The written report will be produced by yourself, on behalf of your consultancy firm, and will be presented to a group of senior managers of an organisation. The report seeks to highlight to the organisation the benefits of using Image Analysis and why they should employ you as consultants to perform this examination of a specific controversy or area of concern. Your analysis will draw on specific images that enables you to describe the issues and provide a critical reflection of the case. While the audience has an understanding of their own organisation, they are less accustomed to Image Analysis and the conceptual framework you are developing. Therefore, you need to begin by explaining the ideas underlying Image Analysis and how this could help to provide alternative insights into the process of organisational and technological change, development and transformation. In addition to providing an overview of the conceptual ideas you need to examine them in relation to your specific case and provide a critical examination of the different issues relating to the controversy.
You will be expected to focus on the following elements within your report, with a view to concluding with a series of questions, reflections or discussion points based on your discussion and analysis of the case and conceptual framework:
Show how Image Analysis can be used to analyse your specific case study. This will include examining how the ideas, approaches and strategies adopted by key individuals, groups or institutions may be understood in relation to different images. What are the beliefs, assumptions and logics underlying these images, approaches and/or practices promoted by particular groups and individuals and how could you view their critique of previous practice or other approaches in terms of these images?
By drawing on other images or approaches to understanding this case, you will also be able to provide a critical reflection on the ways in which certain assumptions, problems and controversies have emerged and the issues connected to certain approaches. As managers need to become skilled at reading organizations and management practice from a variety of perspectives, you need to show how you have developed different insights through your images analysis of the case.
Executive Summary
Images are taking over various social media platforms. Whether it is an artsy photo, meme, link to an article or selfie. Research has proved that social feeds are increasingly filled with less text and more images (Tharakan, Michael, Babu & Pius, 2019, pp.11). Moreover, images are more engaging, impactful, memorable and more likely to be shared and reshared. Image analysis refers to the aptitude of the computers to recognize attributes in an image. Image analysis is crucial and helps different companies, especially cosmetic companies in their everyday operations. Through IA, companies that sell beauty products use social media to analyze how people are talking about their brand. Furthermore, IA enhances sentiment analysis. Thus, cosmetic companies track how consumers feel about their products or brands. Besides, moments of consumption can be identified using IA. Every company wants to know when, where and how individuals are using their skincare products. Additionally, the cosmetic industry’s main controversy has been on the ingredients used in the manufacture of the products. Many consumers are concerned about the effectiveness of the skincare products and worried about any harmful effects that may be caused by the products. However, cosmetic companies have embraced IA analysis in dealing with such issues.
Introduction
A company’s image plays a significant role in its success. This paper will examine how cosmetic companies enhance their operations and marketing through image analysis. The majority of the cosmetic companies have often been considered counterfeit, hence influencing the consumers’ purchase of skincare products. Thus, this paper examines how cosmetic companies can improve on their ingredients through image analysis. In recent times, the developing reputation of images in consumer communication and social media has widened a gap in marketers’ aptitude to analyze consumer preference and feeling. However, the widening gap has finally been reduced, which provides digital platforms with the skill of sight, allowing the marketers to monitor customer chatter and massive volumes of visual intellect that was mainly hidden from the analytical radar. Image analysis is still in its early phases, with execution appearing more like social media monitoring. Nonetheless, gradually but surely, corporates add images and visual data into every of their business data. In essence, image analysis provides a new look into a company’s consumers, especially companies that sell beauty products and their position in the market.
Image analysis mentions the company’s brand; hence a cosmetic company gains the aptitude to see consumers using their skincare products. Moreover, the insight acquired from image analysis mentions crucial aspects that a company would have otherwise missed with out-dated text searches. These insights are essential since they help a company understand how their products fit into the lives of the customers (Madleňáková, Turská& Madleňák, 2019 pp.189). With image analysis, researchers can understand different skincare products and other beauty products that are commonly related to a brand or a product. Besides, the author of a social media post may not always be the customer or user a company targets. Image analysis provides companies with crucial information they otherwise would not know. When people show a company’s products in a photo, they can develop a complete and honest picture of their consumers. A photograph allows a company to dive into a more authentic view of their consumers and their relationship with their products and brands, particularly their buying experience.
