the greater idea is that there has been some evolution in their adverts. The worth of a woman and her appearance is still always the highlight. It is like saying "if she wants to get anywhere in life or have anything worth having, she has to be fair". 

There is one contemporary advert that reflects a woman's success based on her fairness. One wonders why people often use celebrities in adverts and perhaps it is because they are fair too. Basically it suggested that she would not becoming a rising star if she did not care for her complexion and more importantly, it showed that the MAN, meaning the guy putting on the show (the advert shows her as a performer and a singer) would fail and as the saying goes, behind every successful man is a woman. They took this saying and went a little too far. Basically condemning her and blaming it on her. Her appearance alone would guarantee the show's success.

Another one shows a prominent actress, Genelia, endorsing this product. The advert she is in, shows as if because of her complexion she stands out and therefore her opinion matters. She is seen talking on the mic at a cricket game and people are listening to her, more importantly, a man is actually paying attention.

3rd TVC shows that some people go back to their roots. F&L actually has a cream that makes use of traditional ingredients/compositions/nutrients through Ayurveda. Here, her father helps her but in the end, she still catches the eye of a younger man. Her appearance goes from traditional with dull skin to contemporary and fair. Basically she is insulted for her appearance because she appears like a simpleton, as if they wouldn't know any better. There are simple people in India, beautiful people, this is condescending to them as a class altogether. India explicitly displays its different in class, caste and segregates. What exactly are we teaching the newer generation.

Also, the brightness of the moon is highly regarded, as if that glowing light stands out amongst the darkness and that brightness is something a woman should strive for to set herself apart.

I could go on for a while. It is actually hard to find adverts with subtitles but perhaps just by viewing one, you'd actually grasp the whole concept without knowing the language.

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I've watched almost all the tvcs and they cross nations and ideals. However there is more to discuss, which is why are these ideas still so prominent. The concepts are contemporary, in regards to art-direction and story in an advert but the core idea of acceptance rounds back multple generations. This shouldn't be acceptable anymore. Its surprising to see forums and even conversations, such as on Quora and other 'ask questions' sort of sites, this generation wants to boycott such messages in products but there isn't a very big movement, nor are brands addressing it.

[brandobserver]

F&L TVC Analysis: 2

Advert 2: Lighting up the passion in her

The very fact that the paragraph insinuates that woman is in charge of her lovely life and now she can take her own measures into securing the sort of love life she wants, reflects that their mindset is already manipulated. Women weren't actually making decisions for themselves but were being conditioned to own up to decisions and make those that might impress others. Maybe I am not explaining it very well, but the idea that a woman can now be in charge of her 'fairness' because this will attract the right suitor, whereas her family is probably making her find a suitor or live up to others' expectations. 

A complete joke.

[brandobserver]

Generations worth of influence

A lot of advertising and product placement may be changing but influence and thought processes are passed down. Parents/families make such a big impact as it is conditioning. 

India has gone through some transformation in gaining respect for women. Nowadays there are adverts by banks where it projects the woman/young girl doing the family proud, not just the son. With this, there has been a change in F&L ads where the woman has powerful dreams and is successful but her appearance is what gets her there, at the end she charms a young man (subliminal message that she'll find a good suitor and please her family) or pleases a crowd, synecdoche for society possibly. 

Indeed, adverts have changed but back in the day, mothers, aunts and grandmothers were the target audience and for the greater chunk of the audience, their perspective on things hasn't quite evolved or progressed so those ideals are still imposed on the women of today. And in asian cultures, parents over rule the youth. 

[brandobserver]

F&L TVC Analysis: 1

Advert 1: Becoming a household name

The entire concept revolves around the prospect of a woman getting married to a guy who is abroad, which basically means he is well to do, works hard and of high stature. Therefore, he deserves a wife, or rather 'trophy wife' which would make him look better and worth showing off or having. It brings to light how families themselves want to be perceived. The dark skin is dull and does not represent 'fresh', 'young' and 'vibrant'. This psychologically manipulates a woman's self-worth and how she has to maintain herself, not for herself primarily but for and in the eyes of others. Raises insecurities too. Basically the man should not be able to take his eyes off of her. A geisha-like concept but it is terribly condescending. 

