We all know the world will be a different place post lockdown. The new normal and all that.
In the beauty world the landscape will have changed dramatically. When I started in beauty (back when we faxed, bleeped and wrote in paper diaries) a beauty editor’s job was as much about attending events as it was about writing copy or creatively directing shoots. There were also endless trips, which were gloriously decadent. LA, New York, private planes, Valentino’s yacht, Armani’s villa. It was as much about keeping the advertisers happy as it was the readers.
But how much return were the advertisers getting on their spend? And from our point of view, how much did this time spent downing champagne and canapés improve on the magazine the readers were getting?
Now I think every event will be considered much more carefully. What is the return on investment? Is a face-to-face, press-the-flesh meeting necessary?
I recognise that for you, PRs, it’s going to be even harder to get people to events. But how do you get the hacks attention if you are not locking them in a room with a powerpoint?
I’m not sure Zoom events are the answer. The brutal truth is there’s not much in it for the journalists. I think it will be about offering experiences. What can they write about? Who can they interview? What new places they can discover? What treatments can they try out? Perhaps the money you would have splashed on the venue, flowers and gifts should be redirected into getting journalists to the spa/salon or clinic?
Because the truth is, we need to try it before we convince other people to buy it.
