Cosmoprof 2017

The 2017 Cosmoprof North America (CPNA) show was held at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas on July 9th -11th and once again delivered record-breaking exhibitor and attendee participation.

Up 9 percent from 2016, over 36,700 attendees interacted with 1,278 exhibitors representing 45 countries and were able to experience several new programs, special areas and unique opportunities to engage and attract. The show floor covered 293,306 square feet of space with an increase of 4 percent compared to the previous year.

Staying true to its mission of providing brand-building resources necessary to companies of all sizes, the B2B event delivered prospects including domestic and international business development, networking opportunities, education inspiration and insights, and a connection to social media influencers and trade/consumer media.

CPNA is the place where entrepreneurs had access to top knowledge resources like Google and FIT Capstone and research companies like Kline & Company. Coupled with insights from worldwide experts from retailers (like VIP.com/China and QVC), trend forecasting from international firms and leaders sharing business tips across the beauty spectrum, the three-day event offered endless business building tools within the 38 unique sessions.

Another distinguishing aspect of the show included the highly curated areas that were trend directional, allowing buyers to quickly get a pulse on what is up-and-coming across different categories.

Making a return were Discover Beauty, Discover Beauty Spotlights and Discover Scent for specialty retail along with Tones of Beauty for multi-cultural beauty and Discover Green for organic beauty. Unique to the show were the curated sections where key buyers participated in speed-dating meetings with selected companies; for Discover Beauty retailers this included Kohl’s and Neiman Marcus. Brand new to the show were Discover Green Leaf where organic beauty brands met with key specialty retailers and chain spas focused on organic beauty such as Pharmaca and Auberge Spas, along with Discover Beauty Pro where selected companies met with key national distributors such as ULTA and SalonCentric.

Exhibitors outside of special areas were not left without opportunities to meet with key buyers on their own. International buyers like Murale (Canada) and VIP.com (China) came as part of the International Buyer Program, which was open to all exhibitors. Specifically to aid international exhibitors, the Domestic Buyer Program included buyers from leading retailers like Amazon and key national distributors like Armstrong McCall. The exclusive TV Shopping Auditions program took place live on the show floor giving exhibitors the chance to pitch their brands to buyers from domestic channels HSN and QVC and international channels HSE (Germany), QVC (Worldwide), TV Shopping Network (Australia). Before and throughout the event, all participants also had access to the free 1to1BeautyMatchmaking.com, a portal which allows attendees to connect directly with exhibitors of interest seamlessly online.

As a result of these programs, hundreds of unique opportunities and relationships were formed. Through the various programs offered by the organizers, close to 1,000 face-to-face meetings were scheduled for exhibitors in addition to the thousands scheduled directly by exhibitors and attendees. This was a direct indication that there's no better place to discover or be discovered than at Cosmoprof North America.

Industry recognition and a chance to network with thousands of industry professionals were also highlights of the exhibition. Events like the Discover Beauty Awards, which expanded from years past to include Discover Green Leaf and Discover Beauty Pro exhibitors, was a unique chance to network and recognize the most innovative and on-trend brands. Among the winners of the Discover Beauty Awards were PRO-EVOX (Discover Beauty PRO), Glycelene (Discover Green Leaf) and Battington Lashes (Discover Beauty).

Giving back has been a huge part of the exhibition for many years and this year was no different. The highly coveted Boutique area allowed attendees the opportunity to engage and discover the latest products and curate a unique and reusable beauty box. As a result, over $18,426 was raised for the PBA Foundation (Look Good, Feel Better) - an increase of 30 percent over 2016. Glamour Me also returned to give attendees the chance to try exhibitor products first-hand while receiving beauty treatments, makeup and styling. Donations were collected on behalf of the PBA Foundation.

New for 2017, CPNA engaged in retail partnerships with Amazon and QVC as well as international shopping networks from around the world. Amazon and QVC were at the show seeking to meet with brands. Some of which were chosen to have their products featured at a “Discovered at Cosmoprof North America” section on their respective platforms. Beauty buyers for QVC were also available to meet with attendees and exhibitors at their booths.

Understanding that packaging is a huge part of a beauty brand’s success, CPNA created a well rounded program to emphasize and highlight this industry sector. This year marked the debut of a new program, Discover Pack, where innovative suppliers covering various facets of the supply chain were featured. These companies enjoyed a distinctive design and dedicated marketing along with guaranteed meetings from leading companies such as Estee Lauder Companies and Sephora. Also putting the spotlight on the production side, attendees were able to see the Fabulous Live Lipstick show, showcasing Italian Excellence from 3 key suppliers (CMI Industries, Intercos, Lumson) and walk away with freshly made lipsticks. To provide inspiration and recognize true creativity in packaging and contract manufacturing, the new Beauty Innovation and Design Awards (BIDA) was hosted during the show. Fnalists were on display and winners were announced at a ceremony where 12 prizes were given out to various companies including Estee Lauder and Sphynx. Several sold out educational sessions were also dedicated to packaging trends and analysis.

CPNA also hosted PBA Beauty Week, which included the sold-out PBA Business Forum with celebrity keynote Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson and the coveted North American Hairstyling Awards (NAHA) where winners were recognized during a star-studded awards ceremony; the Lifetime Achievement Award was given to industry icon Sam Villa.

The next Cosmoprof North America edition will be July 29-31, 2018. To continue and discover products that were part of this year’s edition be sure to follow CPNA REVIEWS series on YouTube where select exhibitor will demo their product; new videos will be published as of end of July and will be updated on an ongoing basis. Social channels Instagram (cosmprofna), Twitter (cosmproflv) and Facebook will also have ongoing updates with products that were featured at the past edition.