Accademia del profumo

Increasingly central in promoting Cosmoprof, and Bologna as a fringe beauty event, the 23rd Accademia del Profumo award invents new ways of involving consumers and becomes a... Live competition.

Operating from a mobile studio set up in the center of Bologna, Radio International is to follow the proclamation of the winners of the 23rd Accademia del Profumo award, while video clips on the world of beauty and the advertisements of the perfumes participating in the competition will be projected onto the facade of the Palazzo dei Notai. The gala evening will also be broadcast “live” in streaming on the Accademia website and on the screens of Bologna Welcome, at the culmination of a fair-event - Cosmoprof 2012 - which aims at engaging the public with ever new initiatives. These include the installation in the city and in the fair of the gigantic figures that emanate perfumed fragrances, accompanied by touchscreens from which to choose the perfume of the year.

For three years indeed, consumers have been able to vote for their favourite products in more than 400 perfume shops, in the Coin and La Rinascente stores, and now - another important change - also via Facebook. They are backed up by a technical jury that evaluates the olfactory creations, the Italian perfumes and brands, the niche products, and by a VIP jury that votes on packaging, press communiqués and video adverts.
 
A tenacious sector.  All this support for the sector is motivated by the national importance of the beauty industry - an industry that, despite the general decline in consumer spending, continues to grow, albeit slightly. According to the Study Centre of Unipro (the beauty sector association and Confindustria member) in fact, the sector closed 2011 with a turnover of 9,300 million euros (+1%), while the dynamics of the sales channels reflects the cautionary approach adopted by consumers, showing how once again in 2012 the market will be aboveall sustained by exports.

Among the various channels, herbalist shops put in the best showing, that in the second half of 2011 increased by 4.5% and, according to Unipro interim end-of-year figures, in the first half of 2012 should put in a further +4%. Pharmacies also put in a good showing (+2.5% in 2011 and +2.8% in 2012). Largescale retail distribution is seen to be substantially stable (+1.1% at the end of 2011, +1.5% halfway through 2012), while the efforts of the companies were not enough to support all the professional channels where, at the end of 2011, the beauty salons at any rate showed a growth of 1.3%, coiffeurs and hairdressers declaring a drop in custom (-1.3%) and perfumeries showing a stable trend (+1.2% at the end of 2011, +1.5% forecast for 2012), mainly thanks to the results of the chain stores, while some traditional salespoints are showing a sharp drop.

Positive signals are however coming from the subcontractors that, in late 2011 with a growth of +4%, show hope for a revival of the sector in the mid term. Lastly, the turnover of enterprises for the current year is seen to be up 6%, exports, in excess of 2,850 million euros (+20%), playing a leading role, signaling a record surplus in the balance of trade standing at around 1,100 millions.

Back on track with Cosmoprof
The show refuses to bow to the crisis and is “warming up its engines” for the 45th edition. Cosmoprof (by SoGeCos) turns the spotlights on the beauty industry: From the coming 9th to 12th March the Bologna exhibition center will host the coolest new features for Italian and international buyers. Aureliana De Sanctis (SoGeCos CEO) confirms the nature of Cosmoprof as the number one global platform «both for the brands and companies taking part, as well as for the buyers who come to Bologna from all around the world, to get to know the new products of the most important beauty firms and maisons, to discover new names and current trends in the world of beauty».
The launch of the latest new features on show via social networks and the live channel, the activity of scouting to bring to Bologna the emerging realities from the field of hairdressing, the ExtraordinaryGallery By COSMOFF Lab, the exclusive networking, the prizes for the best beauty products, the Country Pavilions, the attention to the biological…. These are just some of the many events thought up by the show organizers to charge the public with new energy and stimuli: quality proposals that celebrate happiness, affluence, wellbeing and optimism.

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