In the last 5-10 years more and more celebrity beauty brands go viral and some of them actually stay there. When we start to think the bubble is about to burst and that brand will become old news, their sales and popularity increases. So what are the marketing strategies that that drive success of celebrity beauty brands?
The truth is that all these brands create the initial hype with that celebrity's fan base, but they have different marketing strategies. Unfortunately there are some beauty brands that failed in spite of big celebrity collaborations. So where is the balance and how to know what works?
See below what those different marketing strategies have in common and how does each strategy reflect on brand's success.
The most successful celebrity beauty brands
Let's start by looking what are the most successful ones first in terms of revenue and social media popularity:
source: Cosmetify.com
Most Followed Celebrity Brands on Instagram
Kylie Cosmetics (Kylie Jenner), 26,000,000
Kylie Skin (Kylie Jenner), 5,800,000
Skkn by Kim (Kim Kardashian), 5,500,000
Rare Beauty (Selena Gomez), 3,200,000
Florence By Mills (Millie Bobby Brown), 2,900,000
Goop (Gwenyth Paltrow), 1,700,000
Pleasing (Harry Styles), 1,300,000
r.e.m. Beauty (Ariana Grande), 1,300,000
Fenty Skin (Rihanna), 1,000,000
Rhode Skin (Hailey Bieber), 478,805
Most Popular by Search Number Volume
Florence By Mills (Millie Bobby Brown), 325,000
Kylie Cosmetics (Kylie Jenner), 314,000
Rare Beauty (Selena Gomez), 292,000
Kylie Skin (Kylie Jenner), 80,000
Fenty Skin (Rihanna), 64,000
Pleasing (Harry Styles), 56,000
R.e.m.. Beauty (Ariana Grande), 17,000
Goop (Gwenyth Paltrow), 241,000
S by Kim (Kim Kardashian), 3,500
Rhode Skin (Hailey Bieber), 1,400
source: Cosmetify.com
source: Cosmetify.com
Most Popular by Average Likes
Pleasing (Harry Styles), 112,995
Florence By Mills (Millie Bobby Brown), 49,887
Rare Beauty (Selena Gomez), 38,977
R.e.m.. Beauty (Ariana Grande), 37,803
Kylie Cosmetics (Kylie Jenner), 31,756
Rhode Skin (Hailey Bieber), 30,351
Kylie Skin (Kylie Jenner), 8,822
Skkn by Kim (Kim Kardashian), 6,964
Fenty Skin (Rihanna), 3,173
Goop (Gwenyth Paltrow), 971
Most Popular by Instagram Hashtags
Kylie Cosmetics (Kylie Jenner), 4,985,266
Florence By Mills (Millie Bobby Brown), 1,049,086
Rare Beauty (Selena Gomez), 638,463
Kylie Skin (Kylie Jenner), 422,373
R.e.m. Beauty (Ariana Grande), 374,369
Goop (Gwenyth Paltrow), 327,569
Pleasing (Harry Styles), 270,524
Fenty Skin (Rihanna),134,444
Skkn by Kim (Kim Kardashian), 128,008
Rhode Skin (Hailey Bieber), 3,100
Most Frequently Mentioned in Articles
Kylie Cosmetics (Kylie Jenner), 7,863
Rare Beauty (Selena Gomez), 7,004
Pleasing (Harry Styles), 5,293
Fenty Skin (Rihanna), 3,594
Rhode Skin (Hailey Bieber), 3,187
Kylie Skin (Kylie Jenner), 1,176
Goop (Gwenyth Paltrow), 1,142
Sknn by Kim (Kim Kardashian), 1,109
R.e.m. Beauty (Ariana Grande), 1,077
Florence By Mills (Millie Bobby Brown), 403
More Celebrity Beauty Brands
There are more celebrities who launched beauty brands which are not listed above, including:
Brad Pitt, Harry Styles, Miranda Kerr, Gwen Stefani, Cindy Crawford, Jennifer Aniston, Hailey Bieber, Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys, Jessica Alba, Drew Barrymore, Lady Gaga, Pharrell Williams, Victoria Beckham, Courteney Cox, Jonathan Van Ness, Scarlett Johansson, Ciara, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Idris & Sabrina Elba, Naomi Watts, Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jada Pinkett Smith, etc.
How Rare Beauty (by Selena Gomez) went viral
Rare Beauty sells its products online and in Sephora retail stores, and importantly, Katie does almost no traditional marketing: Rare Beauty is a true internet brand that depends on social media strategy, influencer marketing, and community to drive sales.
source: Behance
Almost all marketing is digital. From 80 people company, 23 of them are hired in marketing alone. So how did you structured your marketing department?
