Contents:
For more conventional industries, such as those focused on by Chandler, history was about the building of scale and scope economies through the development of mass markets. Firms that did this, also needed to develop managerial hierarchies and integrate their "value chains" of relations with suppliers and buyers. Where the right conditions prevailed, the firms that were successful first tended to survive, at least for a while until innovation weakened their head start and permitted new sets of innovators to catch up.
Beauty is different. It is not a typical manufactured product. For example, the commodity soap producers in Marseilles lost out to those who viewed soap as a differentiated product. For another example of the oddness of the industry, how do your build scale around a permanent wave hairdo, which may disappear in a short time with normal wear and washing? The focus of the industry is on selling aspirations and beauty norms and as such investment in brands and advertising become crucial. This is straightforward so far. Jones does a really good job at explaining the next phase of the industry after WWII -- how does one successfully build global scale with these sorts of products, all at a time when global norms of health and beauty are changing.
The global beauty business permeates our lives, influencing how we perceive ourselves and what it is to be beautiful. The brands and firms which have shaped . The global beauty business permeates our lives, influencing how we perceive ourselves and what it is to be beautiful. The brands and firms.
The industry was first the center of a long series of diversifying acquisitions - which mostly failed. Then the big players started to realize how to systematically link brands and megabrands together to be successful. This involves research, branding, flexibility, and an adaptability to changing world market conditions.
The second half of the book is the story of an entire industry figuring out what it want to be when it grows up and then sorting out how to do it.
I guess that it understandable - since we don't really know how current strategies will ultimately turn out -- a chapter too far I guess. That is all minor, however. This type of history runs the risk of being either an industry or company hagiography on the one hand or a critical diatribe on the other. Jones' book balances his stories nicely, avoids excessive excess, and is the better for doing so. In a genre that is sometimes a bit boring, this was an interesting book View 1 comment. Jul 05, Mallory rated it liked it.
I first want to say that this author has excellent credentials and has absolutely done his research. This is an excellent corporate history of the industry. That said, this is one of the most boring books I've read in several years. It really is a shame because the subject is so interesting, but the way the author presented information is really terrible.
It also includes some of the health industry, fragrance industry, etc. Apr 17, Valia rated it it was amazing Shelves: history , ebook. May 27, Rosa rated it liked it Shelves: books-read , history , gender. I found parts of this book interesting and enlightening, particularly in the first section. Ultimately though I was bored by long sections detailing the evolution of specific corporations and disappointed by the author's naive optimism regarding the social function of the beauty industry.
It's more a recounting of historical events than any kind of in-depth or insightful analysis, and a corporate rather than social history at that. May 13, Brianna rated it it was amazing. A current and in-depth look at the beauty industry from it's foundations to today. This book offers groundbreaking looks into the advertising and business methods that built modern beauty. It is a much of a reference as a great historical read.
This book was my bible in writing my thesis about organic beauty. A learned and informative book with a focus informed by a social Scientific and historical approach, employing the language of economics and displaying an understanding of cooperative megabusiness.
I enjoyed getting the stories and history of the beauty industry's brand building. OSO version 0.
This specific ISBN edition is currently not available. More Money Than God. All rights reserved. This book's incisive analysis of how the industry grew, and its current challenges and dynamics, makes it essential reading for people working in beauty today, as well as millions who delight in using our brands each day. New York: Routledge,
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Search my Subject Specializations: Select Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content. Beauty Imagined: A History of the Global Beauty Industry Geoffrey Jones Abstract The global beauty business permeates our lives, influencing how we perceive ourselves and what it is to be beautiful. More The global beauty business permeates our lives, influencing how we perceive ourselves and what it is to be beautiful.
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