Image screenshot courtesy Fairandlovely.in

Watch all TVCs HERE.

[brandobserver]

Error

There was only one advert that I saw in English.

[brandobserver]

Brand Focus - Videos: Fair and Lovely TVCs - India

Link to most of their adverts. - Indian Product page. I shall search for the rest later. Seems to have a decent archive of TVCs because they even show really old ones, dating back to the 70s and 80s.

Observations: My mind was blown when I found out that some of the earliest adverts were entirely in English too. Colonial hangover indeed? What I did appreciate was that there were 2-3 TVCs that catered to men too. *However, the way their adverts were created and the message towards men in contrast to women is much lighter. I found the women-targeted TVCs quite offensive and condescending.

Even what they've chosen seems to be carefully selected because there are so many others in the market too. 

Fair and Lovely is a product that spans much of South Asia so there are crossover TVCs but also individual ones respective to the region and demographic's needs (i.e. weather and lifestyle and all that plays a part). Quite a lot of them seem to be dubbed in different languages too, which is further misleading. In some of the Indian adverts, one can see that some of the models are most definitely bi-racial or not indian at all. 

Will conduct a break down on the points being made in these adverts and how the consumer base is being manipulated and what sort of image are we encouraging unnecessarily. Will also link back to cultural stereotypes and contrast it to the western hemisphere.

[brandobserver]

Brand Focus: Fair and Lovely

Fair and Lovely is a product that came into being around mid 1970s. According to the Unilever/product page, the creation of this product was initiated to answer the questions regarding Vitamin B3 and if the lack of it could lead to pigmentation and thus, if there was a higher level of it, could it lighten skin. 

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INFO

The following information has been imported from the website because it is too complex to summarize. 

Today, at the heart of this technology is Unilever’s synergistic combination of Niacinamide and triple UVA+UVB sunscreens (which give broad spectrum UV protection).

The key player in our active mix is Niacinamide (Vitamin B3), which has been proven time and again to be a safe, reversible cosmetic skin and spot lightening agent. A unique blend of Vitamin B3 along with Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Vitamin B6 boosts the core efficacy of the product by providing potent antioxidants, added spot lightening and healthy skin benefits.

Other actives, such as glycerin (the world’s best known moisturizer), allantoin (a skin benefit agent) and skin identical fatty acids (e.g. stearic acid) also help contribute to delivering overall great skin appearance. These multiple ingredients work on different steps in pathways that are known to regulate and affect pigmentation and general skin appearance, and thus have a gentle yet perceivable effect on darkened skin, spots and overall skin tone, thereby delivering expert treatment like fairness.

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OBSERVATION

The information mentions both the components, what the product is solving but more than focusing the benefits for skin, it screams LIGHTEN YOUR SKIN. 

[brandobserver]

Entrance of BB creams into European Market

Vogue Article

Enlightening information from this article.

BB creams made an appearance only in 2011. The similarity to tinted moisturisers has been noted, but BB creams are designed to go one step further - with additions such as hyaluronic acid and antioxidants to regenerate skin. Originally created by dermatologists for patients who had gone through laser skin surgery, the idea is that they actually provide genuine benefits for the skin - as well as providing enough coverage to be used as either a foundation or a primer, depending upon your preference.

[brandobserver]

Interesting phrase and mind blowing article with feedback + discussion

This article here begs the question, is this concept of fair-skinned being the ultimate level of beauty a colonial hangover or from prevalent caste hierarchies. I think that choice of words was pretty witty and on point. While I have much to investigate in how much the caste system contributes to this issue, I am sure it is partly because of a colonial hangover but also that the west influences so much of the world, in terms of what is beautiful. Asian countries often import products but with them come these messages which somehow mislead audiences to strive for a specific sort of lifestyle/appearance/beauty.

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There is a great deal of pressure on women, from their mothers or women in their family because of what they consider feminine virtues. Being active, outdoorsy or sporty apparently makes you tan which means you don't spend time inside the home (which keeps you from tanning, sigh) and therefore does not make you feminine or fit to be a good wife? Or they believe that men would not want that quality in a woman. Also if you did work, then you were considered of a lower class. These stereotypes date back to a long time. This observation/opinion stems from knowing that chinese and indian stereotypes come from the fact that if you worked in the fields or farms, then you had dark skin and therefore it defined your working class. Ironically, in the western world, being tan meant you had time to spare and enjoy being in the sun and rich enough to indulge and remain out of the home.

