Comparing industries in business is a lot like comparing apples and oranges. But while this is often used to show how different they are, there are still plenty of similarities. Both apples and oranges are one of your five a day, they can both be used in a fruit salad, they both need no preparation before eating, and can both be turned into breakfast juice. Turning this theory towards business, is it possible to take transferable success stories from one industry and implement it to another, no matter how far removed each seems? For instance, what could the beauty industry learn from the casino industry?
Appearances Matter
The beauty industry doesn’t just purport to make your face look good. It’s also important that the website you buy your products from reflects this. Customers make purchases based on how well the brand aligns with their values and the intrinsic benefits they expect to gain from the products.
Beauty sites such as Clinique, Rimmel, and Lancome, for instance, are clean and polished, indicating to customers that they will feel as clean and polished if they use the products. Other brands such as Max Factor and Maybelline choose a black design with video to showcase the feel of wearing their products – with inspiration taken from a lifestyle in a big city.
Similarly, casino brands understand what might make their customers feel inclined to click through and choose a site. Some opt for jovial and lighthearted branding which reflects many of the casual and humor-laden games, especially the online slots. Other sites go for the sleek and polished approach to reflect the suaveness that is associated with a casino.
The Art of the Deal
The online casino industry is one famous for offering its customers an incentive to join a site. There are many kinds of casino promotions such as free spins offered at Royal Panda for new customers. The spins are relevant to a specific and popular slot game, Book of Dead. Other offers on the site relate to ongoing celebrations – the site’s seventh birthday. This helps create a community around the site and is an act of goodwill to the customer who could benefit.
The beauty industry is similarly fiercely competitive. There are many offers – especially at high gifting times – to try to pry customers away from rivals and help people discover new make-up and beauty brands. One of the most striking of these promotions is the free makeover. When making a purchase of a large number of products, sometimes the make-up concessions will gift you a free makeover. Alternatively, the bonus of having a makeover often brings with it a selection of goodies.
Larger stores often give away free trial samples of various products – especially perfumes. Magazines also feature single-use products to try to gain new customers. By being able to try the product for free, the customer is giving a no-obligation way to see if they would prefer to switch allegiance to another brand. The goodwill on offer helps sway them, which shares similarities with the online casino industry.
The beauty industry and casino industry may seem wildly different on paper, but in reality, they share many similarities. Both have a wide range of customers and a healthy set of rivals. Both understand the importance of star products and harnessing the appearance of the site. Both entice customers with deals and offers and then attempt to locate the customer where they are most likely to be. While their end goals are different, the tactics used in both the beauty and casino industries can be shared and can lead to success for both.
