The Barometer will allow users to sort through data sets across different categories, including make-up, set against regional and demographic filters of their choice.
Through a dedicated website, data collected from 150,000 consumers across 46 countries covers a variety of topics ranging from the number of connected devices per person to how these devices are used, including online viewing and purchasing habits.
Cosmetic companies will be able to access that information in the form of data and graphs for download, including charts compiled by Google and custom graphs that can be created in a few easy steps.
According to Peter Cory, agency sales director at Google; “People now use digital media for a huge array of purposes but it isn’t always easy to tell what channels and activities are the most effective, particularly if you’re dealing with multiple markets and products.”
“Our Barometer captures a vast array of new consumer research and enables anyone to easily explore how consumers are behaving in this brave new digital world,” he adds.
Digital driving business
To date, the tool has indicated that in the majority of countries, well over half of consumers conduct research online before making an offline purchase.
Among the key findings presented on the site, Google reveals that the country with the highest rate of smartphone usage is Singapore (85%), followed by China (70%) and Britain (68%).
Social media usage is highest in Turkey, where 92% of those surveyed reported using these services.
Google's involvement with the cosmetics industry to date...
Launched last summer, Google+ hangouts has fast been gathering momentum as an online platform for showcasing beauty brands and their products; but how does it work and what’s the value? Cosmetics Design investigated.
Dove, Clinque and Lush are three big name brands who have all been leveraging the platform lately, which allows live video content to be streamed across the web.
It seems its value for brands is threefold: it allows a valuable element of interaction between a brand and its consumers; allows better control of online content surrounding products; and finally, translates into strong digital advertising.
The rise of hangouts confirms the recent assertion from Lush’s MD of digital, Jack Constantine, that the industry is now “learning about the best ways to maximise digital tools, to really create tactile environments for customers, and for users to be able to feel like it’s actually something more tangible and a bit more real.”
Lush produced a hangout on the launch of their new digital ‘Kitchen’ website, which enabled consumers to view the product creation process, and participate live with comment and questions.
Speaking recently to Cosmetics Design, Constantine was keen to press the importance of interacting with consumers in the digital age.
“We’re now in an environment where it’s about community, it’s about sharing, it’s about interacting with the products, and being able to have that reactive mentality,” he observed; hangouts facilitate this type of live communication.