Revlon is Exiting China While its Subsidiary Elizabeth Arden is Flourishing

The last time that we talked about international brands exiting the China market it was Forever 21 and Topshop, and this time, it’s the beauty brand Revlon. 

While many brands and consumers were celebrating the Double 11, Revlon made the announcement that it is applying for bankruptcy. The brand is excusing itself not only from the China market but also the international market. 

One of the Earliest Brands in the China Market

Revlon is one of the earliest foreign brands to enter the China market. In 1976, it opened the store in Guangzhou. Following this, in 1996, Revlon opened a company in Shanghai, becoming a pioneer international player in the Chinese beauty market. But in 2013, the brand exited China and closed most of its stores. 

In 2015, when China’s ecommerce industry was rapidly developing and many foreign brands were entering and making profits in the China market, Revlon purchased skincare brand Elizabeth Arden, aiming to expand its product categories and cover more international consumers. In September 2016, Revlon opened its Tmall Global store.

Ironically, while Revlon is suffering, Elizabeth Arden is doing great in China. In 2017, Elizabeth Arden’s online sales in China grew 50% (I remember at that time its green tea lotion was many people’s go-to choice for body lotion). With the success of this subsidiary brand, Revlon opened its Tmall store in 2019. A Tmall store is different from Tmall Global which is cross-border commerce, so this move meant it officially came back to the China market. But still, it failed to take off.

Limited SKUs and Slow Product Development

As a nearly 100-year-old beauty brand, Revlon has its star products which are its lipsticks and foundation. But this is not enough, especially in the China market. Those star products can be used for a hook to guide consumers to explore the brand, but they can’t stay there and not change forever. 

In the FMCG industry, especially the beauty industry, every 18 months to 24 months is the maximum time for brands to launch new products or update packaging. The frequency for the Chinese beauty brand Perfect Diary is less than 6 months. For example, in the eyeshadow palette category, Revlon has only one palette which Perfect Diary has up to 24 for consumers to choose from. 

Unclear Positioning

The first time Revlon left the China market, many industry voices were saying the brand didn’t position itself clearly in the market. Revlon was available offline both in shopping malls and supermarkets. These are two very different settings targeting different consumers. It makes consumers confused whether this is a middle or high-end brand. In general, most Chinese consumers came to the conclusion that Revlon is an affordable brand. 

But when it re-entered the market, Revlon increased its prices on Tmall which made consumers confused. On top of that, Revlon didn’t have offline stores anymore and this really affected consumers’ shopping experience because they couldn’t test out products before buying, which consumers generally like to do for higher price point cosmetics.

Not Enough Promotion 

For the first 17 years that Revlon was in the China market, it barely appointed any Chinese ambassadors. Though it had the Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry as its ambassador before, her dark skin is unrelatable to Chinese consumers, not to mention that most of Chinese females are pursuing white skin.

More recently, Revlon had a Chinese celebrity Liu Yuning (刘宇宁) as its ambassador. But this didn’t generate much buzz about the brand on social media. 

In Contrast, What Did Elizabeth Arden Do Right?

Compared with Revlon, Elizabeth Arden has a much stronger social media presence. It frequently works with mid-tier and top KOLs and signed hot idol Hu Yitian (胡一天) as its ambassador. In a Weibo post from the official account, Elizabeth Arden asked followers how they knew the brand, the majority of answers were saying it was because of Hu.

An interesting thing to notice is that, among celebrities that Elizabeth Arden works with, most of them are male celebrities. They cover various careers, including actors, singer, author and street dancer. This makes sure the brands’ collaborations reach different and more audience.

Other than marketing strategy, I would say the key thing for Elizabeth Arden’s success is its reputation for quality. Its moisturizing lip balms and white tea body lotion are things that I will recommend to friends and purchase again and again.

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