Altan believes that in order to be successful today,a beauty brand needs five key elements:a strong team,a differentiated product,quality formulation,a good launch strategy,and good branding. It also has to tell a compelling story. Even with these,however,she admits it’s becoming increasingly difficult for a celebrity brand to stand out. “Now the celebrity name can be a liability.”
Altan has a popularTikTok channel where she shares long-form business analysis and gives advice to entrepreneurs. A core thread in many of her videos is that a brand’s messaging strategy needs to surround the consumer’s needs,as opposed to the celebrity and their image. In onevideo,Altan argues that Scarlett Johansson’s new skincare line,The Outset,misses the mark in its messaging. “She makes it all about herself. Instead of saying ‘I’ve noticed this pain point’ or ‘I was having this problem’,she leads with ‘I’ve always wanted to start my own beauty brand’,” Altan says in the video. Consumers don’t want to hear about how “this was their next logical career move”,they want to hear a story,she continues.
Liz McCartan,Head of Category for makeup at Mecca,agrees that many celebrity brands fail to meet the three criteria she looks for when buying:products that perform,a powerful founder story,and good brand positioning (meaning it is unique and addresses a niche in the market). She highlights model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s brand Rose Inc. as an example of success,where Huntington-Whiteley is hugely involved in the business.
“Celebrities who aren’t are a red flag,” she adds.
McCartan also points out that the kind of celebrity that has influence has changed. “The evolution of influencers comes from the rise of the educated consumer. For example,the rise of the ‘skintellectual’ who is super savvy on ingredients and now looking to true authorities to influence them.” TikTok has played a huge factor in this,she says,and is giving those with more credibility greater influence over celebrities.
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There’s another,darker side to the seemingly endless proliferation of celebrity beauty brands. A report fromZero Waste Week found that 120 billion units of cosmetics packaging were produced in 2018,most of which are not recyclable. As celebrities bring new products into an increasingly populated market,they need to think about whether they’re filling a niche or merely adding to a growing pile of waste.
So what’s next for celebrities and beauty? For Altan it’s all about “partnership” or “equity-based” models,where celebrities team up with established brands or lend their star power to start-ups. This is different to a traditional endorsement deal – rather than just lending their image,they funnel money and creative input into the business. Examples of this are already popping up,with Dakota Johnson joining sexual wellness company Maude as an investor and co-creative director,and Bella Hadid co-founding alcohol alternative Kin Euphorics.
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