Ideas Underlying Image Analysis
Through image analysis, organizations can track how people feel about their brand and products and particularly the ingredients used in manufacturing the skincare products. In the 21st Century, most organizations use image analysis to enhance sentiment analysis (Yager et al., 2019, pp. 35). If the consumers are not happy with the product, the company establishes ways to improve the product. On the other hand, when the consumers are satisfied with the products or services, the company ensures that they maintain the same image throughout. In a company that sells beauty products, the value of consumer sentiment is a well-developed part of social analytics; hence image analysis should essentially be an easy sell. Generally, understanding of consumer reviews provides crucial insights on how to establish a brand strategy. Besides, unspoken beliefs and ideas about a business can be incorporated effectively using image analysis. Individuals visually share their interactions with beauty products through the pictures they post on Facebook, Pin interest, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms. The text accompanying the images frequently has no mention of the product or brand. Instead, valuable information is part of the image itself, invisible to conventional consumer research technology.
Image analysis helps beauty companies to listen to social media chatter visually. Companies that sell beauty products use images of their products to convey their message on social media platforms. Furthermore, a company has access to every spoken and unspoken opinion expressed by the consumers of beauty products or services. For instance, any time a consumer posts a picture of one of the beauty products accompanied by positive or negative sentiment, a company will know about it even if the consumer does not mention its name or brand.
Conceptual ideas on Image Analysis in the Cosmetic Industry
Consumers perceive the beauty industry in different ways. Gaining customer trust and loyalty is a significant concern for any industry, but especially the cosmetics industry. Cosmetics manufacturers and the user are perfectly entwined with the infirmity of the human condition. From this perspective, the cosmetics companies’ history is littered with illustrations of harmless “hope in a jar” at best and poisonous mixtures at worst (Andrelova & Psurny, 2020, pp. 368). Due to this, cosmetic companies have often perceived with some uncertainty. For decades, the negative perception of the cosmetic industry has significantly increased. In recent years, the cosmetic industry has come under fire from environmental establishments, who have successfully played on customer fears, depicting conventional cosmetics and personal care products as dirty, contaminated with poisons, endocrine disruptors, and carcinogens. In light of these problems, consumers continue to perceive the cosmetic industry differently.
The questions frequently asked by the consumers often revolve around the effectiveness of a product. The customers want to know whether the product works as claimed (Andrelova & Psurny, 2020, pp.368). Moreover, during seminars, the consumers come with their skincare products to request a review of the ingredient list to ascertain whether the product is non-toxic. During the workshops, the audience members are concerned about the fads and myths that have generally spread through social media and are curious to know whether such things are correct. Furthermore, consumers also ask for product recommendations for specific skincare issues and their products to benefit. There is also a significant deal of confusion over the competing and at times conflicting claims made by cosmetic corporations, the medical community, scientific and environmental groups. Regrettably, there is the view that the majority of the doctors and scientists are not reliable as they may be financially obliged to industry interests or are looking for gains somehow from the public.
Beliefs, Assumptions and Logics
When marketing the skincare products, the out-dated approach assumes that the customer knows little concerning what is essential in personal care products. Image analysis should be part of the company’s marketing strategy. It is an integral part of any marketing strategy as a result of the huge number of images posted online on a daily basis. Marketers tend to skip any clarification of how a skincare product works and instead blanket the customer with effusive claims regarding what the product can do (Martins et al., 2020 pp. 35). Thus, this leaves an information gap that can be quickly filled by whatever deception may be present on the internet. Through image analysis, cosmetic companies can regain customer trust by being more transparent about how products are manufactured. Cosmetic companies can accomplish this through consumer outreach, including educational programs that educate the science behind cosmetics, how specific ingredients function, and why they are used in manufacturing the product. Irrespective of the taken approach, cosmetic companies should fill the information gap with information and facts concerning their products, instead of allowing other voices to fill the void and influence public perception.
An increasing trend of the use of natural ingredients in cosmetic products is observed among different manufacturers through image analysis. The trend accommodates the ever-increasing demand for natural or organic skin care products among consumers. The use of herbal skin care products reduces the likelihood of any possible side effects of the product (Martins et al., 2020 pp. 35). Therefore, this finally upsurges the usage of cosmetics among people. Currently, cosmetic companies are focusing on making new products and inventing various ingredients in cosmetic products. To sustain and uphold their market position, cosmetic industries have embraced the use of image analysis. Products manufactured by the corporations have to go through several dermatological examinations before being introduced into the market.
