• by Larissa Faw , November 11, 2019

Ad-spending growth in the global beauty category will rise 2.7% this year to $14.4 billion, according to a new Zenith forecast that focuses on the beauty sector.

In 2021, beauty ad spend will rise 4.7% to $15.8 billion.

The report notes that there has been a shift in beauty spending in recent years as magazines and television — traditionally favored by brands — have lost audiences to the internet.

In 2018, internet advertising overtook television to become the largest advertising medium for the beauty category, and double-digit growth is expected through 2021, when digital will account for 50% of all beauty ad spend.

This hike is attributed to the growing availability of high-quality environments online, and in particular the rise of e-commerce advertising, reports Zenith.

Television’s share of the global ad spend market fell to 40% in 2018, while accounting for 31% of ad spend across all categories. Its share is forecast to fall to 35% by 2021.

Magazines commanded 21% of beauty ad spend in 2014, but fell to 13% in 2018 -- although that’s still high compared to their 4% share across all categories. By 2021, magazines will account for 8% of beauty ad spend versus 3% for the market as a whole.

Brands can benefit from using newspapers to publicize promotions during key periods of consumer spending, such as Father’s Day, Mother’s Day and holidays, but overall, newspapers account for a tiny 0.3% of beauty ad spend.

Radio, out-of-home and cinema are not key channels for beauty advertisers, and ad spend is small and volatile, the Zenith rundown concludes.

“The advertising landscape for beauty marketers is changing, enabling brands to build more personal and direct relationships with loyal consumers,” says Lauren Hanrahan, CEO of Zenith USA, Moxie and MRY. “Beauty brands are investing more in native content partnerships, video and newer search categories like voice search and e-commerce marketplaces.”

China is the leading market for beauty ad spend at $6.2 billion in 2019 and will grow to $6.9 billion by 2021. U.S. spending was $2.6 billion in 2019, although Zenith — noting the U.S.'s potential for e-commerce growth over the next few years — believes the U.S. will narrow the gap with China. 

India has the least mature market — accounting for 0.3% of GDP, less than half the global average of 0.7% — and is therefore developing more quickly, lifting beauty ad spend rapidly along with other categories.