“Makeup for those who are already pretty” -The Cut
One of the biggest beauty brands that has taken over the market in the past few years is Glossier, often described as the brand for the modern girl. The brand was founded by Emily Weiss, she believed she was in a great place to begin creating commerce as she knew the market well through interacting with her audience on her blog, ‘Into The Gloss.’ The blog was generating huge views and the launch of Glossier in 2014 could said to be helped by Weiss’ fans. The blog readers had been a key part of the whole process of building Glossier. The brand had an Instagram account that had over 15,000 followers before it even had a logo or a website, this allowed for consumer opinion on all steps of launching the brand. This ensured that consumers were invested deep into their brand story from the get go.
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| The Founder: Emily Weiss |
Their key consumer was the millennial female, They are the ‘every woman,’ working, not huge amounts of disposable income and too busy to spend their time obsessing with brands. Glossier knew this therefore hey don’t focus on having huge press releases or product launches, they focus on peer-to-peer channels and influencers through mediums like Instagram and youtube. Their consumer was easy to profile as they match the brands ethos, its all about enhancing your beauty and embracing the natural:
Consumer Profile: a 20-year-old university student who cares about their appearance but likes to embrace their natural beauty. They take pride in their Instagram account, follow beauty gurus and go to the gym to keep healthy
Glossier also started their own ‘showroom’, it is much more than just a store as it really was a gorgeous display of all the products. The showroom was a huge success to as it already had so much hype from the e-commerce hype that the company generated. This meant that the move into the product space was a guaranteed success.
I was lucky enough to visit the showroom when I was in New York. The store was a millennial dream, a queue out the door which screamed exclusivity and then a lift to the showroom. It was all in the colour of the branding, pink and white and filled with photo opportunities with mirrors with cute quotes and aesthetic seating areas. It all was aimed at their young, female Instagram loving consumer.
No products were forced at you they were left out and around, allowing you to test and try what you pleased. Even the purchasing process was suitable to the consumer, no queueing, you pay on an iPad and collect your purchase. It was a shopping experience that I really enjoyed. The whole place as well as their product packaging was a photo opportunity, something that is really smart as it spreads word of the brand through the consumers social media. The bags, boxes and all packaging too acts to spread word as people want to investigate the brand further.
