The Future of Beauty
data driven territory
The Data Driven Territory relies on the synergy of different links in the chain, from product R&D to IT technology.
When combining artificial intelligence and big data, we are able to collect and analyze information from a large database, fostering increasingly personalized and differentiated innovations for our consumers.
After more than two years of development, Boticário Group launched the world’s first perfumes made with Artificial Intelligence (AI) assistance in partnership with IBM and one of the network’s main fragrance suppliers, the German company Symrise. Through connection with global partners, we achieved the perfect combination between machine cognition, the alchemy of the perfumer and the perfumery experts from Boticário Group’s R&D.
The precision and data processing capacity of AI, combined with human sensitivity to add the final changes, led to the creation of a fragrance that truly delights the consumer.
ideation
Once a year, the Research and Development department encourages researchers to participate in an inspiring day, with lots of immersion moments and experiences.
This day results into ideas for research projects to build the future of Boticário Group. This ideation is made using Design Thinking methodology, an approach that allows you to look at the client before innovating. Employees from other areas linked to innovation also participate in this day, such as Marketing, Channel Innovation, Tech, ESG, Consumer Insights, and Design. After all, different points of view and profiles further encourage co-creation, which is already part of our DNA.
After this Ideation Process, in a second step, researchers are invited to present their project ideas in pitch format on a day called Pitch Day.
pitch process
If you met an investor in an elevator and had just a few minutes (just the time of going up/down) to sell an idea, would you be ready for this challenge?
This is a presentation format called elevator pitch. Inspired by the startup model, the R&D department has a pitch process once a year to evaluate research project proposals, aiming to ensure the best distribution of investments across the board.
How does it happen? The pitch process includes rounds of short presentations made by researchers to a multidisciplinary and specialist panel of evaluators. During the process, projects are evaluated according to specific criteria aligned with the company’s strategy, such as the Future of Beauty, OKRs and consumer vision, ensuring an increasingly assertive approach to Boticário Group’s vision of the future and product innovation strategy.
partnerships and crowdsourcing
Here, at Boticário Group, we search for solutions and partnership opportunities in the innovation ecosystem and
intermediate the best model with the Group’s internal areas, to enhance internal resources and innovation.
We are in contact with the innovation ecosystem, aiming to monitor opportunities applicable to Boticário Group so that we can increasingly offer innovative technologies and products to our consumers. We work with co-development and partnerships that boost innovation in products, processes, new methodologies and technologies.
Furthermore, we invite agents external to the organization to work together on a previously identified problem. This collaboration can be done using different tools that promote the exchange of ideas between participants, such as challenge launching, hackathons, call for proposals, and design thinking.
Product Innovation:
Listen to the podcast with Fernanda Angelucci, responsible for the innovation networks area.
who innovates with Boticário Group?
Corporations: suppliers, companies in the same sector, other sectors.
Startups: incubators, accelerators.
Crowd: innovation hubs and general public.
Institutes of Science and Technology (ICTs): universities and research institutes
Government: funding bodies open innovation cases.
open innovation cases
Embrapa – Fine Arts Project
Boticário Group, in partnership with Embrapa Agroenergia and EMBRAPII support, is developing a project with the objective of producing dyes using biotechnology and seek new sources of obtaining color through microalgae, fungi and bacteria through a fermentation process.
Suzano – Project for the use of lignin
Suzano, a reference in the manufacture of bioproducts from eucalyptus, and Boticário Group have joined together in an unprecedented partnership. These two companies have been developing a new application for lignin, which could be used to democratize the use of cosmetics, especially with a focus on black skin.
Partnership – UFPR (Federal University of Paraná)
UFPR is a strategic partner for innovation. One example is the project with a biopolymer laboratory for cosmetics technologies. The partnership allowed the lending of Zeta Sizer equipment to UFPR, essential in polymer and nanotechnology research, with positive impacts on the institutions’ research.
Partnership – PUCPR (Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná)
Since 2016, we have participated in the Institutional Program for Initiation Scholarships in Technological Development and Innovation (PIBITI), in partnership with PUCPR. This partnership provides an opportunity for students to experience technological challenges, participating in activities, methodologies and practices focused on innovation processes.
Partnership – UFSC (Federal University of Santa Catarina)
Development of a project in partnership with the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) whose objective is to map the possibilities of using biomass from Boticário Group’s other industries’ industrial waste for its extraction and/or conversion into bioactive compounds.
Braskem Labs
Boticário Group, co-sponsor of Braskem Labs (acceleration program for entrepreneurs) evaluated startups and promoted mentoring. Acceleration occurs with specific objectives and to encourage the ecosystem, generate socio-environmental impact and solve business challenges that have plastic or chemistry as part of the solution.
initiatives
scholarship program
We encourage the increase in the number of qualified professionals in innovation activities in the Brazilian business sector, developing innovation projects at Boticário Group. Currently, this initiative takes place in partnership with IEL (Euvaldo Lodi Institute), through the Innovation Talent program and with the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), both focused on the professional development of students granted with a scholarship.
