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Topic This case describes the state of the grooming products and cosmetics industry for men in Asia. It is a bit different than the types of cases we will typically see in this course: instead of illustrating a specific challenge at hand, the authors describe a more general view of the industry and some of its players, both on the firm side and the consumer side. As such, we’ll view the case information in a more descriptive way than usual – almost like a market briefing you might find from somewhere like Nielsen or Euromonitor, etc. In your analyses, feel free to use outside sources to support your arguments. Demand for men’s cosmetic products is growing very quickly, led in large part by trends originating in South Korea. Attitudes, emotions, motivations and needs from Asian consumers in regard to men’s beauty products are very different than those prominent in North America. Developing empathy and a deep understanding of these consumers seems like a critical step toward capitalizing on opportunities to provide value. The authors describe a number of trends relating to the male cosmetics market along with a series of specific segments: · Metrosexuals · Ubersexuals · NOMU · JOOBAEK · YUMMY Select one of these segments. Complete the empathy map Actions using information listed in the case and in other sources that you might find. If you use outside sources, make a citation in an attached document. I recommend that you complete the empathy map boxes in the order listed on the left side, starting with WHO and ending with THINK and FEEL. If you need additional space, feel free to attach a second worksheet or Word document. Point form notes are fine; there is no need to construct paragraphs. SMU076 “NO MORE UNCLE”: ASIAN MEN’S BEAUTY CARE IN THE FOREFRONT OF GENDER-NEUTRAL MARKETING Night cream, eyeliners, pore improvers, anti-aging serums and concealers are all familiar products in cosmetics. There is nothing new here until you find out who their big users are. No, it is not women but men, and not just young men but men of all ages. While the use of men’s skin and hair products has been on the rise globally, nowhere is this more pronounced than in Asia. Welcome to the glittering world of Asian men’s beauty care. Is the redefinition of masculinity or “gender-neutral” marketing just the latest passing fad or buzzword in cosmetics, or the new reality that companies and brands must now adopt in how they approach their customers? Men Coming Out The notion of men caring about appearances has historically been a controversial subject matter. This stems from the hegemonic definitions of masculinity and its manifestation in, and the stigma against, homosexuality that has long prevailed in many societies. As a result, many men have desired but have not been able to openly use cosmetics.1 It has long been established that men have literally been “in the closet” – using facial and hair care products in a clandestine fashion, often “stealing” or “borrowing” from their wives and girlfriends. This is now changing as men are “coming out” in a broader sense to freely show that they care about how they look. Open-minded and accepting social attitudes about masculinity have paved the way for “metrosexuals” – heterosexual men who embrace effeminate displays such as earrings and hairbands as best embodied by football legend David Beckham in his heyday. Then came the “ubersexuals”, popularised by the book The Future of Men:2 The descriptor 'uber' was chosen because it means the best, the greatest. Ubersexuals are the most attractive (not just physically), most dynamic, and most compelling men of their generations. They are confident, masculine, stylish, and committed to uncompromising quality in all areas of life…He doesn't care what people think. He's not worried that people think he's gay. He knows he's straight, and that's all that matters. The posterchild for ubersexuals was the American actor, George Clooney. He fitted all the attributes above and while he was seen as caring about women and their issues, he was undoubtedly a “guy’s 1 Matthew Hall, Brendan Gough, and Sarah Seymour-Smith, "I'm METRO, NOT Gay!: A Discursive Analysis of Men's Accounts of Makeup Use on YouTube,” The Journal of Men's Studies, 2012, 20 (3). 