Institute of Personal Care Science gears up for global expansion
The IPCS is looking to globalise its training by opening franchises in the key markets of India, China and Brazil, to further reach of its industry education offering.
Speaking to Cosmetics Design at the recent in-cosmetics Asia event, Belinda Carli, the institute’s director, explained while the IPCS has always had a global perspective, this is the first time the Australian-headquartered company will be reaching out to open franchises elsewhere that provide training in local languages.
“We’ve always taught to suit all markets of the world, but it’s been limited by English. So now we’re looking to really globalise our training,” she explained.
IPCS courses cover cosmetic, personal care, food and complementary medicine development, marketing, formulation and regulatory affairs.
How will it work?
Carli says that the IPCS is focusing on India, China and Brazil initially as these are key markets for the industry where industry professionals also often look to use their own languages.
She explains that the training that the franchises in these countries will give will be consistent with that currently given by the IPCS, in line with global industry standards.
“Franchisees in those countries that provide exactly the same materials translated into local languages with local offices, and of course trainers and assessors that speak the languages,” she confirms. “It’s all standardised so that the same training is consistent around the world, and that’s very important.”
“We always want to maintain a global approach in our training, it will be consistent around the world - it’s the same content, just translated into local language. We’re just removing the English-only barrier.”
Global demands: customisation
On the question of if the global beauty consumer and their expectations, Carli noted that customisation is a key international trend.
“Consumers around the world are looking for similar aspects from their products - so for example, we’re seeing this customisation trend around the world - but then different skin types and different climates will affect what consumers want in different areas, and that difference will never go away,” she said.
“There’s always that risk that when you start to customise to suit a consumer, the more give the more they want. If we start, will they begin to expect a level of customisation that’s just unrealistic?
“At the same time, raw mat sup are really on board with this approach, so we’ll look to them to give us the materials we need to provide the solutions to consumers. That’s the challenge.”
If you’re based in India, China or Brazil and are interested in setting up an IPCS franchise, get in touch with the company via the website.
