Is Glossier Missing Out On Two Major Markets?
- Jennifer Vallejo
- Jul 14, 2021
- 23 min read
Glossier is a digital marketing champion who has taken over the beauty industry within the last decade, but are they attacking their brand’s limitations? This blog post will discuss the current discrepancies in Glossier’s business model based on data and research from multiple journals and studies.
I. Executive Summary
Mission Statement: “Glossier is on a mission to give voice through beauty. We do this by building products, growing our community, and making decisions in inclusive, customer-devoted, curious, courageous, and discerning ways. We believe in the power of the individual and see beauty as an incredible conduit for connection.” - Glossier via LinkedIn.
Values and Objectives:
https://life.glossier.com
Cruelty-Free and Commitment to Sustainability:
“In early 2019, leaders from across Supply Chain, Packaging, Product Development, Design, and other teams did a thorough audit. We developed a set of principles to empower our entire team to make decisions across the company with sustainability front of mind. And we’ve made some early progress: In the world of packaging, we’re focused on reduction—of excess, waste, and impact on the environment. As a direct-to-consumer business, an important milestone was the launch of Limited Packaging, which makes it easy to opt out of the pink pouch and any packaging extras when ordering on our website. Since we launched this option in June of 2019, you’ve selected Limited Packaging more than *250,000* times. We also updated our shipping boxes to be made from 100% recycled content, discontinued sticker sheets, and began the process of removing all unnecessary liners in our boxes. Starting in April of 2019, we’ve offered pink pouch recycling at our pop-up shops (2019). As a company, we’re making an ongoing commitment to the environment, our customers, and our team that we will always seek to improve and innovate when it comes to our products, packaging, and operations” -Emily Weiss, CEO and Founder. II. Abstract
Today’s proposal aims to attack the weaknesses that are present in Glossier’s current brand strategy. Emily Weiss, Founder and CEO started beauty start-up brand, Glossier, which hit a $1.2 billion valuation in 2018. She began her career at TeenVogue driving her way to Conde Nast where she simultaneously began her own blog, Into the Gloss, which gained a large following. She saw the repetitiveness in beauty brand strategies that did not cater to the customer - but rather gave the customers new products based on the companies own decisions. Weiss decided to change the beauty industry by only creating products based on customer wants and needs as well as their feedback. She ended up building the cruelty-free and sustainable beauty brand, Glossier, through conversations that took place on Into the Gloss. Glossier has a strong media presence that caters towards millennials who make up nearly half of their sales, however, this is an unsustainable target market with room for growth. After further analysis of current consumer trends we found an opportunity for Glossier to begin expanding their target audience to both Generation X and Baby Boomers with the expansion of their lines of products.
III. Proposal
The Idea:Glossier was founded in 2014 by Emily Weiss after her blog, Into the Gloss, gained a cult following. Their mission is to create clean beauty products that focus on consumer’s wants and needs. These products are meant to be used on an everyday basis with the possibility to utilize them in more ways than one. For example, their infamous “cloud paint” can be used as blush, lipstick, and more. Glossier’s merchandise is about the enhancement to their consumer’s already natural beauty rather than hiding it under unbreathable makeup. Some of Glossier‘s best sellers include boy brow, milky jelly cleanser, generation G lipstick, and balm dotcom. Most ingredients are nourishing to skin but they mainly operate in cosmetics and skin care aimed towards millennials.
Glossier went viral as a digital winner for incorporating social media and content creation into their e-commerce strategy. Instead of launching products at random, Weiss lets her customers dictate which products are launched through live feedback on social platforms including the involvement of product development and their marketing process. This creates an authentic interaction between Glossier and their customers and creates value for them by being able to provide product advice and engagement in product production. Glossier uses a strictly e-commerce business with occasional pop-up shops, but their digital presence sets them apart from competing brands.
This chart demonstrates the “heavy buyers” of Glossier including Millennials and older ages of Generation Z.