2 Marian Salzman, Ira Matahia and Ann O’Reilly, “The Future of Men”, McMillan, https://us.macmillan.com/thefutureofmen/mariansalzman/9781403975485/ accessed December 5, 2017. This case was written by Professor Dae Ryun Chang at SUNY Stony Brook Korea and Jin K. Han at the Singapore Management University. The case was prepared solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. Copyright © 2022, Singapore Management University2022-09-09 guy.” Whereas metrosexuals tend to be more popular with women, ubersexuals are accepted equally by both men and women. Men’s Beauty Industry Once an afterthought to the women’s beauty market, the size of the global men’s beauty care industry was estimated to be about US$141 billion in 2020.3 This market, which includes men’s bath and shower, deodorant, skin and hair products, was expected to reach US$183 billion by 2027, making it one of the fastest growing industries in consumer marketing.4 The market was even bigger if other related products and services such as fashion or lifestyle stores, dermatological and orthodontic care, plastic surgery, spas and barbershops were added. In contrast, men’s toiletries that had traditionally focused on shaving razors, cream and after care, was estimated as being US$27 billion in 2020 but with much more limited growth.5 Euromonitor predicted that the region of greatest growth for the global men’s beauty care industry would be Asia Pacific.6 If Asia’s CAGR of 8.1% continued beyond 2021, it would most likely become the biggest men’s beauty care market in the world, displacing Western Europe, which was predicted to have a much lower CAGR of 3% between 2015 and 2020 (refer to Exhibit 1). For global cosmetic companies, this trend would have significant implications for planning for future growth not only in terms of demographic segments (e.g., by gender and age) but also by region (e.g., shift to Asia). Western versus Asian Men’s Beauty Asian countries, perhaps with the exception of Japan, were latecomers to mass adoption of consumer products in general. A good example was the luxury market – whereas personal motivation drove the demand for luxury products and brands in the West, they were more symbols of social status for Asians. Thus, Asian buyers typically sought brands that ostensibly signalled their position in society, mostly to be accepted by their peers. Asian men were also late adopters of men’s beauty products but ironically, their late arrival allowed them to leapfrog the slower and conservative adoption by men in Western countries. The popularity of men’s beauty care and the growing number of “metrosexuals” in the West made it acceptable for Asian men to also express their individuality in a bolder way than before. But as with many technological innovations, notably the use of mobile technologies, Asia took the trend of men’s beauty many steps further. As open discussion of sexuality was still limited in Asia as compared to the West, beauty care and fashion in Asia did not take on the connotation of one’s sexual orientation. This also helped in the bold and quick adoption of men’s beauty products. 3. ReportLinker, “Global Men’s Beauty Products Industry”, April 2021, https://www.reportlinker.com/p05818008/Global-Men-s- Grooming-Products-Industry.html, accessed August 2022. 4 Ibid. 5 IMARC, “Male Toiletries Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027”, https://www.imarcgroup.com/male-toiletries-market, accessed August 2022. 6 Euromonitor International, “Reimagining Growth in the Global Beauty Industry”, May 5, 2017, https://www.euromonitor.com/article/reimagining-growth-in-the-global-beauty-industry, accessed August 2022. 2 The aesthetics for what constituted masculinity and good beauty care was also different. In the West, there was a tendency to equate manliness with rugged looking men with facial hair.7 This contrasted with Asia where “pretty boy” images were familiar and acceptable. Moreover, according to some marketing experts, Asian men’s beauty care was possibly about more than just wanting to look clean and good: The men who are driving the greatest worldwide growth in beauty and beauty products are those who feel liberated to celebrate their vanity and masculinity. They see attention to their appearance not in terms of problem-solving with immediate results, but as a long-term investment in identity and its public expression. These men are actively redefining what it means to be masculine.8 The notion that Asian men could be more daring and even lead their Western counterparts in how men can manifest their masculinity was contrary to the common criticism that Hollywood often portrayed Asian in an emasculated way and was guilty of “whitewashing” in movies.9 Despite the regional trends, inter-country differences existed. For example, Kantar Worldpanel, a Spanish market research firm interviewed over 5,000 Asian men and found:10 Communicating messages about status and looking professional are likely to be the priorities