The Lipstick Effect Is Fading—Here’s How Beauty Brands Can Stay Recession-Proof.

→ Download the Case for Creative Report to see how beauty brands are optimizing for digital success.

Creative Quality Score: Measures an ad’s digital suitability, indicating whether it meets platform-validated creative best practices for its intended placement.

State of Play

The beauty industry is on track to reach a $716 billion valuation by 2025, growing to $784.6 billion by 2027. But while 2023 global beauty retail sales rose 10% YoY to $446 billion, this was driven primarily by price hikes, with only 2% volume growth. This slowdown in consumer demand runs in opposition to the “lipstick effect” theory, which hypothesizes that consumers will continue to buy small indulgences, i.e., beauty products, even in the face of economic uncertainty.

Why Now?

When consumers do make purchases, their decisions are increasingly shaped by content creators and digital personalities. [78% of Millennials and Gen Z](https://nielseniq.com/global/en/insights/analysis/2024/u-s-gen-z-market/#:~:text=Further%2C according to NIQ's Consumer,for both brands and retailers.) follow influencers on social media to discover new brands, and health and beauty products now account for 81% of TikTok’s dollar sales, according to NielsenIQ.

The Opportunity

Despite the shift to digital, beauty brands are underperforming in creative execution. The average Creative Quality Score is 74%, with only 31% of ad spend going toward fully optimized creative.

Yet the data proves that creative quality matters; every 10 pp increase in CQS led to a 5.3% reduction in CPCV for beauty brands.

Who’s Already Tracking CQS?

177 beauty brands are already tracking and improving their CQS, recognizing that creative quality is essential to digital marketing success.

Former Director of Trends and Foresights, North America Consumer Insights for the Esteé Lauder Companies, Yasmine Laasraoui, described the importance of CQS for her teams. “It ensures you’re optimizing the assets you’ve created for their intended platform” and without that optimization, assest aren’t set up for success.

→ Download the Case for Creative Report to see how beauty brands are optimizing for digital success.