"In the beauty industry, there is so much that needs to get done. There is not just content, but campaigns, launches, visual merchandising, so we have a sizable creative team. We also have a brand and product marketing team, a consumer marketing group that oversees digital, social, and community. We have PR and influencer marketing, which is a huge part of beauty. Also the copy. Then finally, social impact, which is the division of the company that works to make a difference in the world, the three individuals who are on Rare Impact." – Katie Welch, the chief marketing officer of Rare Beauty
source: Sky Society
Rare Beauty's marketing strategy
TikTok is the brand’s focus social platform
1 Rare Beauty's TikTok strategy is constructed around 4 main content pillars consisting in:
Product presentation videos;
Funny and relatable POV situations;
Inspiring and empowering videos for mental health education featuring Selena Gomez;
Tutorials (inspired by the community’s questions).
Also all videos provide value and are kept under 10 seconds in length
2 The brand's identity is consolidated around the founder’s image
However, while Selena is the center of the brand, around whom Rare Beauty’s story is created, portraying her life beliefs and depicting some of her life’s events, Rare Beauty is not a celebrity brand. How did they manage to do that you might want to know? With Selena herself filming plenty of videos for the brand’s social media accounts, many of which are inspired by her life journey, experiences, and challenges, Rare Beauty is a brand that stands out for its personal and relatable approach. So it gives brand image of the values she supports herself to create a relatable loyal community, rather than positioning brand around her current popularity, as that is something that can change and destroy company's branding.
3 Rare Beauty embraces diversity and promotes empowerment
Rare Beauty is a brand that puts people first - both figuratively and literally speaking.
Besides Selena’s emblematic figure, Rare Beauty’s social media accounts - especially TikTok - also feature a ton of influencers and beauty creators of multiple nationalities, genders, and so on, showcasing how the passion for beauty should not have any boundaries.
Rhode by Hailey Bieber
source: Elle Canada
Tactics used:
Building anticipation before the launch date.
Hailey Beiber’s influence in the beauty world.
Getting good reviews from trusted sources.
Using social listening to figure out what the audience wants.
Making products affordable.
Using influencer marketing and UGC to promote products.
Let's dive a little bit more into details:
1Pre-Launch Strategy
Firstly, it is important to know that Hailey Bieber has been showing up in the media as the go-to girl for fresh-clean look and beauty. Therefore, her brand is initially focusing on skincare with a range of 3 specific products to help consumers emulate her glowy skin.
Glazed Doughnut Tik Tok video
They started building anticipation a week before the launch date on platforms like Instagram, Youtube and TikTok to showcase Hailey's dewy, glazed donut-like skin.
Teasers which build anticipation before a launch or new product drop creates a sense of urgency for customers to be the first ones to get something.
2 Product Lineup
The offer consists of five products with affordable price (most ranging between $16 and $29). This arrangement of prices is also another reason the products sold out fast - they are accessible for mass majority.
3 Post-Launch Strategy
When you look and scroll down the brand’s TikTok page, you’ll see a diverse range of content from influencers giving their opinion on the product. So we can see that influencer marketing was a big part of their strategy. It is a great way for an audience to get an outside opinion from individuals they trust and relate to.
These creators range from micro influencers with 800 followers to macro influencers with over 100,000 followers.
Rhode Skincare also utilises user generated content to post diverse material on their social platforms. This type of content includes unboxings, reviews, product try-ons, etc.
Brand's influencer marketing strategy provides a more natural approach by showing real people and products included in their natural lifestyle.
When Celebrity Endorsement doesn't help
This does not mean necessarily that all celebrity brands or companies endorsed by celebrities are automatically popular and successful. Take for an example the BH Cosmetics which filed for bankruptcy in January 2022 despite trying to boost sales and improve growth with celebrity endorsements with stars like Iggy Azalea and Doja Cat.
Conclusion: Find the right balance and fit for your brand
There are many ways how one can create a successful marketing strategy for its beauty brand. The important thing to take into account is your brand's value, end-goal and keep one metric to each action. That way it will be easier to follow success, what works or doesn't and why. As we see from BH Cosmetics example the point is not just to put celebrities and influencers in our campaigns. There needs to be a targeted message with a specific goal that we are trying to send to our audience using a celebrity as a middle man to help us reach that audience quicker and easier. If you want to find out more about this topic or strategy, feel free to contact me for a chat session by booking a free consultation here.
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