A decade in, what is behind Glossier’s success as a cult millennial beauty brand? As part of our Build a Brand series , we talk to its VP of marketing to break down the formula. Inside Glossier's current marketing strategy / Glossier Glossier initially built its brand through word of mouth packing its site and socials with reviews and endorsements from its customers. The strategy was to foster a Glossier ‘community’ encouraging its customers to create content, talk to one another, customize products and buy into its merchandise.
A decade on Glossier has expanded into out-of-home, experiential marketing and added more social channels to its mix. We break down its current strategy. Launching in 2014 as an offshoot of the popular beauty blog Into the Gloss, Glossier built a $1.
8bn brand (2021 valuation) in less than 10 years. But in 2020, the business was rocked by a series of scandals exposing a toxic workplace. In 2022, after some business missteps, Glossier laid off a third of its corporate staff.
The negative press led to its founder and chief executive, Emily Weiss, stepping down and appointing Kyle Leahy as her successor to try to turn the business around. The story of Glossier has been positioned as the ‘rise and fall’ of a cult brand. The Drum even published an article in 2022 titled ‘The tale of a fast-growth brand gone south.
’ So, two years on with a new CMO and vice-president of marketing in place, what does its strategy look like? We sat down with the n.