Different Insights through Image analysis
A company that sells beauty products keeps an eye on its competitors through practical image analysis. If a company listens to chatter regarding their beauty products, they also learn about their competitors’ outcomes (Facó, de Andrade & Gasi, 2020, pp.205 ). Moreover, a company can use image analysis to identify where and when their competitors are sponsored and acquire crucial insights about the competitors’ advertising and marketing strategies. Furthermore, it helps a company understand what buyers are saying about their products and brands. A company can also use this technology in their marketing strategy to do what their competitors are doing efficiently and equally to take advantage of their mistakes.
Beauty corporations develop consumer affinity with their campaigns through image analysis. Image analysis software helps a company gather visual data regarding how their beauty products are used in the real world. Through monitoring social media feeds, visual data analytics applications can separate, sort, and classify online images that contain their products even if their brand is not mentioned in any accompanying text (Facó, de Andrade & Gasi, 2020). Any company selling beauty products can use this technology to monitor how individuals are using their beauty products and get inspiration for future marketing campaigns. Thus, this will help their marketing team reflect real-world interaction between individuals and the company’s brand and establish a sense of affinity. Consumers will feel that the way they use their products is aligned with what the company as the brand owner intended.
Benefits of Using Image Analysis
Developments in technology in the form of 3D printers have influenced and can also transform how skincare products are manufactured. Presently, their usage is still in the supply chain, where they are used to create and package prototypes, but this will change as the technology advances. While their impact on the manufacturing procedure will remain the most observable, 3D printers also provide the aptitude of improving customers” in-store experience by manufacturing customized and personalized products. Thus, this is anticipated to be the first product to be executed in the color cosmetics through personalized shades before getting into other classifications such as fragrance and skincare products. Image analysis has played a pivotal role in ensuring that companies that manufacture skincare products have effectively utilized the technology (Qalati, Li, Mirani, Sohu, Hussain & Ahmed, 2020, pp.22). Through this, the cosmetic industry uses non-toxic products on skincare products.
Companies identify moments of consumption through image analysis. One of the most practical uses of image analysis technology applications is the aptitude to identify moments of consumption (Pappas et al., 2020). Companies selling beauty products want to know as much as possible how, when, and where individuals are using their products. Furthermore, images give visual validation of the who, how, where people are using the company’s products. In the absence of image analysis, fans or consumers have to specifically mention a company’s beauty products, which is less likely to happen. Visual evidence of cosmetics in the wild gives companies a much more influential metric than just evaluating mentions. O take it a step further, cosmetic companies can begin to correlate sales data with the number of times the company’s beauty products appear up in socio photos. According to research by Crimson Hexagon, there is a strong correlation between the volume of socio photos and sales numbers that demonstrates the use of beauty products.
Through image analysis, cosmetic companies can improve their marketing. In marketing, consumers are analyzed to enhance sales, connect consumers with brands, and minimize costs (Pappas et al., 2020). A visual analysis often makes marketing more personal. It may take some time before the computer image and vision analysis technologies can mimic human visible perception levels. However, it is already conceivable in specific situations such as visual analysis of age and gender groups. For instance, some cosmetic companies may open self-service kiosks equipped with image and camera analysis software. They will use compute vision to ascertain consumers’ age and gender and then commend items depending on the visual data.
Personalized window-shopping is achieved through image analysis. Other retail firms are working with computer vision consultants and developers to upsurge personalization through image analysis (Johnson, 2020). Camera-equipped screens n storefronts will be capturing and analyzing data concerning window-shoppers and passers-by. The window-shoppers will see the software’s beauty products as relevant depending on the analyzed visual data. Furthermore, products suggested to window-shoppers by the software will be appropriate as t will be garnered from analyzed visual data, which, in turn, will motivate impulsive purchases.
