Marketing yourself as ecological and natural will backfire if there's no meat on the bone. Manufacturers must take transparency and sustainability seriously if they want their brands to be successful in the long run. This was the broad consensus emerging from the presentations and debates at the recent natural Beauty Summit in Paris.

 

For us at NATRUE this was heartening. We exist to provide clear advice and guidelines to all those who really want to turn natural, as opposed to marketing themselves as such.

 

We are happy that the message is now coming across loud and clear, and not just from us: customers want transparency. They want companies to be honest about their efforts to go green and natural.

Contrary to what you might expect from the title 'Natural Beauty Summit', this was not a meeting of Natural Cosmetic producers.

Foremost, the event addressed producers of conventional cosmetics. They have good reasons to be interested in going natural: the natural and organic cosmetic market will continue to outgrow the conventional sector. And it's not a short-lived trend that is going to be history tomorrow.

More and more people want to know what they put on their skin and where the product comes from. They also want to know how the environment and people are treated on the way.

“The consumer is now looking for real commitments," summarised one of the speakers, Sandie Jaidane of SJ Consultancy & Training. Brand expert Michel Gutsatz was equally  clear in his message to brand owners: you need to be transparent and actions have to follow suit. Brands that listen to their customers will pay due attention to transparency and accountability.  

In his blog, Michel Gutsatz regularly provides examples of how brands manage to connect with their customers (or not). Cosmetics Design also has an article on his presentation at the summit. And the Guardian Sustainable Business reports on a recent seminar on sustainable brands with very similar discussions and conclusions.

 

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