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[brandobserver]

Quora Article: Concept of Beauty in India

This article is quite true. It is often projected that women with dark skin are unhappy with their skin. The biggest misconception that it is DULL skin. Apparently, if you're fair, you will be happier and then get the guy. It makes me sad that this is a culture that I have to own up to. Thankfully I am not subject to it but I have to witness it quite a bit. 

It is actually quite difficult to do research on this, I've realized. Or at least documented research. You'd have to go back to understanding history and reading stories and regarding how women were dressed, perceived and their roles in hierarchy too. 

One of products that really showcases this directly is a product called Fair and Lovely. A fairness cream that is popular in the South Asian region. There are other brands that influences this train of though and they aren't even beauty products.

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The information below is extracted directly from the article. This will server.

Where did this start? Skin whitening has a long history in Asia, stemming back to ancient China. And the saying, ‘One white covers up one hundred ugliness,’ was passed through the generations. All across Asia fair skin is highly prized. In dark-skinned South Asia, a fair complexion is considered the epitome of beauty while in already pale-skinned North and East Asia, pearly translucent white skin is a sign of affluence and glamour. In India, many people associate dark and tanned skin with menial work in the fields under the hot sun, and a pale complexion with a higher social standing and cultural refinement. This resulted in a growing demand for creams and treatments that claim to lighten skin tones, a phenomenon the cosmetics juggernauts have been quick to capitalize upon.   What does it mean to India economically? India’s domestic cosmetics industry is set to grow to US$3.6 billion by 2014, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India. The skin-lightening cream market alone was worth US$432 million in 2010 and growing at 18 percent annually. Why are we the victims of this cultural change?  It is apparent the multi-billion dollar cosmetics industry is throwing its weight behind advertising and promotion of skin-lightening products in Asia, its fastest growing market. Many consumers buy into the hype and promise of glamour without paying much attention to the small print. Today, in India, the quest for fairer skin has expanded to include a woman’s intimate bits. A vaginal wash was recently launched that promised women fairer private parts, causing a stir and prompting a national debate on the perceived norms of beauty. In a short 20 seconds, the television advertisement for Clean and Dry gives the impression that a woman with a darker nether region is unhappy whereas she with a fair down-there finds love and fulfillment. The tagline reads: “Life for women will now be fresher, cleaner and more importantly, fairer and more intimate." The problem comes when fairness-obsessed users plunge headlong into their quest for a perfect pearlescent complexion without, or perhaps despite, knowledge of the potential side effects. Many of them get too carried away to be skeptical when approaching astounding claims of whitening success, and fail to do a little background research on their own before making decisions

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Lo and behold, this gives quite an elaborate understanding of how well advertising is working and how people are buying into mindless concepts. In my opinion a quite backward / stunting concept in a progressive world.

This also reflects how this manipulates the woman's mind in regards to their self worth. 

[brandobserver]

Response to an article about Asian Stereotyping and their skin

Article

Asian being used the way Americans use it, discounting Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Malaysians, Indonesians and many more.

It is true, 'Asians' tend to be a little more protective of their skin and I am commenting on this purely out of observation. People will always beg to differ. I think their skin, on average, is also more sensitive to the sun and so they cover up. I have had a lot of friends peel furiously after getting a strong tan or being sunburnt. Some types of skin release more oils or just protect a little more. 

[brandobserver]

Courtesy: http://www.youbeauty.com/skin/columns/beauty-informer/bb-cc-dd-creams-differences

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This article is linked here. It discusses the blurred lines and whether they're essentially all doing the same thing and their benefits have been rephrased. Does the language make that much of a difference to reach the audience? Quite possibly so. It actually provides some insight to how much information people want when they have 1 or a few specific issues that need to be addressed. Is it all about statistics?

[brandobserver]

BB CC DD investigations

Back to my research, fell off the grid for a while.

Finally found a few resources that adequately explain what these creams are.

