In the beauty industry, it is no longer enough to put a new product in front of consumers and explain what it does. Consumers want to try it, talk about it, get advice, learn something new and find a reason to give the brand their time. That is precisely the shift tracked by Beauty++, a new multidisciplinary research initiative developed by Dentsu Italy and Merkle Italy.
The research covers 48 brands across eight categories and combines strategic observation, consumer interviews, sentiment analysis, behavioural and mobility data, and analysis of the activations themselves. The aim was not only to determine what brands were doing during a single event, but how they build contact with audiences before it begins, while it is taking place and after the physical activation has ended.
Milano Beauty Week, which took place across Milan for the fifth time from 16 to 20 September, served as the lens for the analysis. This year’s edition attracted more than 360,000 visitors through more than 500 free events and activities involving over 50 brands. What might once have fit within the framework of a trade fair or beauty event now includes masterclasses, education, consultations, experiential spaces, content, community activities and direct sales.
The beauty category is expanding its own boundaries
The change is already visible in who now belongs to the beauty ecosystem. Three of the eight categories tracked by Beauty++ are new additions to the research and together account for 35 percent of the brands analysed. Beauty is increasingly overlapping with pharmacy, supplements, wellness and lifestyle, changing what audiences expect from brands as well.
At the same time, this is a market that continues to grow in Italy. According to Cosmetica Italia data included in the report, the value of the Italian beauty market is expected to reach €13.1 billion in 2026.
For Sara Mazzini, Chief Strategy Officer, Media at Dentsu Italy, beauty is one of the categories from which other sectors can also learn how to build relationships with audiences.
“Beauty is one of the most advanced categories today when it comes to innovation and creating meaningful consumer connections. As such, it offers valuable lessons for other highly competitive, emotionally driven sectors. Looking at platforms such as Milano Beauty Week, which bring people together around shared interests and experiences, we can see how the most innovative brands are combining live experiences and media amplification to strengthen their cultural relevance. The challenge is no longer simply to reach people, but to earn a place in the conversations, interests and everyday lives that matter to them.”
Nine touchpoints instead of a single activation
During Milano Beauty Week, the brands analysed used an average of nine different consumer touchpoints. Sampling, product trials and beauty consultations were among the most common formats, showing how important first-hand experience has become in building awareness, product consideration and brand affinity.
But not every contact had the same objective. A total of 63 percent of activities were commerce-oriented, while 37 percent were linked to cultural engagement. That split shows that experience no longer stands in opposition to sales. Brands are trying to do both: enable conversion while also creating something audiences want to remember, share or talk about.
That is also changing the role of the event itself. Milano Beauty Week is increasingly moving away from being five days set apart from the annual marketing calendar and becoming a platform around which physical experiences, content, media presence and community come together.
Curiosity brings people in, experience changes the relationship with the brand
The most common reason for attending was neither a discount nor a familiar name. As many as 64 percent of respondents cited curiosity as their main motivation. A third of visitors, 33 percent, learned about Milano Beauty Week through word of mouth.
This is where the value of an experience that outlives the activation itself becomes visible. When people talk about something enough to bring other people to it, the event stops being merely a media or sales channel.
After taking part in activations, 78 percent of respondents said their opinion of the brand had remained positive or improved. Overall satisfaction with Milano Beauty Week stood at 72 percent.
Beauty++ therefore does not view the beauty industry only as a category in which products and trends are changing. The shift is happening in the way a brand enters consumers’ lives. The product remains important, but an entire system of experiences, information, recommendations, community and purchasing is now being built around it. The boundary between marketing, culture and commerce is becoming increasingly thin, and it is precisely along that boundary that beauty is currently experimenting most rapidly.