Powerful brands are established through image analysis. Moreover, powerful brands are significant anchor points for customers. Brand loyalty is developed early, and successful brands manage to uphold commitment over their customers’ complete lifetime (Ferreira, Moreira, Pereira, & Durão, 2020). Companies that sell beauty products or logos with long-term success are merely acknowledged. Instead, they require to create consistent, convincing, and emotionally appealing images with which the consumers can identify and, possibly, utilize to differentiate themselves from other companies. Under any circumstances, a resilient cosmetic company should develop a connection with the customer beyond the purely rational such as a specific product performance or an unpredictable trend. The beauty product may find a place in the heart of a customer. In the customer’s eye, the image of a beauty product is acceptable, and he expressively conveyed the atmosphere of the general picture produced by the brand. In the context of brand management, the primary goal of the image analysis is to identify the image’s status quo, preferably relative to the competition.
In e-commerce, the functions of product images are critical in delivering a satisfactory consumer experience. Ideas help online shoppers acquire confidence in the beauty products and arguments their engagement with the product, increasing the likelihood of purchase ( Brous, Janssen & Herder, 2020). Thus, from the outlook of e-commerce, cosmetic companies use images in their catalog. Furthermore, image analysis for an e-commerce catalog in a cosmetic company goes through several stages. The stages include filtering images by content or quality, classifying images depending on the content, and extracting content from mages. Filtering images by content or quality entails several binary classification issues dealing with compliance or a quality issue. Besides, some of them, particularly the compliance issues, are ill-posed with severe class imbalance. Additionally, some of them are better handled as object detection that categorization.
Through image analysis, it is possible to cash in on user-generated content. When the cosmetic company has the aptitude for tracking down all the images that apply to their brand or products and posted by the consumers, the cosmetic company can gain access to a vast media source in user-generated content (Brous, Janssen & Herder, 2020). Not only can the company see those publicizing their brand, but it can also get to know what they are saying about the products. Furthermore, a company can see how the consumers are using their beauty products and even discuss using their images in its marketing campaigns. Using image analysis, cosmetic companies can take advantage of the public desire for user-generated content (Baghel, 2020.pp11). The company can hunt down motivating images or footage and search for rights to use them in their campaign activities or ads. The significant part of this marketing form is that a company selling beauty products can do it on a comparatively low budget since there is no need to invest in video or photoshoots. Instead, they can engage their consumers with the brand ambassadors already showing off their beauty products on social media.
Effective leading enduring transformation in any cosmetic company is more intricate than ever before. Image analysis facilitates organizational change in numerous ways. Understanding the art of organizational change is a requirement in the current more volatile, uncertain, and complex global corporate landscape(Robertson, Azizpour, Smith & Hartman, 2018.pp.23). The cosmetic companies have become more diverse, digital, and reliant on advanced technology. More companies and their management have to comprehend how to leverage these novel prospects for increased agility and effectiveness. Cosmetic companies that sell beauty products ads are thriving are rethinking their definitions of image analysis and redesigning the present structures and cultures to align with a new marketing reality (Rishell,2018, p.203). They are dismantling the old-out-dated hierarchies and replacing them with ecosystems and networks of empowered teams and leaders at every level. Therefore, this results in a more agile and adaptive team setting. And the novel environments boost communication, collaboration, and engagement, which enhance speed, retention, profitability, and efficiency.
In the 21st Century, organizations have changed in the approaches used in managing the performance of the workforce. However, this has been achieved through image analysis. Cosmetic companies have embraced multidimensional models for performance management that have enabled the forces to operate in a more self-directed way, giving greater independence and, in some instances, improved performance. Image analysis also protects a brand from trademark abuse (Robertson, Azizpour, Smith & Hartman, 2018.pp.26). Image analysis should be used to ascertain unauthorized use of the company’s logo and fake brands. Ecommerce sites identify counterfeit brands being sold on their websites, and brands can use similar technology to verify copies of their products being sold elsewhere.
A company selling beauty products should consider using image analysis due to various reasons. In the current economic setting, cosmetic industries need to discover approaches to stand out, improve their operations and increase their returns while keeping their expenses low (Ngah, Ramayah, Ali,.&Khan, 2019). The majority of cosmetic companies are struggling to stay ahead of the competition. Choosing to use an experienced consultant may provide the cosmetic company with the aptitude to develop instead of just upholding the status quo. A consultant will facilitate image analysis by ensuring that they have the aptitude to play only the services they only require. Furthermore, there are cist benefits related to hiring employees. The expenses involved in hiring a consultant to conduct an image analysis are scalable and cosmetic companies can track their expenses and match them to the consultants’ projects. Ultimately, when the cosmetic company does not require the consultant to continue with image analysis, it is easier to terminate the working relationship.
