BeautyX Summit returns to Los Angeles, California, this month

15-Jan-2019 - Last updated on 15-Jan-2019 at 16:36 GMT

The two-day educational event for entrepreneurs and indie beauty brand leaders will take place January 21 and 22 in LA. Attendees will hear from editors, influencers, and other experts on every facet of social and conventional media. Cosmetics Design editor Deanna Utroske will be speaking as part of the summit.

BeautyX Summit events take place in three cities across the US each year: In New York City the focus is on capital; in Dallas, Texas the topic is retail; and in Los Angeles the event centers on media and influencers.

This year’s program includes an influencer panel discussion among Katey Denno, Jade Simmone, Nida, and Taye Hansberry, moderated by IBMG co-founder Jillian Wright; a consumer media panel led by Melisse Gelula, co-founder of Well + Good, and featuring Kelly Bales of Allure, Emily Dougherty of NewBeauty, and Bee Shapiro of the New York Times; and a 45 minute conversation between Linda Wells, chief creative officer at Revlon, and IBMG’s Claire McCormack. (Learn more about Wells' role at Revlon here on Cosmetics Design.)

Cosmetics Design editor Deanna Utroske will be part of a panel about trade media at 11:15am on day 2 of the summit (Tuesday January 22). iHeartMedia content producer Alice Mroczkowski will moderate the discussion about “the biggest industry business trends.” And Beauty Independent (IBMG) editor Rachel Brown and freelance journalist Melissa Magsaysay will be on the panel as well.

Building brand value

To learn more about the upcoming event and the importance a carefully considered media strategy has for indie beauty brands, Cosmetics Design checked in with Claire McCormack, head of content and thought leadership at the Indie Beauty Media Group (which produces the BeautyX Summits), and with Nader Naeymi-Rad, co-founder of IBMG.

“Media and influencers can help drive awareness of a brand, or a new product launch,” explains McCormack “A good press hit or influencer shout out can lead to immediate sales as well, though,” she advises, “it’s always important to manage expectations going in and be clear about your goals. There can be good surprises, like when a nano influencer campaign really moves the needle [and bad surprises, like] when a feature in a national beauty book falls flat.”

Naeymi-Rad agrees: “Media—in whatever form—should help to generate brand awareness and ultimately (hopefully) demand. Whether you are a brand that is just launching or one that is already on the market and looking for growth, having a practical media strategy is absolutely essential. This strategy may be to ‘do nothing’—and that’s fine. But you have to really think it through and arrive at a well-informed position.”

“Nowadays,” he adds, “this is all the more complicated because traditional mass media is giving way to smaller targeted medial….Each channel represents its own set of opportunities and challenges, as a brand-builder, you have to determine what to do depending on the commercial priorities of your brand, your capabilities and resources and how much risk you are willing to take. ‘Dabbling’ is the most common strategy, and it's almost the worst because you are spending precious time and resources and essentially wasting them. You may be better off not doing anything or just doing one to two things really, really well.”

This event’s value

Naeymi-Rad believes there’s tremendous value in store for cosmetics, personal care, and fragrance entrepreneurs who attend BeautyX this month—even if they were at last year’s event. Outlining three reasons why beauty brand leaders should be at the BeautyX Summit in LA this month he says: the first reason to attend “is to learn what you don’t know. There is so much happening out there, so it's really good just to learn the landscape, discover all of the options and understand the core terminology. Our foundational courses and workshops accomplish exactly that.

“Second, is to elevate what you already know. Most people know the basics of social media or press, but there are more advanced concepts that you need to master. Our expert panel discussions and case studies tackle the more advanced topics.

“Finally, to network. Not just to meet top editors and influencers, but also to meet other entrepreneurs from whom you can learn just as much.”

And he tells Cosmetics Design that “50%+ of the content is completely new.”

“For example, we have two new segments on podcasts that we did not have last year. We have three new hands-on workshops, including a great one on 'social listening' which I really like because social listening doesn’t cost brands much at all to do it, and it can produce immediate results. Finally, there will be many new experts that we will have on stage providing lots of new opportunities to network and learn,” says Naeymi-Rad.

The BeautyX Summit team puts together a different, dynamic event every time. “Part of that,” says McCormack, “is picking the very best experts in specific industries—media, beauty retail, etc.—with whom to have those conversations. Their expertise, matched with our experience in the indie beauty ecosystem allows us to provide unparalleled value to attendees.”

For more information, to see the full summit schedule, or buy tickets, click here.

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Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.