NEW YORK—Discovering the latest beauty and personal care trends and product innovations was top of mind for the 16,479 beauty industry professionals at this year’s 18th Annual HBA Global Expo & Conference. The largest product development event and educational forum for the cosmetics, personal care, skin care and fragrance industry took place Sept. 28 to 30 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York.
In addition, attendees were highly motivated, with more than 60 percent planning to purchase products or services they saw on the HBA exhibit floor within the next six months. More statistics on the HBA audience include:
35 percent were part of a buying team and more than 25 percent do not attend any other industry event, giving HBA Global an exclusive and high-profile audience;
The show attracted more brand managers and marketing executives than last year;
The top two reasons people attended HBA were to see new products and developments and to keep up on industry trends;
Color cosmetics, natural ingredients, primary packaging and skin care were of high interest to HBA attendees.
With all the leading players participating in HBA Global as another main draw of the event, exhibitors were pleased with the quality and quantity of attendees. In fact, more than 80 percent had generated new business leads due to their participation.
“HBA Expo is ‘the’ show of the year for the Health and Beauty Industry. We made new business contacts and were very appreciative of the support given to us," said Anna DeVincentis, project manager, of LF of America.
“Best show ever! Got a lot of traffic and good contacts," added Carole Tobin, executive vice president, Nutra3 Complex.
Attendees also found this year’s HBA Global Expo informative and beneficial to building their brands and new business. “As a long-time HBA attendee, the show has been great this year. Being a direct decision maker, I can meet with vendors directly to talk about my specific needs," said Lisa Francoise Schafer, owner, Sweet Beauty.
HBA Global is also known as the hub of learning in the beauty industry and the conference program was on target with the content and speakers presented. Sessions on how to reach all types of consumers were popular as well as branding and trends presentations. On the technical side, sessions about new formulations and anti-aging attracted interested delegates as well as the Green programming and new Global Perspectives Conference. With social media gaining more importance as a key marketing strategy the “Social Media: Marketing for the 21st Century" and “Meet the Beauty Bloggers" panels were also well attended.
Another noticeable difference at this year’s HBA Global was how dynamic and interactive the show floor was with more than 150 new exhibitors, international pavilions and the new Trend Spot featuring hands-on make-up demonstrations and beauty forecasts.
“As the event for trend-spotting, this year’s HBA Global didn’t disappoint. From one hall of the Javits Center to the next, beauty and personal care innovations were being displayed, discussed and demonstrated to the leading manufacturers of cosmetics, personal care, skin care and fragrant products, including specific trends presentations and new hands-on sampling and make-up application techniques. These show floor activities made HBA not just a great business networking opportunity, but also a place to have some fun and learn something new, " said Jill Birkett, brand director, Beauty & Wellness, UBM.
Next year, HBA Global Expo & Conference moves to summer dates with the event taking place June 28 to 30, 2011 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York. In addition, HBA plans to host a virtual trade show, educational webinars and other activities for the beauty and personal care industry throughout the year.