How to Successfully Launch a Beauty Brand
A beauty brand launch is incredibly difficult. There is no getting around it. The industry landscape is extremely competitive, with established brands hoarding the lion’s share of business and up-and-comers fighting to make a name for themselves. This is precisely why working with the right PR firm and PR agency is so critical to early success.
Work with a Specialist
We cannot stress the importance of working with a beauty-focused firm enough. They know the outlets and have established relationships with their writers and editors. To say that these relationships are valuable would be an understatement – they are everything!
All too often, we see clients wooed by a name-dropping generalist who can’t deliver due to a lack of experience in the space. When the success of a new brand rests on a big push at launch, putting trust in a specialist is the best course of action.
Embrace Influencers
Influencers are invaluable in the beauty world. Saturating social media through gifting is a potent way to complement credibility boosting print and online features. Brands that seemingly pop up over night understand this. They know working with influencers helps create a buzz without paying for high-priced magazine features.
Unfortunately, many firms will say they do influencer marketing thinking it’s as easy as mass-blasting a pitch. But working with influencers doesn’t simply mean collecting addresses and blindly sending product their way. They want relevant pitches and they want products that align with their aesthetic. That’s why we use Shopping Beautifully, a beauty influencer network where the influencers proactively decide whether they’re interested in trying new products.
Moral of the story – don’t take “we do influencer marketing” at face value. Ask about previous influencer campaigns. Ask if the firm uses any software or tools when working with influencers. Ask for examples of previous campaigns.
Craft a Unique Pitch
This might seem obvious, but over the years we’ve seen too many bland brand stories accompanied by generic product language. Cut through the clutter and highlight what makes the brand and product unique in as few words as possible. Overpitched writers and editors appreciate brevity more than anyone realizes. More importantly, they appreciate a truly unique pitch that outlines the story for them.
For example, we recently launched a new jelly highlighter. Prior to launch, a competitive brand had received quite a bit of attention. After doing a bit of research we learned that they only had 2 shades while our brand had five. That was our “in”. We pitched this new jelly highlighter as available in more shades than any other brand. We wrote the story for them in our pitch by making it relevant to what was happening in the beauty world.
Consider Supplementing the Pitch
New brands don’t always have extra money set aside for creative mailers and over-the-top events. That’s OK. Success doesn’t hinge on those extras. But supplementing a great pitch with them never hurts.
For example, truly unique mailers to worthwhile media outlets can bring the brand awareness you need. But the gift sent must be unique. Think products hidden within chocolate spheres that have to be cracked open or personalizing flower arrangements by spelling the editor’s name or media outlet. It’s as much about showmanship and “Instagram-ability” here as it is about product quality. The same can be said about events. Go big or go home. Generic just won’t cut it.
Please contact us with any questions you may have. We would love to help with your next beauty brand launch!