HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO LAUNCH A NEW BEAUTY PRODUCT?

For any new beauty brand, one of the first challenges they will come up against is trying to plan a firm launch date for their new product range.

So what sort of timings should you plan for when developing a new beauty product launch??

For years brands, suppliers and retailers have been quoted as saying it takes at least two years to develop beauty products. On the other hand, there are fast beauty brand who have launched in just a matter of months.

So, who is right? The answer is both - it depends on what you need and when you need it.

If you are looking at a major launch within a big corporate operation it could take two years or even more. There are often months of consumer research, concept ideation & testing, many stakeholders to engage and numerous boards to present to. This process alone can take a year, and you haven’t even started to develop the products.

Timing will also be dictated by the type of product you want to develop. If you are working on the next breakthrough in clinically proven anti-ageing you can go through months or even years of creating formulas, testing these and not achieving the results you need to. Or, if you want to develop a monograph product (a US registered drug such as SPF) there is a minimum testing requirement that can put development lead times up to 18 months!

The issue with taking two years is that you are missing out on trends and ingredients that are created, realised and done before the year is out. So how do you do it quicker?

The answer could be that the manufacturers have done the leg work for you. They have their own laboratories and scientists whose sole role it is to create the next generation beauty products - they are looking at the same trends as you and fantasising over the possibilities with the newest ingredients. If these ready to go / off-the-shelf products tick the boxes of your brief, then go for it! Don’t feel the need to tinker with something they have spent months crafting and perfecting.  

The other way to improve your speed to launch is to work with one of these ready to go products but tweak (with something that is essential to your brand or consumer of course). This might be a shade of lipstick inspired by the catwalk or an ingredient that has to be present in all of your brand’s products. By working with formulations that are already developed and tested you not only reduce your development time but also your risk.

In summary, yes you can develop a product in a few months, or it can take 2 years. It all depends on whether your product simply needs to hit a current trend, and you can source a great ready-to-go product from a manufacturer, or whether you want to develop something truly innovative in the market. 

THE BEAUTY BRAND COACH

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO LAUNCH A NEW BEAUTY PRODUCT?

For years brands, suppliers and retailers have been quoted as saying it takes at least two years to develop beauty products. On the other hand, there are fast beauty brand who have launched in just a matter of months.

So, who is right? The answer is both - it depends on what you need and when you need it.

If you are looking at a major launch within a big corporate operation it could take two years or even more. There are often months of consumer research, concept ideation & testing, many stakeholders to engage and numerous boards to present to. This process alone can take a year, and you haven’t even started to develop the products.

Timing will also be dictated by the type of product you want to develop. If you are working on the next breakthrough in clinically proven anti-ageing you can go through months or even years of creating formulas, testing these and not achieving the results you need to. Or, if you want to develop a monograph product (a US registered drug such as SPF) there is a minimum testing requirement that can put development lead times up to 18 months!

The issue with taking two years is that you are missing out on trends and ingredients that are created, realised and done before the year is out. So how do you do it quicker?

The answer could be that the manufacturers have done the leg work for you. They have their own laboratories and scientists whose sole role it is to create the next generation beauty products - they are looking at the same trends as you and fantasising over the possibilities with the newest ingredients.

If these ready to go products tick the boxes of your brief, then go for it! Don’t feel the need to tinker with something they have spent months finessing.  

The other way to improve your speed to launch is to work with one of these ready to go products but tweak (with something that is essential to your brand or consumer of course). This might be a shade of lipstick inspired by the catwalk or an ingredient that has to be present in all of your brand’s products. By working with formulations that are already developed and tested you not only reduce your development time but also your risk.

In summary, yes you can develop a product in a few months, or it can take 2 years. It all depends on your needs. 

THE BEAUTY BRAND COACH