Elizabeth Arden. It’s an iconic name in the beauty business that still carries weight with consumers. The task at hand for JuE Wong, the new president of the Elizabeth Arden brand, is to tap into that rich heritage to help boost a brand that has seen its fortunes flag in recent years.

“The Elizabeth Arden name is as well known as Coca-Cola,” she insisted. “We want to leverage that to get more people to try it and get to know us better.”

In fact, it was that brand equity and awareness that drew Wong to Elizabeth Arden in the first place. Prior to her appointment this summer, she had been CEO of StriVectin and Astral Brands and also held several leadership positions for brands including N.V. Perricone M.D. Cosmeceuticals and Murad. While those lines are regarded as “doctor brands,” Wong is confident that by focusing on the spa experience, more consumers will come knocking on Arden’s red doors.

“Our Red Door Spa has great equity where the customer can experience Elizabeth Arden,” explained Wong. “Our staff is made up of full-time, not 1099, employees. The way we train them, they can support customers at the granular level.”

That means getting to know the customer and exceeding her expectations.

“She votes with her pocketbook and then she tells her friends. To me, the important thing is to make sure she feels valued, treasured and she gets the experience she wants.”

Perfect Pairings
And once she gets that experience, she’s ready to get some products. Arden executives may be counting on the company’s century-old heritage to attract women, but they’re banking on the latest advances in skin care technology to keep them as customers.

“Skin care is where the loyal customers are made,” explained Wong. “She will look at others, like color and fragrance, but with skin care we have many platforms.”

Those platforms include Prevage, Ceramide and new Superstart Skin Renewal Booster. The latter product, designed to be applied under makeup, is said to enhance the function of active ingredients by preparing the skin and making it receptive to other ingredients.

“It is exciting; it’s not another me-too product,” Wong insisted. “There was a gap in the market and Superstart Skin Renewal Booster is an amazing product when paired with our other skin care products.”

According to Wong, when Superstart is paired with Arden’s Ceramide or Prevage formula it boosts overall skin care benefits. For example, in one test, the Superstart formula increased natural hydration by up to 25 times, natural collagen by up to five times and natural elastin by up to nine times. According to Arden, 92% of women agreed that Superstart helped repair the look and feel of their damaged or irritated skin. Furthermore, 95% agreed that Superstart boosted the effectiveness of their skin care products.

Of course, even the best booster doesn’t work if there’s nothing to boost in the first place! Elizabeth Arden says that on its own, the skin-identical Ceramide formula strengthens skin’s appearance and restores the natural, protective barrier in order to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Meanwhile, in May, Elizabeth Arden rolled out Prevage Anti-Aging Wrinkle Smoother. The formula relies on Lumiflect technology with optical diffusers and soft-focus silicones to immediately blur imperfections and illuminate skin, according to Elizabeth Arden. Over time, a complex comprised of botanical extract, peptide and amino acid helps smooth the look of wrinkles. At the same time, hyaluronic acid derivatives plump skin to give it an overall more youthful appearance.

Products within the Prevage Anti-Aging system rely on idebenone to scavenge the free radicals that are caused by UV rays, as well as smog and other pollutants. In fact, Elizabeth Arden researchers maintain that idebenone is more effective than vitamin E, kinetin, vitamin C, CoQ10 and alpha-lipoic acid to protect skin from free radicals.

Be Everywhere
Those kinds of results are what the Arden customer seeks because she’s strapped for time, but she still finds the time to learn more about the products—and not just at the retail counter. According to Wong, consumers visit company websites, view YouTube videos and poll their friends to learn more about a product before they ever touch the formula. As a result, Arden is ramping up its communication efforts to make sure customers get what they need when they’re doing all of that clicking.

Wong told Happi that although Elizabeth Arden will never walk away from print advertising, digital will take on growing importance, as it enables beauty companies to immediately connect with their customers and deliver a targeted message.

“We will do it all; more people are multitasking with TV, shopping and online research; we want to make sure we are relevant to her,” explained Wong. “The Elizabeth Arden customer is an active woman, mother, daughter, sister and wife. She’s always doing something for someone else, but she has to take care of herself as well.”

And helping her take care of herself is where Arden’s detailed training comes in.

“Our training department does a great job with our beauty advisors and our 200 executives to help us understand what it means to be Arden.”

Elizabeth Arden’s formulation advances and expertise aren’t limited to skin care; the company offers an array of fragrances and color cosmetics, too.

“No other brand can offer the spa experience, along with color, fragrance and skin care,” Wong noted.

Right now, Elizabeth Arden is promoting its Golden Opulence Fall 2015 color cosmetics collection. The makeup is said to combine light-catching and intensifying technology to soften the appearance of wrinkles, while vitamins help to soothe and protect the skin.

Meanwhile, one of the newest fragrances is Always Red, which is described as a luxurious floriental, and features top notes of red plum, blood orange and passion fruit; middle notes of Jasmine sambac, rose petals and pink freesia and base notes of mahogany woods, red amber and praline. The bold, daring scent is designed for the confident, radiant woman, according to Elizabeth Arden.

The chemistry between skin care, color and fragrance comes at a time when Elizabeth Arden could use a lift. The company’s sales fell nearly 15% to $971 million in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2015. But Chairman and CEO E. Scott Beattie is confident that recent personnel moves, such as the appointment of Wong as president of the Elizabeth Arden brand, as well as the appointment of Joel Ronkin as president, global fragrances, will align sales and marketing organizations to improve the commercial execution of the business and deliver better financial results.

Better internal structures are great, but Wong maintains it all comes back to delighting the consumer.

“We have to deliver what we promise and make her feel like she has gained something from using our products,” observed Wong. “She wants to look in the mirror and see results.”

After all, if she can see results, Arden executives and their investors are sure to see better-looking financial results, too.