I.A.R.A.® 2.0
In partnership with EMBRAPII and SENAI, we developed a methodology that allows the assessment, on a laboratory scale and in a simulated environment, of compositions (bio)degradation and ecotoxicity of plastic packaging.
Do you know what ecotoxicity analysis is for? It is an important tool to assist in the selection of raw materials in the cosmetic product formulation process. Thus, more sustainable products are developed that generate less impact on the aquatic environment, posing less risk to the environment, in addition to helping to generate sustainability indicators.
The 2030 Calling
The 2030 Calling was a crowdsourcing developed internally at Boticário Group and led by the Open Innovation area in partnership with other internal stakeholders. The objective of this call was to prospect for innovative solutions related to Boticário Group’s 2030 sustainability strategy. The objectives were to prospect solutions, encourage the innovation ecosystem and give visibility to the sustainability theme and the Boticário Group’s initiatives.
Our goal was to help, in a significant way, solve the environmental and social problems involved in waste management throughout Brazil. Having this in mind, we wanted to learn about solutions related to two inspirational commitments, related to 6 UN SDGs.
Perfumathon
A “perfumery hackathon” organized by O Boticário (mother brand of Boticário Group) and Aldeia Coworking. For two days, 60 young people from all over the country got together to solve challenges in the perfumery category proposed by the company.
One of the challenges was to build a proposal that could “put an end to O Boticário’s perfumery business model” and that would force the Group to completely change the way it sells perfume. As a result, we had 10 ideas for possible projects to be developed by Boticário Group.
Eurekathon
Connected to A Beauty of the Future, we sponsored Unicamp’s Eurekathon in partnership with Dow for the Co-creation of Sustainable Solutions for Boticário Group’s Perfumery. The event was completely online and took place from the 23rd to the 25th of July. There were more than 320 university students registered, 34 teams, 30 mentors and 40 judges. We had representatives from 28 cities, representing 12 Brazilian states and who developed 28 incredible solutions! And these young people, future consumers of Boticário Group’s brands, brought several relevant insights that we can use in our daily lives!
intellectual property and publications
Boticário Group also has a very strategic approach concerning intellectual property.
We encourage publications of scientific articles and patent filings, aiming to boost and honor technological development, valuing our intellectual capital. As some examples, we can mention:
Patents
We recently had a patent filed for a film-forming cosmetic composition kit, present in Boticário Group’s Liptint lipsticks. This composition provides high adherence and comfort on the lips, guaranteeing complete resistance to sweat, water, abrasion, meals and kiss proof.
WINE ALCOHOL
What if we combined the sophistication of wine with the art of perfumery? Through a pioneering patent in Brazil, Boticário Group has innovated and brought wine alcohol macerated in French oak barrels to Malbec fragrances. Wine alcohol consists of an alcohol with a different concept and a unique sensoriality. This alcohol is a product of grape fermentation, followed a distillation method of purification. Then, it is used in one of the Group’s patents as a total or partial replacement for conventional ethyl alcohol.
In addition, it is unique, since it contains residual substances characteristic of grape fermentation, giving the ethanol a characteristic odor and contributing to a surprising olfactory sensory perception. The use of wine alcohol in perfumery allows for a difference within the product, bringing exclusivity and enchantment to the consumers of the brand and an innovative concept for perfumery.
Publications
In 2020, we also had the honor of publishing an article titled “Proteomics reveals that quinoa bioester promotes replenishing effects in epidermal tissue” in the international journal Scientific Reports (Nature Research magazine) in partnership with the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation and Positivo University. The publication refers to a study that evaluated the influence of quinoa bioester, an active ingredient produced by Boticário Group, on the skin.
This study allowed to prove the beneficial properties of this active ingredient, such as:
Preventing
aging
Cellular homeostasis
Tissue regeneration
Protection against ultraviolet radiation and oxidative damage
We can already see this compound and its benefits in several products in our portfolio, such as the Nativa SPA body line. Em 2021, we published on the Journal of Applied Toxicology a scientific study entitled “Integrated approaches to testing and assessment as a tool for the hazard assessment and risk characterization of cosmetic preservatives”.
This study demonstrates our concern with the use and safety assessment of preservative systems.
Preservative ingredients are often questioned for causing health risks, such as allergies, skin irritation, among others. The study allowed us to characterize the risk assessment of ingredients and define the best options, limiting their concentration, type of product and target audience. Thus, we were able to develop even safer products for our consumers.