{"id":10114,"date":"2024-11-18T23:18:58","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T23:18:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wslstrategicretail.com\/?p=10114"},"modified":"2024-11-19T18:41:20","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T18:41:20","slug":"evolution-of-dupe-culture-for-beauty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wslstrategicretail.com\/blog\/evolution-of-dupe-culture-for-beauty\/","title":{"rendered":"What the Evolution of Dupe Culture Means for Beauty Brands and Retailers"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” el_class=”single-post-content”][vc_column width=”2\/3″ el_class=”aside”][vc_column_text]By <\/em>James Manso<\/a>, NOVEMBER 12, 2024 || A Publication of WWD<\/a> (Women\u2019s Wear Daily)<\/em><\/p>\n

Try to copy Charlotte Tilbury and you\u2019ll be met with an error message \u2014 and a humorous social media rebuttal.<\/p>\n

In a TikTok the brand posted last month showing a bottle of the brand\u2019s Hollywood Flawless Filter wedged into a photocopier, the machine then spat out papers with messages like \u201cError! Copy impossible,\u201d and \u201cLegends cannot be copied.\u201d<\/p>\n

The comments from TikTok users, however, tell a different story. \u201cI have [E.l.f. Cosmetics] because Charlotte Tilbury is over my budget,\u201d one comment read.<\/p>\n

\u201c[MCoBeauty Flawless Glow] is better,\u201d read another that had 319 likes. The reel itself had more than 57,000 likes and 200 comments.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Charlotte Tilbury is one of a handful of brands contending with dupe culture \u2014 the TikTok-fueled phenomenon where consumers look to find inexpensive mimicries of industry hero products. Last year, Olaplex inaugurated a campaign refuting that its many patents could be legally replicated in cheaper formulas. Regardless, the trend now spans categories, with both brands and retailers taking note.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always been around, but it\u2019s picked up momentum in the last couple of years, since TikTok became popular during the pandemic,\u201d said Emilie Hood, an analyst at Euromonitor, who attributes the rise of dupes to two key factors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIrrespective of where you are in the world, everyone\u2019s budgets have been impacted by COVID, inflation and geopolitical issues. There\u2019s also a gamification where consumers enjoy trying to find dupes,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s tough for the brands that are being duped because they are investing in innovation and new ideas, there\u2019s so much funding. But dupes are good for the democratization of beauty.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, the stigma around dupes has dissipated, which has also helped their rise.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout eight years ago, dupe culture was taking off from YouTube creators who were publicizing cheaper alternatives to more high-end beauty products,\u201d said Alex Rawitz, director of research and insights, CreatorIQ. \u201cIt\u2019s now a viable concept.<\/p>\n

The key switch has been that it\u2019s not just creators who are propagating the concept \u2014 brands themselves have now leaned in. It\u2019s a legitimate concept by which a brand can make itself known in the market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Per CreatorIQ data, the top beauty brands being duped by earned media value include Charlotte Tilbury, Rare Beauty and Sol de Janeiro; others mentioned with the word \u201cdupe\u201d include E.l.f. Cosmetics, L\u2019Or\u00e9al Paris, MCoBeauty, Maybelline New York, Bath & Body Works and Milani.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a brand that is being duped, or you\u2019re having other brands put out dupe versions of your own products, it\u2019s wise to lean into it,\u201d Rawitz said. \u201cAs we\u2019re seeing from our market research, dupe phenomenon is a rising tide, and as a brand, you don\u2019t want to lean away from any popular conversation on social media. It\u2019s not a controversy your brand is being duped. It shows a sense of desirability that people want this product and can\u2019t necessarily afford it.\u201d<\/p>\n

