Fashion
Shiseido looks to increase teen beauty sales with the launch of its open innovation project, Posme Me.
Posme will consist of a variety of cosmetic and non-cosmetic products and services, which are collectively created by high school girls.
According to the Japanese cosmetics giant, high school girls are becoming a major source of a new pop culture, following the “Millennials movement in Japan.”
For the project, Shiseido has gathered an array of high school students and formed a team called Posme ＆ Co. The team currently consists of 40 members who live mainly in Tokyo.
The influencer-group have been partnered with several companies to develop beauty products and services, as well as items beyond cosmetics, to fall under a new Posme brand, targeted at their peers.
New products will include items favoured by high school girls such as sweets, stationery and fashionable accessories.
The first product to launch will be a multi-use colour item, Play Colour Chip. It can be used in a variety of ways; be it, an eye colour or blush.
“This product was developed through communication with more than 150 high school girls and will be sold in a set of six disposable chips of the same colour,” explained Shiseido in a press statement.
“Play Colour Chip marks a change in cosmetics, transforming an item to be used individually into something that can be ‘shared or swapped’, creating a new form of enjoyment. The new chips offer more freedom in makeup, allowing users to coordinate colours with friends, try a new colour more easily, or enjoy a special colour for a special occasion.”
A recent survey conducted by Shiseido revealed that 93% of female school girls perceived the novelty of the items because they can be swapped with friends, are easy to carry around, are good for a gift, and are perfect to try a new colour.
Going forward, Shiseido plans to gather hundreds of Posme members throughout Japan with more products expecting to be released.
The company is also launching a new shop, Posme Lab Shibuya, on 26 January, which will serve as a communication space for Posme members.
The teen beauty initiative is the first project to form part of Shiseido’s Innovation Design Lab, a division first established by the company in January 2017.
The Innovation Design Lab comes under Shiseido’s ‘Vision 2020’, and aims to “foster innovation”, a major goal of the firm’s mid-to long-term strategy.
