Cosmoprof North America (CPNA), an all-encompassing, business-to-business beauty event in North America, just wrapped another successful year and once again, surpassed expectations. The 2017 show held at Mandalay Bay Convention Center July 9-11 delivered record-breaking exhibitor and attendee sales.
Held annually in Las Vegas, 36,787 attendees (up nine percent from 2016) engaged with a record breaking 1,278 exhibitors (up nine percent from 2016) representing 45 countries, and were able to see and experience several new programs, special areas and unique opportunities to network and attract. The show floor space covered 293,306 square feet of space, an increase of four percent compared to the previous year.
Igniting the power of online beauty influencers, CPNA increased the span of its popular influencer programs and recruited 17 highly-connected beauty influencers to engage with exhibitor brands through innovative programs and discovery on the show floor. This exposure resulted in 336 posts for an estimated eight billion impressions and a total of 896 million engagements. CPNA also created original content through its own social sites resulting in 146 million impressions with over 21,000 total engagements.
Another distinguishing aspect of the show were the highly curated areas that allowed buyers to quickly get a glimpse of what is up-and-coming across different categories. Making a return were Discover Beauty, Discover Beauty Spotlights and Discover Scent for specialty retail along with Tones of Beauty for multicultural beauty and Discover Green for organic beauty. Unique to the show were the curated sections where key buyers participate in "speed-dating" meetings with selected companies; for Discover Beauty retailers included Kohl’s and Neiman Marcus. Brand new to the show were Discover Green Leaf where organic beauty brands met with key specialty retailers and chain spas focused on organic beauty such as Pharmaca and Auberge Spas, along with Discover Beauty Pro, where selected companies met with key national distributors like ULTA and SalonCentric.
Giving back has been a huge part of the exhibition for many years and this year was no different. The highly coveted Boutique area allowed attendees the opportunity to engage and discover the latest products and curate a unique and reusable beauty box with over $18,426 raised for PBA Foundation (Look Good, Feel Better), an increase of 30 percent over 2016. Glamour Me also returned to give attendees the chance to try exhibitor products first-hand while receiving beauty treatments, makeup and styling. Donations were collected on behalf of the PBA Foundation.
CPNA also hosts PBA Beauty Week which included the sold-out PBA Business Forum and the coveted North American Hairstyling Awards (NAHA) where winners were recognized during a star-studded awards ceremony; the Lifetime Achievement Award was given to industry icon Sam Villa.
Related: The Professional Beauty Association Reveals 2017 NAHA Winners
The next Cosmoprof North America will take place July 29-31, 2018. For more information, visit www.cosmoprofnorthamerica.com