Fostering Innovation and Breakthrough Ideas
As part of its mission to foster new ideas and innovation, the Club asked five students (Léa Carouge, Bianca Guez, Caroline Lamaud, Diane Vuccino, et Philipp Zechner, supervised by their teachers Amaury de Buchet et Guy Maynart) from reputed business School ESCP Europe to conduct a study on sustainable development within the beauty industry. The students were given exclusive access to valuable materials and conducted interviews with some of the industry's experts on sustainability.
The study
ESCP Students giving a presentation on their research
The comprehensive study highlights current strategies put in place by the selective cosmetics and perfume industry to tackle the issue of sustainable development. While everyone agrees that sustainability is needed, initiatives in the field have been met with mixed success. Progress however has been made in recent years with the introduction of the ISO 14000 norm (PDF) and other standards,
Nevertheless, with the proliferation of eco-labels and a lack of transparency and traceability in the value chain, consumers are often confused on what constitutes a sustainable product. This only serves to increase claims of green washing and thus undermines the positive impact of sustainable measures undertaken by the industry.
Key take-aways
Following the students' recommendation, the Club has initiated the creation of a revised charter of key sustainable principles. The document would underline the necessity to promote the implementation and sharing of the industry's best practices as well as closer cooperation between brands, suppliers and third-party institutions to raise awareness.
A newly created working group, comprising of representatives of the industry of selective perfumery and cosmetics, has also been tasked with defining specific challenges that lie ahead. With the end-goal to provide consumers with clear and reliable information in retail outlets.
Other notable ideas include the development of interactive software to promote the industry's latest progress and initiatives in the field of sustainability, issuance of surveys and best practices guide and creation of annual BFC conferences with sector-specific workshops.
By commissioning students from top European schools - the next keynote will feature four students from Centrale Paris' Department of Industrial Engineering - the BeautyFULL Club remains true to its mission of contributing to the emergence of innovative ideas for the beauty industry.
"The opportunity offered by the BeautyFULL Club to students following the Master in European Business at ESCP Europe was unique.
Through the BFC, a team of five of them was able to meet and analyze the different categories of players in the value chain of cosmetics (suppliers, brands and retailers) on the strategic subject of sustainable development. Their mission has resulted in concrete and proactive recommendations to bring these players together and provide a strong approach to consumers.
More than just a monograph or a catalog of actions, the students were able to measure the issues and difficulties of such an approach, and test their recommendations "in vivo" during a presentation to the Club's members."
Amaury de Buchet
Affiliate Teacher ESCP Europe
Head of Company Consultancy Project for the Master in European Business
