MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. — Beauty
bloggers, once snubbed and now coveted by many of the beauty companies
they adore, are on a bumpy evolutionary trek from detached commentators
to industry insiders.
"They are like the QVC of this time," said Don Ressler, co-chief
executive officer of Intelligent Beauty, owner of Redpoint Cosmetics
and iQ Derma. "They have been really involved in the [beauty] space.
They have really shown they have a voice."
At the Total Beauty Blogging Summit held partially at Intelligent Beauty’s headquarters here from May 16 to 18, the advantages and
disadvantages of bloggers’ rising power were etched out. On the plus
side for bloggers, much of the beauty apparatus is taking them
seriously as formidable links to consumers, and a support system of
bloggers and online networks has blossomed to foster their success.
On the downside, increasing competition has made it difficult for
individual beauty bloggers to stand out. Bloggers complain about pesky
publicists expecting coverage, and burgeoning media awareness has led
to a perception that they’re swag addicts with trigger fingers for
positive reviews.
Dangling on the precipice between fringe and mainstream is certainly
a tricky place to be. Many beauty bloggers are making an effort to keep
beauty companies at a distance since traditional media, they said,
often gets too chummy with beauty firms.
The 45 bloggers at the summit were keenly aware that their currency
is the authentic connections they have with readers. "We are liberated
from the pressure of advertising. One of the great strengths that we
all have is our editorial voice and the honesty we give readers," said
Annie Tomlin, editor of Bella Sugar, speaking on a panel at the summit,
which was arranged by Total Beauty, a Beverly Hills-based online
resource for beauty product information with a network of some 125
bloggers.
Still, bloggers walk a tightrope trying to preserve their integrity
and acquire information as beauty companies banking on the bonds they
have with consumers court them. Christina Jones, who writes
eBeautyDaily for b5media, has responded to the dilemma by cutting back
on communicating with public relations representatives. "I hate that
pressure," she said. "I don’t want to deal with them."
Julia Coney, founder of the All About the Pretty blog, suggested
readers can tell the difference between a blogger with true affection
for a brand and one that has succumbed to marketing, and will
ultimately vote with their eyes. "I am not on Bobbi Brown’s p.r. list,
and I don’t care if I ever get on it because I love her that much," she
said. "Readers really know."
As the blogosphere matures, bloggers are sharpening their content
and are sometimes shying away from covering products being sent to
other bloggers to ensure variety. "Just because it is the hottest
product, it doesn’t mean we are going to write about it," said Ellen
Mirza, editor in chief of Lipstick Powder ‘n Paint. "We have to be
passionate about it."
Readers and brands can better judge bloggers for themselves if there
exists established codes of conduct. Kristen Giordani, senior editor of
Total Beauty, advised summit attendees on product review guidelines.
For example, she handed them an instruction sheet that outlined how
skin care items should be tested for at least four weeks, makeup for
five days, hair care for two weeks and body care for four weeks before
a review.
"The sites and bloggers that do have ethical standards and
communicate those are going to be looked at [more favorably] from
readers and brands," said Emrah Kovacoglu, ceo of Total Beauty.
Review protocols make sense to Paul Baranda, who puts out Beyond
Beauty Basics with his girlfriend. "Really what we want is for readers
to come back and stay loyal….We want to be that person that teaches you
what is hot out there and what is new, and give it an unbiased review,"
he said. However, he conceded, "There still seems to be somewhat of a
lack of accountability in blogging. You don’t have to get two sources
and all that stuff."
The questions confronting beauty bloggers are only due to mount as
their numbers continue to climb, making it a complicated task for
beauty brands to navigate the blogosphere that is home to hundreds if
not thousands of blogs touching on beauty. "The brands have definitely
understood by now the importance of bloggers in the success of their
businesses, but it is difficult for them to figure out what to do,"
said Kovacoglu. "User-generated content is something that is scary to
brands. They don’t know what is going to be said."
Fragmentation and diversity in the blogger universe makes it that
much harder for brands to gauge what bloggers will write. At the
summit, the bloggers spanned the racial spectrum; live in big cities,
suburban enclaves and small towns; were members of the YouTube to Baby
Boomer generations, and ranged from stay-at-home moms to successful
professionals to former beauty editors.
Brands have coped with that diversity by basing their interaction
with blogs on a blog’s traffic totals and reaching out to the most
recognizable blogger personalities. Kovacoglu said that brands are
paying serious attention to blogs that have 25,000 to 35,000 unique
visitors monthly, but Baranda estimated p.r. agencies start contacting
blogs once they’ve reached the roughly 3,000 monthly visitor mark.
How to boost traffic was a topic of great interest during the
summit. Search engine optimization specialist Russ Smith told the group
that celebrities remained leading attractions. Individual bloggers
noted that their largest readerships were frequently for "how-to"
posts. "Women want to learn how to do things properly," explained Tammy
Gibson, the blogger behind A Mom in Red High Heels.
Regardless of traffic, Kovacoglu indicated brands are most
comfortable with bloggers the likes of Shake Your Beauty’s Tia
Williams, Jolie Nadine’s Nadine Haobsh and Jet Set Girls’ Anne Fritz,
all of whom previously were found on magazine mastheads. Williams has
been featured in Olay advertising, and Haobsh said she’s worked with
Guthy-Renker on the infomercial company’s In An Instant skin care line.
Depending upon known blogging entities, though, can shut out brands
to key niche consumers. As brands and bloggers become more
sophisticated, they have a better grasp on audiences for blogs and what
products appeal to them. Gibson said that there are currently a few
brands "savvy enough" to approach her specifically for her audience,
which largely consists of middle-class mothers 23- to 35-years-old.
Ressler said Intelligent Beauty would attempt to learn more from
bloggers by soliciting their opinions and treating them akin to an
"informal advisory board." "You get instant information in real time.
You don’t have to wait for a magazine," he said. In addition, Total Beauty is launching a program called Sneak Peek later this year get
products in the hands of beauty bloggers for them to review. "This is
the first time we have had significant brand partnerships getting
brands in front of bloggers," said Kovacoglu.
If the summit, where brands such as Kate Somerville, L’Oréal Paris,
Anastasia Beverly Hills and Murad wooed bloggers with products and
tours, is any hint, the assimilation of bloggers into the industry
isn’t slowing. "We see that the Internet is very quickly changing the
entire landscape of the beauty industry," said Adam Goldenberg, co-ceo
of Intelligent Beauty Inc. "The beauty companies that get this and that
embrace the Internet are going to be successful and the ones that don’t
are going to be left behind."
Frédéric Fekkai is game. In a video clip shown at the summit, he
confessed, "Actually, I wanted to be a blogger myself. Maybe I should
start."
