{"id":14636,"date":"2024-10-03T06:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-03T06:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=14636"},"modified":"2024-10-04T20:09:23","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T20:09:23","slug":"the-china-based-lipstick-brand-fusing-the-physical-and-digital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/the-china-based-lipstick-brand-fusing-the-physical-and-digital\/","title":{"rendered":"The China-based lipstick brand fusing the physical and digital"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tom Pattinson<\/strong> talks to Laurent Taisne, the Shanghai-based French cosmetics entrepreneur who is revolutionising the concept of lipstick with his physical-digital object, the YiZhiJi<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Taisne got his first taste of China in the 1990s when he visited as a backpacker, so when he was asked by L\u2019Or\u00e9al to return to China to launch the French cosmetic company\u2019s China research and development division 20 years ago, he leapt at the chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt that time, we needed to address how we looked at the booming Chinese cosmetic market, and we discovered that Chinese women challenged the way we looked at the global cosmetics industry,\u201d he says. Taisne explains that at that time, Korea and Japan were leading the industry but their routines often took over 40 minutes and might involve 10 to 15 products.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThe Chinese didn\u2019t have time for this but they also didn\u2019t want to make any compromise on the results,\u201d he says. Because of this, Taisne and his team came up with unique products \u2013 including L\u2019Or\u00e9al\u2019s now global hit BB Cream \u2013 that derived from the demands of the hard working, time poor Chinese consumers with ever higher standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taisne enjoyed his work creating new products and was increasingly tasked with working with OEM partners to aggregate the various products. Many of these partners were seeking new technologies and an idea was born: he would combine his knowledge of product development with tech development. Five years ago, he set up on what he calls his own adventure, launching the brand Totemist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first product that he has produced under the Totemist label is called the YiZhiJi \u2013 a luxury lipstick that carries personalised messages to the owner. It\u2019s the first \u2018phygital<\/a>\u2019 cosmetic product in the world, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The physical product itself is a weighty, high quality lipstick that \u201ccontains one of the most expensive formulas he ever developed,\u201d says Taisne. It has a moisturising lip treatment effect and is refillable in order to do something \u201cless bad\u201d for the environment – sustainability in a world of consumerism. Before selecting a shade, a digital colour wheel allows users to \u2018try\u2019 the colours to ensure the most suitable colour is picked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A further and more unique digital element is the existence of a personalised message that is activated whenever the lipstick is brought towards a phone. Using the near field communication (NFC) chip in the lipstick, the message is revealed in a text, video, image or audio message. <\/p>\n\n\n\n