Estée Lauder Companies and Microsoft accelerate global beauty product launches through AI Innovation Lab
29 Apr 2024 --- The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) and Microsoft unveil an AI Innovation Lab within their expanding global partnership.
Leveraging generative AI capabilities in Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service, the companies will develop solutions that equip ELC’s more than 20 prestige beauty brands with “closer consumer connections” and “increased speed to market with local relevance.”
“Generative AI represents a significant opportunity for the beauty industry — creating more engaging customer experiences, getting products into the hands of consumers faster, developing new products more efficiently and sustainably, and much more,” says Shelley Bransten, corporate VP of Global Industry Solutions at Microsoft.
“We’re proud to collaborate with The ELC to provide not only a platform for AI innovation, but also a deep partnership to bring these new innovations to life.”
Expediting locally tailored launches
The expanded global strategic relationship aims to support faster response and execution to social trends and consumer demands. ELC and Microsoft share they have successfully created an internal-facing generative AI chatbot to enhance marketing effectiveness globally.
The tool utilizes advanced conversational AI technology to “efficiently navigate and further leverage” ELC’s proprietary product and claim data database, allowing brands to launch locally relevant campaigns more rapidly.
To enable “faster and more effective” product innovation, ELC and Microsoft are applying generative AI tools in research and development. This will allow scientists and product development specialists to respond rapidly to emerging product and ingredient trends.
“At ELC, technology is always in support of our enduring strengths of high-quality products and high-touch consumer experiences,” says Jane Lauder, executive VP of Enterprise Marketing and chief data officer at ELC.
The partnership is speeding up beauty product development with generative AI.“With Microsoft’s generative AI tools and extensive expertise, we are able to leverage ELC’s tremendous data to create more personalized consumer experiences and faster insights to action resulting in increased speed to market and stronger local relevancy. We look forward to continuing our close and collaborative partnership with Microsoft.”
Deepening strategic relationship
The AI Innovation Lab represents a deepening of the relationship between ELC and Microsoft, which began in 2017.
As part of this long-term relationship, ELC tapped Azure AI as the platform for its Voice-Enabled Makeup Assistant, a “first-of-its-kind” mobile app launched in early 2023 to help visually impaired users more easily apply makeup.
The app is available on iOS and Android in the US, UK and Ireland and will be rolled out to additional markets and languages in the coming months.
AI beauty renaissance
AI applications continue to broaden and accelerate across the beauty space. Unilever recently launched Wonder Wash, developed with robotics and AI, under its Dirt Is Good brand — comprising OMO, Persil, Skip, Surf Excel, Rinso and Breeze.
Earlier this month, Dove released a global report, “2024 The Real State of Beauty.” The report uncovered women’s perception of beauty standards and how AI is changing the landscape.
The company anticipates that 90% of the content online will be AI-generated by 2025, eliciting a “threat to women’s well-being.” One in three women feels pressure to alter their appearance because of what they see online, even when they know the image is fake or AI-generated.
By Benjamin Ferrer