MCoBeauty, which hails from Australia, came Stateside less than a year ago. \u201cWe are still a baby in the U.S., but we\u2019re very ahead of our growth curve. We\u2019re growing extraordinarily fast,\u201d said Meridith Rojas, chief marketing officer of MCoBeauty. \u201cWe\u2019re starting to break onto the scene through the same recipe that worked in Australia, and that\u2019s leaning into dupe culture. That\u2019s not all we are, but it\u2019s a big part of who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nodding to a TikTok post wherein Bethenny Frankel called the brand the \u201cSteve Madden of beauty,\u201d Rojas said the brand is more informed by consumer habits than anything else. \u201cWe\u2019re the first to take [duping] to a place and really say what it is that people want. They want the formula, they want the 360-degree luxury experience in addition to a luxury product.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where we\u2019re gaining cult-like status.\u201d A quick scroll through MCoBeauty\u2019s bestsellers page on its website shows its Flawless Glow Luminous Skin Filter, with a beveled cap akin to Charlotte Tilbury\u2019s; its Miracle Anti-Aging Repair Serum, in a square, brown apothecary bottle that resembles Est\u00e9e Lauder\u2019s Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex; or the rectangular bottles of Super Glow Bronzing Drops and Blush Drops that share similar shapes to the format introduced by Drunk Elephant.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, we\u2019re very careful and making sure that we can do everything that we do,\u201d Rojas said. \u201cThe speed at which we\u2019re able to turn an idea into reality or a comment into a product is extremely fast when it comes to industry standards. I often say accessibility is the new innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In some cases, Hood reasoned, dupe culture could move the needle for the industry in ways beyond sales. \u201cL\u2019Or\u00e9al does a lot of partnerships with ingredient companies to develop more sustainable ingredients. If that technology becomes more broad and filters down to the wider industry, that\u2019s brilliant,\u201d she said. \u201cBut there is a danger of the industry getting a bit stale.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t had a huge breakthrough chemical in a long time,\u201d agreed Susan Scafidi, founder of the Fashion Law Institute. \u201cIt\u2019s about reformulations and innovation at the margins rather than a huge paradigm shift, and the extent to which those things can be copied and diluted.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the U.S. specifically, dupe culture doesn\u2019t necessarily have adverse effects on the brands being mimicked, according to industry experts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe item that\u2019s being duped doesn\u2019t necessarily lose sales,\u201d said Larissa Jensen, senior vice president of beauty and industry adviser at Circana. \u201cThe consumer who can afford the original is going to continue to buy the original. The consumer who can\u2019t will buy the less expensive item. It\u2019s two different consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n

But globally, the picture is murkier. \u201cWhere the original brands miss out is where that price is high enough that it becomes inaccessible,\u201d said Hood. \u201cIt needs to be significantly better to warrant a high price, and it needs to speak to that premium level. And there needs to be an extra benefit of consumers sticking with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legally speaking, in the U.S. \u201cwe\u2019re dealing in the trademark realm,\u201d Scafidi said. \u201cIt comes down to if the dupes are imitating the original product in such a way that consumers will be confused. Dupes that are one step further away, the beauty equivalent to a look-for-less, is annoying to brands because it does induce consumers to trade down. But if the consumer isn\u2019t confused about what they\u2019re getting, it\u2019s not actually illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scafidi acknowledged that dupe culture exists on a spectrum with \u201cabsolute counterfeits\u201d on one end to brands drawing comparisons and reinterpreting packaging in more subtle ways. \u201cIn dupe culture, we have evolved past the illegalities to free-ride on the brand in a way that is technically legal.\u201d<\/p>\n

That even includes naming duped products in packaging and marketing, which is legal if used only to draw a comparison, Scafidi said. \u201cIt\u2019s nominative fair use,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you\u2019re just using the name and you\u2019re using it for comparison purposes, technically, that is legal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such examples include fragrance brand Dossier, which mentions the juices that inspired its product assortment on its website. \u201cInspired by [Maison Francis Kurkdjian]\u2019s Baccarat Rouge 540,\u201d says a description of the brand\u2019s Ambery Saffron. The brand\u2019s website says its Woody Sandalwood scent is \u201cinspired by Le Labo\u2019s Santal 33.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skincare Generics\u2019 products, for example, have \u201cCompare to: La Mer Cr\u00e8me de La Mer\u201d on one moisturizer; and \u201cCompare to: Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream\u201d on another. For Walgreens\u2019 new Premium Skin Care range which debuted in September, its Moisturizing Facial Cream says \u201cCompare to: Kiehl\u2019s Ultra Facial Cream.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know there\u2019s a demand for top-tier skin care solutions that don\u2019t break the bank,\u201d said Heather Hughes, group vice president and general merchandise manager of health and beauty, Walgreens, of the brand\u2019s genesis. \u201cCompared to the current price of similar premium skin care products, Walgreens Premium Skin Care products are at least 50 percent less expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wendy Liebmann, founder and chief executive of WSL Strategic Retail<\/strong>, noted that the phenomenon isn\u2019t new, and also doesn\u2019t see it as taboo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the beauty industry, it just brings more eyes and more sales,\u201d she said. \u201cThe more people who have the opportunity to engage in beauty at whatever price point, the better for the industry at large.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The challenges for retailers ultimately come down to speed. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a nightmare,\u201d Hood said. \u201cRather than dupes specifically, the trend cycle speeding up so much is the difficulty. The planning and deciding throughout is difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liebmann concurred that the issue was bigger than dupe products for retailers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a dupe discussion \u2014 it\u2019s the Instagram and TikTok discussion. We now have a media that\u2019s controlled by the consumer, and the challenge that retailers have in general is the ability to see what\u2019s hot.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“You need to have a supply chain and marketing operation that says \u2018this is hot.\u2019 And you have to have space designated and ready to go, as opposed to waiting for 12 months to see what can fit on a shelf.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Visit WWD<\/em><\/a> for the full article.<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″ el_class=”sidebar”][vc_column_text]\n\t\n\t

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