BEHIND THE HYPE: Female 007 targets online beauty fans - Cosmetics store plans for bricks-and-mortar future

The online cosmetics retailer BeautySpy, which went live last week,

is aiming to supply medium- to high-end and hard-to-find skin care,

fragrance and make-up products to both men and women.

The company was founded last year, and plans to roll out a number of

bricks-and-mortar outlets and a mail-order catalogue following the

launch of its online shop.

Characteristics: The site has a very distinctive, feminine and

eye-catching brand, which is a bit of a rip-off of the James Bond

opening credits. It aims to make online shopping ’fun, informative and

entertaining’.

Target demographics: Cash-rich, time-poor (no change there then)

professionals, both men and women - which is very brave: how many men do

you know who’ll admit to using moisturiser, let alone buying it?

Principals: The company was founded by Aimee Laman Sutton (the

director), Amy Gordinier (the marketing manager), CC Howell (the

director of supply partnerships), Michael Ress (the director of

operations) and Lisa Leiby (the business development manager).

Backers: Backed by the Munich-based Internet Media House, a venture

capitalist that invests mainly in technology companies.

Marketing strategy: The majority of the marketing spend will go towards

the establishment of its bricks-and-mortar outlets and mail-order

catalogues, which will feature in the October edition of Vogue. A print

campaign is also in the pipeline.

Competitors: Changeslive.com, the online health and beauty retailer,

targets a similar market to BeautySpy, although its products are less

upmarket and much more mainstream.

THE YEAR AHEAD

ON THE BORDER - The eye-catching brand makes up for the rather

unimaginative business model. It’s unlikely male shoppers will be

attracted by the feminine brand and a bricks-and-mortar chain seems too

ambitious.

This article was first published on Campaign