By LOU Qiqin

In the past two months, shopping plazas in China have been forced to close for epidemic prevention and control. Demand is surpassed by lower expectations of income and less interest in fashion due to long periods of self-isolation.  Let’s face it, we dress for other people just as much as for ourselves!

Many retailers have used social media such as WeChat groups and live-streaming platforms to try to connect with customers. They’ve packaged products into mystery bags and gift sets to be sold in a limited or one-time offer.

These tactics to extend reach and lower prices helped to stimulate consumption and alleviate the initial impact brought on by the epidemic. When consumer demand dips, it is up to brands and retailers to find new markets. During the epidemic, some beauty brands quickly pivoted and blazed a new trail.

The beauty and skincare brand CHANDO created the terms “mask face” and “sanitizer hands” during the epidemic, linking the personal protective measures during the epidemic with skin problems such as acne, sensitivity, and chapped skin. CHANDO, then, repackaged its existing cosmetic masks, skin repair lotion, hand cream and other skincare products to tackle these problems.

Take its “Snow Repair Cream” as an example. Originally designed for sensitive skins, this product was heavily marketed as a solution to the “mask face”, claiming it can “quickly relieve” skin stuffiness and irritation caused by wearing a mask. Judging from the user reviews on CHANDO’s Tmall flagship store, some users bought into this marketing campaign. A user commented “I found wearing a mask incurs acne, and I chose to try this product.”

A more typical example is a CHANDO’s skincare line for men, which is marketed under the same concept.

The products include masks and moisturizers for blackheads, acne and oil control, are nothing new or special. These skin concerns are common. The products are existing solutions, but the campaign to create and meet the imminent consumer demand during the epidemic was quite timely.

Compared with skin care products, cosmetic brands have taken far more steps to generate demand, including creating a new type of makeup and matching it with a whole set of concepts, techniques and terminology.

During the epidemic outbreak, cosmetic companies have increased their marketing around what they call “mask makeup.”

Simply put, it's just more elaborate eye makeup. The first wave of beauty brands that have joined the marketing hype promoted eyeliner, eye shadow, eyebrow pencil and other eye makeup. For example, the domestic makeup brand MarieDalgar has promoted its classic mascara, "Black Fringe Riddle”, and the spring eyeshadow, “Glory Palette,” which was launched around the International Women’s Day under the “mask makeup” campaign theme.

This wave of mask-related marketing can be traced back to the end of January, which was a mere two weeks into the outbreak. When surveys showed that the concept of “mask makeup” began to attract buyers, brands swarmed to social platforms such as Weibo, WeChat, Xiaohongshu and Douyin to roll out related contents and products.

With the continuous promotion of “mask makeup”, especially when beauty bloggers and the media joined in, the definition has been constantly enriched and perfected, giving more leeway for beauty products to employ it in their marketing.

In late February, some beauty brands began to use “mask makeup” to promote foundations, concealers, and setting powders as base products that prevented makeup from rubbing off when wearing masks. “Perfect Diary,” a Chinese brand that gained its popularity through e-commerce, packaged its pre-makeup lotion, air cushion BB cream and powder products into “a perfect combo” to solve the makeup problems caused by breathing and friction from wearing a mask. The makeup sprays of international beauty brands such as MAC and Urban Decay were also mentioned on social media at this stage and were closely tied in marketing to “mask makeup.”

Most of the beauty brands that actively created new demand through marketing campaigns during the outbreak in China were domestic. In the face of sudden changes, these home-grown brands gained the upper hand with quick action, a shorter chain of command, and a local decision maker that had the final say.

Some international brands, though usually active on Chinese social media, appeared more conservative and low-key during the epidemic. When promoting products using the mask-related concepts, these brands did so with paid contents through bloggers and KOL, but rarely on their official account.

Marie Tulloch, senior client services manager at Emerging Communications noted the effectiveness of the Chinese brand response to the outbreak.  In an interview with Vogue Business, she said, “Going forward national sentiment is going to be even higher than it was pre-outbreak, so brands really have to be prepared and be particularly watchful.”

MarieDalgar, the Chinese beauty brand that promoted their mascara and eyeshadow pallet for mask-wearers, was also the first to adapt to the easing of preventive measures in China. The company rolled out new promotions for lipsticks, upon the change. When public venues were reopening and the workforce going back into offices, their marketing message was clear and straightforward: now that normalcy is about to be restored, stock up on lipsticks because you will soon need them.