in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia. By contrast, in China, 73% of men pay attention to their appearance 'because women like it'. In Southeast Asia, Halal-certified men’s beauty care products were spearheading the market in Indonesia, which was growing at 7 percent per annum.11 So while common patterns might have existed in Asia, marketers ultimately needed to tweak the beauty products for individual markets. South Korea as a Lead Market Within Asia, South Korea was the influencer or “lead” market in men’s beauty, even as China had higher sales and growth.12 The South Korean market reached about US$1.5 billion in 2016, which was more than 10 times the size of the industry from just a decade ago. The average Korean man used about 13 cosmetic products per month. The concept of a “lead” market was quite like that of opinion leadership.13 An influencer could have scores of followers, especially through social media. In the UK for instance, David Beckham was an icon of fashion and beauty for many of his fans. In a similar way, a country, even a relatively small one, could influence lifestyle trends in other neighbouring countries. South Korea had been riding the cultural popularity wave (called “Hallyu” in Korean) since 1999 thanks to its soap operas (called 7 Lisa McNeill and Katie Douglas, “Retailing Masculinity: Gender Expectations and Social Image of Male Beauty Products in New Zealand,” Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 2015, 18 (5). 8 Kathryn Sloane and Benjamin Chong, “Men’s Beauty Goes Big in Asia,” Beauty Packaging, February 18, 2016, https://www.beautypackaging.com/contents/view_online-exclusives/2016-02-18/mens-beauty-goes-big-in-asia/, accessed December 8, 2017. 9 David Yi, "Hollywood is Finally Opening up to Asian Americans”, Mashable, June 19, 2016, https://mashable.com/archive/hollywood-asian-americans#hdKcvpFUiZq1, accessed December 6, 2017. 10 HKTDC, op cit. 11 Ibid. 12 Ibid. 13 Dae Ryun Chang, “Mastering Noon Nopi: The Art & Science of Marketing in Asia,” Yonsei University Press, 2015. 3 “K-Drama”), pop music (called “K-Pop”) and women’s beauty products (called “K-Beauty”).14 The three areas often overlapped through celebrity endorsements. For example, a popular Korean actor, Lee Dong Wook (refer to Exhibit 2), co-starred in many popular soap operas including “Goblin,” and had been used as the global brand ambassador of the makeup line for men debuted by Chanel called “Boy de Chanel.”15 The sustained massive popularity of the boy band BTS (refer to Exhibit 3) world-wide became a focal point of the changing construct of “masculinity.” They already had a following throughout Asia for being a top group, not only because of their music, dancing, and social consciousness of their songs, but also their fashion style.16 But according to Karen Lu, BTS had taken on an even more progressive global agenda on changing societal norms about gender identity:17 From their clothing and choice of expressions to their music and performance concepts, BTS is a leader in demonstrating how to be unafraid of expressing gender identity, regardless of traditionally held ideas of “femininity” or “masculinity.” It’s a much-needed message for those who struggle with fears of retribution or criticism, as it shows that this form of expression can be both accepted and celebrated. For K-Beauty, the broader reference point had traditionally been Korean women – not only celebrities in K-Drama or K-Pop idols like Lisa or Jennie from Black Pink, but also fashion-conscious segments such as the “Gold Misses”.18 As men’s beauty in Korea was expanding, the influence of Korean male icons like G-Dragon of the group Big Bang, and also Korean “Gold Misters”, might have influenced their followers both at home and in their follower countries like China.19 Therefore, it behoved beauty companies to monitor the user trends in this epicentre not only to succeed there but also in countries where its ripple effects ultimately reached. As the British Chamber of Commerce in Korea noted:20 ‘Hallyu’, or the ‘Korean wave’, refers to the increase in popularity of Korean culture throughout the world. The influence of their films, songs, dramas, and fashion can be found anywhere from the streets of Tokyo to Paris. Keen to know what the latest trends are every year, hundreds of thousands of tourists, mainly from China, visit Korea. A large proportion of these tourists come with the primary purpose of purchasing high-quality beauty products that are popular within Korea. As a result, UK companies that successfully enter the market will find that the brand awareness for their products will spread far beyond the borders of