MAC Cosmetics, Dove and Estée Lauder lead on inclusivity marketing based on AI index

19 Oct 2023 --- SeeMe Index: AI for Inclusive Marketing Decisions — an AI-based platform that measures and benchmarks brands’ consumer-facing inclusivity efforts — has released a scoring list of 40 brands, ranked according to their inclusivity efforts.

MAC Cosmetics has been ranked first place with a score of 256.7. The AI index identifies the makeup brand’s multi-year efforts to elevate and support Black and LGBTQIA+ communities across the gender spectrum via ads, product and charitable commitments.

In descending order, Dove comes in second place at 245.8. The personal care brand has been showcasing a variety of body sizes and hair types in ads. Moreover, it has been supporting efforts to fight race-based hair discrimination and body size discrimination over many years, finds the platform. 

Estée Lauder comes in third place with a score of 228.8. Its notable inclusivity effort is the launch of the Equity and Engagement Center of Excellence, committed to product effectiveness across diverse ethnicities and skin tones.

Proudly Pro-You campaign by Nyx Cosmetics for LGBTQIA+ people of color.Next in the rankings is L’Oreal Paris for its variety of shade coverage and global commitment to Stand Up against street harassment. This was followed by Nyx Cosmetics for its support of LGBTQIA+ communities and Maybelline for its Brave Together platform that recognizes how different identities may experience anxiety and depression.

Coming in last in the overall list are SK-II, Kylie Cosmetics, Dior Beauty, Covergirl, Colourpop Cosmetics and OGX.

New benchmark for measuring inclusivity
Former Google executives Asha Shivaji and Jason Klein unveiled SeeMe Index: AI for Inclusive Marketing Decisions this year.

The methodology was designed for marketers and consumers to use, “eliminating the complexities of navigating inclusivity and providing data-driven insights in an area where data rarely exists.”

“I grew up in Minnesota, where my early experiences as one of the few kids of color at school imbued in me the importance of inclusion and its impact on development and growth,” says Asha Shivaji, SeeMe Index’s CEO. 

“This early passion for inclusion stuck with me throughout my career, where time and time again, I saw brands wanting to do right by consumers but falling short, which is exactly where our journey with SeeMe Index began: a vision to bridge the gap between brands and consumers, ensuring that every individual is represented and acknowledged.”

Targeted inclusivity insights
Insights provided by the index include the findings that “people with darker skin tones average four-times less screen time in beauty ads than their lighter skin counterparts” and that “larger body sizes only make up 2.9% of people shown in beauty ads — while people above 55 years only represent 0.8% of people shown.”

The first annual SeeMe Index Report for the Beauty Industry launched at the CEW DE&I Forum. It will be followed soon by rankings for additional industries.

“We recognize the power of responsible AI in achieving this goal while emphasizing the importance of human oversight via experts and advocacy groups,” says Shivaji. “We invite brands and consumers alike to join us in creating a world where inclusivity is the norm, and through the SeeMe Index, we provide the means to make it happen.”

Growing database of beauty brand scorings
By utilizing AI technology, the SeeMe Index measures representation in advertising, product lines and external DEI commitments across six identity dimensions, including gender expression, age, skin tone, observed sexual orientation, body size and visible disability. 

The index assigns scores and benchmarks against the industry, highlighting areas for all to improve. The official SeeMe Index “Seal of Approval” allows brands to badge themselves as “Certified Inclusive.”

Eva Longoria for the L’Oreal Paris Stand Up campaign against street harassment.So far, eight of the 40 beauty brands researched received the Seal of Approval for scoring 200 points or more for inclusivity efforts across ads, products and DEI commitments. 

This combined score indicates the certification of the brands’ holistic inclusivity efforts. 

While the index advises brands on data-driven inclusive marketing, the SeeMe Index offers consumers transparency into brands’s inclusivity efforts, with an aim to enable more informed choices.

“Our mission with the SeeMe Index is to provide data that allows brands to make informed decisions about their inclusive marketing efforts across a broader definition of inclusivity. We believe that most brands are well-intentioned, but for too long, the lack of data and benchmarking has left brands guessing whether their efforts are enough,” says Jason R. Klein, SeeMe Index’s COO. 

“The SeeMe Index allows brands to finally understand if their efforts lead the pack or if competitors are fostering a more equitable and representative consumer experience.”

Expert panel supporting AI assessments
The SeeMe Index strongly advocates the responsible and informed use of AI, acknowledging that AI outputs are only as good as the datasets they’ve been trained on. 

To measure the ads portion of the Index, the company has partnered with tech firm Alltold. In addition to leveraging AI-powered raw data, it underscores that “expert human oversight remains crucial to validate the appropriate use of data.”

The SeeMe Index Advisory Council includes Mina Chae (CEO of Farmacy Beauty P&G), Tina Fair (president of L’Oreal Dermatological Beauty Division, North America), Gary Fraser (associate dean at UCLA Anderson School of Management), and Kim Larson (global director at Google BrandLab and global managing director and head of YouTube Creators).

This new index is being introduced amid other parallel advances made in AI’s application in beauty marketing. EveLab Insights, for instance, has been exploring how to broaden the skin dimensions in its AI diagnosis platform to “transform the marketing language of brands into quantifiable ways of assessing skin health.”

AI has also been harnessed to reveal consumers’ top skin concerns for more streamlined shopping. Perfect Corp. achieves this through its AI-based skin analysis platform, through which a beauty shopper is matched with a targeted skin care product regimen to address core concerns.

Other progressions this year include launches that merge AI-powered software with handheld devices for more effective at-home makeup applications and try-on experiences.

Edited by Benjamin Ferrer