Base Beauty Creative Agency & Ad Age Launch Marketing Research Report: The Empathy Effect

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Jul 09, 2024, 09:00 ET

Data-rich research report proving how empathy in marketing drives business growth in the beauty, wellness, and personal care industries

NEW YORK, July 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ad Age and Base Beauty Creative Agency, a tech-enabled creative marketing & digital growth agency, launch a first-of-its-kind research report, "The Empathy Effect: Unlocking explosive growth in beauty, wellness, and personal care industries." Base Beauty and Ad Age co-sponsored the creation of this breakthrough white paper that reveals the transformative power of empathy in marketing as a catalyst for business growth.

As part of this six-month-long research project, Ad Age deployed a custom survey with Signet Research Inc. to C-suite leaders at beauty, wellness, and personal care companies. The 200+ decision-maker survey respondents shared their experiences with advancing marketing and creative initiatives, their points of view on where agency partners provide value, and what role empathetic thinking plays in this work.

The results found that 84% of respondents agreed that their internal teams are "stretched too thin to keep up with all of our business goals and priorities." And 64% agree that their marketing teams "often lack the expertise to transform these data into strategic insights" with two-thirds of respondents confirming that change occurs so frequently in the advertising ecosystem that it is difficult for our marketing team to keep up with them.

As AI is poised to transform the beauty and personal care industries, empathy is vital to bridging the gap between automation and humanity. Base Beauty integrates empathy into their marketing strategies by starting with tech-enabled quantitative analysis using data from sources like Mintel, Tagger, Brandwatch, and Muck Rack, which is especially important since the report shows that 95% of industry leaders rate "expertise in data analysis" as important when selecting or maintaining an agency.

Infusing humanity into marketing is the key to unlocking its true potential and creating meaningful connections, according to Alan Samuel Cohen, a business coach and certified emotional intelligence (EQ) assessor. "Stepping into the shoes and the lives and the experiences of the customer is so important. It's about having genuine care and concern for how your product or service makes that client's or customer's life better—it's all about empathy," said Cohen.

However, Base Beauty's method goes beyond data, blending pop culture, industry knowledge, and human emotions to create personalized strategies that build trusting client relationships. In the survey, respondents agreed that empathy is critical for the work to be successful. When asked which of eight attributes characterize their ideal agency partner, the two attributes that rose to the top were: "staff who can directly relate to the experiences of my customers" at 54% and "staff whose experiences directly align with those of myself and my team" at 51%. 59% said "caring deeply about how our customers feel when they are making purchase decisions" ranking third in critical importance.

"While many marketers intuitively understand the synergy between empathy and marketing, this concept has never been explored in such depth until partnering with Base Beauty. This research report demonstrates that empathy is essential for fostering meaningful consumer interactions," said John Dioso, Editor of Ad Age Studio 30. The findings are backed by extensive research and real-world case studies from agency clients Milani Cosmetics, Face Reality Skincare, and EltaMD, offering actionable insights for businesses seeking to integrate empathy into their marketing and customer service practices.

Key findings and an overview of the impact:

76% of the surveyed audience agreed that "Responsiveness" and "working with us as genuine partners that share our needs and concerns" were critically important factors when selecting or maintaining an agency
63% of Beauty/wellness segment respondents have the empathetic desire for agency "staff who can relate to the experiences of my customers"
When asked to describe their ideal agency, 44% of respondents agreed with the sentiment: "My ideal creative/media agency is immersed in our business and looks at our business challenges from the consumer's perspective"
When asked to pick the two types of messaging that create the deepest long-term connections to their end users, 55% of the respondents selected messaging that "demonstrates that your products/services truly understand the customer's needs"
Empathy plays a large role in meeting client needs. At the top of clients' wish lists for their agencies was that all of them are experts in their industries (44%) and doing a better job of stepping into their customer's shoes (38%).

"Empathy is a fascinating human-powered tool in our tech-enabled marketing toolbox," said Jodi Katz, CEO of Base Beauty Creative Agency. "Our data-driven creativity process is super-powered by our team's empathy and our report provides compelling evidence that empathy is not just a buzzword but a fundamental driver of business success, and builds lasting client relationships."

Driving business growth hinges on leveraging data enriched with empathy to craft communications that deeply resonate and inspire. The comprehensive analysis delves into the pivotal role of empathy in marketing strategies and how it significantly fuels growth, enhances shareholder value, establishes category leadership, and expands market share.

Download the White Paper:
"The Empathy Effect: Unlocking explosive growth in beauty, wellness, and personal care industries" is available for download on the Ad Age website HERE.

Base Beauty Creative Agency invites businesses, media, and industry professionals to explore the transformative power of empathy through this insightful analysis. Join us in embracing empathy as a cornerstone of business success. On July 17 from 12 PM to 1 PM ET, Base Beauty is hosting a virtual panel featuring industry leaders from the beauty, wellness, and personal care sectors discussing empathy's impact on business growth. Moderated by Base Beauty's CEO and Founder, Jodi Katz, including industry experts John Dioso, Editor of Ad Age Studio 30; Alan Cohen, Executive Coach and Emotional Intelligence Expert; Jerry Wu, CMO at Grande Cosmetics; and Echo Sandburg, Chief Brand Officer at CP Skin Health Group. Register to join HERE.

About Base Beauty Creative Agency:
Base Beauty Creative Agency is a tech-enabled creative marketing & digital growth agency specializing in beauty, wellness, and personal care. Founded by beauty marketing expert, Jodi Katz, BBCA offers a fully integrated, 360-degree approach to marketing. BBCA serves high-profile clients like Galderma, Colgate-Palmolive, Merz, and Wella, harnessing the power of data-driven creativity and empathy to accelerate growth across all channels. BBCA's holistic marketing structure ensures cohesive and effective performance.

About Ad Age:
Ad Age is a daily must-read for an influential audience of decision-makers and disruptors across the marketing and media landscapes. Created in 1930 to cover a burgeoning industry with objectivity, accuracy, and fairness, Ad Age continues to be powered by award-winning journalism. Today, Ad Age is a global media brand focusing on curated creativity, data and analysis, people and culture, and innovation and forecasting. From indispensable industry coverage to must-attend events and innovative platform offerings, its industry-leading offerings include the coveted A-List & Creativity Awards, the Ad Age Next Conference, and proprietary data such as the Leading National Advertisers Report from the Ad Age Datacenter.

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SOURCE Base Beauty Creative Agency