The Role of a Consultant in Image Analysis
The company’s corporate image is its brand’s public perception. As a consultant I will help shape the corporate image by informing the public about the products sold by a company through advertising and marketing ( Ngah, Ramayah, Ali,.&Khan, 2019 pp. 203). However, what sculpts the corporate image are a company’s actions like better financial performance, creating innovative products and services, adhering to ethical business practices, essentially operating by values, and treating the workforces with reverence and dignity. I will establish a stellar corporate image to help open up more prospects for consumer testimonials, product reviews, and product reviews which can give the social evidence required to earn new customers’ trust. I will give advice and expertise regarding image analysis to help companies selling beauty products generally to enhance their business performance in terms of operation, structure profitability and strategies. Even though the workload can be overwhelming, consulting in image analysis plays a pivotal role in a company’s success.
The image analysis conducted by a consultant enhances the corporate image in several ways. I will significantly help to improve the corporate image by providing the company with crucial information concerning the adoption of certain strategies. If a cosmetic company wants to develop a loyal following to their brand and, in turn, reinforce their reputation, the core message of the company should center on their purpose and instead of how the company makes their skincare products or what their product is (Sathasivam & Ki, 2018, p.26). Furthermore, it is through image analysis that companies can reap the rewards of their mission. Before a company starts to boast about its devotion to prioritizing their consumers, they should ensure that their actions align with their values. Besides, as a consultant I will ensure that consumers get bests services. Additionally, I will boost the company’s image, especially on social media.
Teams can work in agile ways through image analysis conducted by a consultant. First, I will help develop teams that are empowered, small, and diverse, and connected (Sathasivam & Ki, 2018, p.26). Second, I will enable the company’s management motivate the agile teams to operate in rapid cycles to deliver significant value more quickly and efficiently. Third, as a consultant, I will ensure that leaders keep the agile teams engrossed in the internal and external consumer and develop a value for consumers by understanding and addressing their unmet and potentially unrecognized needs. However, this can only be achieved through detailed image analysis by consultants.
Conclusion
As discussed, there have been significant changes and transformation in companies in the 21st Century. Image analysis has primarily contributed to the shift. Social media has become more image-centered since it is the only way to get a comprehensive picture of its views. Images do not necessitate translation, hence making image analysis exceptionally valuable in a global plan. Moreover, examining a more complete data set allows companies to integrate social perceptions into decision-making more efficiently. Furthermore, images convey a different story than the texts can mention. The technology behind mage analysis is quickly progressing, making it easier to scale. Images reveal contextual, emotional, and environmental aspects that a company that sells beauty products cannot use only a text. Companies use image analysis to assess how consumers are talking about their skincare products. Besides, image analysis enhances sentiment analysis, identifies moments of consumption, and helps measure sponsorship ROI.
Cosmetic companies need to use IA to discover strategic business insights. All brands want to know how, where and when the customers are using their skincare products. Furthermore, IA helps companies to exploit user-generated content and enhance brand awareness. Image analysis has also facilitated the transformation of cosmetic companies from reactive to innovative mindsets. Changing the perspectives or adjusting them to the new context is not easy, but establishing this inner agility is vital in releasing the company’s aptitude to lead an agile transformation. Socialized or reactive mindsets are an outward way of the world based on reacting to situations and other individuals.
Self-authorizing or creative stands are inner ways of experiencing the world depending on developing its reality by tapping into its core desire and purpose. Consumer feeling and attention are well understood through image analysis. Cosmetic companies have the aptitude to use image analysis to see how advertising is perceived by viewers (Johnson, 2020). Conventionally, this is accomplished through surveys where the viewers express their feelings concerning the content they see. However, it could be defective since people are known for being inarticulate regarding their impressions, so a certain degree of misrepresentation is always there. Besides, image analysis ensures accurate analysis of outdoor advertising. Outdoor ads represent the only format still enjoying growth in terms of spending. Thus, the cosmetic companies effectively analyze outdoor advertising through image analysis.
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