Courtesy: http://www.marieclaire.com/hair-beauty/trends/beauty-breakdown-creams#slide-1

It was a given. If you've spent enough time in Chinatown of any country or at least lived/wandered through a South East Asian country, you'd have noticed an arcade of cosmetics that jump out at you, most of which are Korean and Japanese. Those funky colours, packaging and all of them serve different purposes but there is absolutely no end to the range of products. Is there really a need for that much? 

BB: Beauty Balm or Blemish Balm. Not to be confused with sunscreen as a substitute even though it has SPF but its great as a primer, foundation and moisturizer. 

CC: Complexion Corrector, same as BB but corrects your skin tone, especially if blemishes cause problems, i.e. acne, dull skin, redness. Lighter than BB cream.who 

DD: Derma Doctor  or Dynamic Do All and it does the job of both BB and CC but focuses on anti-aging.

Conclusions: I understand now why such products were created. I've been creating my own version of the BB, using my LUSH cosmetics - Skin Drink moisturizer and mixing my foundation into it, it covers up so well. CC - i guess it depends on your moisturizer. Amazing to see how these creams, based on their purposes and descriptions alone can demographics and skin-types simultaneously. 

It has definitely made a big impact in Asia. Women have been using it for a while, one can see a million tutorials on how to use these products to the best of their abilities. Whats intense is that these products are now different based on where the products are catered to (i.e. China or India), based on skin tones and what the weather is like in that region and how it would respond.

These products are now available to men! How radical is that?! Men have begun to give a little more importance to their appearance but what is driving this.

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Part of me believes that the ever-changing concept and perception of beauty and appearance seems to be driving this. Does this mean that men need to keep up with women more? It is about 'worth' or 'upkeep'?

[brandobserver]

Cosmetic Industry - Part 1

My work experience has been primarily with Package Design and Brand Design. I have been privileged to have spent a good deal of time working with a team that specialized in cosmetics/beauty products. I learnt a lot about how to design for different markets, i.e. Western Europe, China/South Asia and the US. It was great to know that having lived in different cultures, I had some innate understanding of why consumers responded the way they did. Oddly, I never thought of it as unknown or astounding information but being able to offer some insight showed me that this is an asset I'd like to work on.

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Over the last few years, we've seen the cosmetic industry evolve. Women's products now exist for several purposes, even though most of them, technically serve the same purpose at the end of the day, i.e. facial moisturisers or mascara - different skin tones and different lengths or benefits to keeping your lashes long and beautiful. 

Consumers react differently to different products.

Simply said, there is A-B-C reaction. A - Find a need, address that need B - Fulfill that need (to some extent), but sometimes fulfilling it backfires, so new needs arise C - Address new need and create a product, fix old need and create new product, and create more products that might serve the OLD&NEW purpose together but also other possible reactions.

I am not an avid user of cosmetic products but I still don't quite understand what the hell a BB cream is, and if one noticed, the last year brought on to introduce CC and DD creams. I will investigate further into the needs that instigated the innovation of these products.

But what is crazier is that, Men's products are growing in range. Some brands now have BB creams for men, is that necessary and what drove men to start using these products. Is there really a market for these and what mindset/lifestype/personas have been observed with the evolution of consumers' lifestyles that would make these products a vital product in their skin care/beautifying regiment. Are there stereotypes? Are we moving backwards, in terms of focusing more on the artificial beauty or the caked-appearance or does this aid in making one look more natural. The biggest boom of these products seems to be in the Asian hemisphere and I am going to spend the next few weeks digging deep on what is driving this evolution. ____

Goals / Things to research and discuss next time:

Growth of Cosmetics for Women - range of products Growth of Cosmetic products for men - extension of certain products that existed for women only What are BB, CC, DD creams? Why are they needed and how did they come about. Evolution of lifestyles that make such products a daily essential? Where has the market evolved more, which hemisphere, men and women seperately? Why so and do stereotypes or certain portrayals of image and ideals affect this?

[brandobserver]

Introduction

I commence this blog for all things brand related. Questions, answers, ponderings and my attempt to deconstruct brands, to teach myself more about branding and what shapes a brand's DNA. This is my attempt at a live-ongoing research blog. It will serve me as a continuous resource and may seem incoherent at times due to the varied topics.