Our idea is to create a brand extension of Glossier to face current limitations of the brand strategy. Glossier is known as a “people-powered clean beauty ecosystem” and it is important we maintain this image while looking to extend our product line. This product line will be focused on adult skincare to reach a wider audience. Glossier’s original target market is focused on millennials who comprise 50.5% of Glossier’s total sales, although this is great as Millenials are the most tech-savvy generation, it is important we are continuously evolving as well as looking for new opportunities to expand our very limited consumer base. We believe the adult skincare brand extension will allow us to tap into the Generation X and Baby Boomer generations that we currently have unstable customer relationships due to our limited products focused on mature skin needs.
Why?
By launching an adult skincare line under Glossier this would tap into a completely new market. This launch would be a completely new clean adult beauty line at an affordable price not often seen in the beauty industry. Competing sustainable/environmentally friendly skincare brands include Biossance, Tula, Drunk Elephant, and BareMinerals, however, these products range from $50-$150 USD. Glossier will make their appeal to their target audience by providing sustainable, clean, high quality adult skincare that won’t break the bank.
Glossier will also continue to honor their customer involvement within their product development decisions. Before launching this line, Glossier will be posting surveys on our Social Media Platforms, with an emphasis on Facebook, asking our new target audience (Generation X and Baby Boomers) what their skincare needs are. By demand, we will then determine which product we suit best to launch for our adult skincare line. This will establish a more meaningful relationship between our brand and our target generations resulting in brand loyalty.
Importance of the Idea:
Unfortunately, Glossier’s marketing plan is not sustainable. We need to begin to grow our marketing strategies as well as our target audiences who are currently consumed by Millennials. By expanding our target audience we will stay in competition with other brands as well as distinguish ourselves from them. Sustainability is a hot and coming “trend” that most companies are now turning to to target the wants and needs of their consumers. Glossier is based on the very foundation of being a sustainable and environmentally friendly brand at its core, which gives us an upper hand to other basic skincare companies. Our main concern would be our competition. However, we see through pricing that these “clean beauty” companies with adult skincare lines have prices that are, unfortunately, unreachable for a large portion of the target audience (Baby Boomers and Generation X). One of Glossier’s focuses is providing high quality products to EVERYONE at an affordable price and we will continue to take these measures with our adult skincare line. We hope to make this a “go to” skincare line amongst adults for their many concerns and for our unbeatable prices.
How I am Going to Communicate My Idea:
I will provide the Glossier Team evidence including statistics as well as case studies that focus on Baby Boomer and Generation X consumer behaviors. This evidence will prove the necessary action needed for Glossier to begin to expand its target audience to older generations. Glossier is a digital marketing champion that needs to take advantage of everyone who is using the Internet - not just Millennials. Although a majority of the customer to brand interactions revolve around Instagram, Glossier still uses other social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. For our targeting purposes we will provide data on the most used platforms by Generation X and Baby Boomers so we know how to effectively reach them.
Sustainability/Environmental Concerns in Baby Boomer/Generation X: In the “Do Generations Differ When it Comes to Green Values and Products?” study done in the Electronic Green Journals results found there was a significant difference (p= .05) in the means among the generations with the Baby Boomers scoring higher than both the Millennials and Xers in relationship the first question: “It is important to me that the products I use do not harm the environment?” This tells us Baby Boomers felt more strongly about using products that do not harm the environment than the younger generations.
Heavily used Social Platforms by Gen X/Baby Boomer Generations: During the reported time period as given by Statistica, 81 percent of Gen Xers had a Facebook account, and 77 percent of them actively used it.Since Glossier is strictly E-commerce it is important to know if our target market is reachable - and yes, it is. Millennials aren’t the only tech-savvy individuals and a large portion of our new target market is scrolling on Facebook daily. This is a great way to reach our market.
Gen X/Baby Boomer Generations Shopping Habits: A common misconception is that younger generations are more likely to shop online, however, this reports to be untrue with Generation X making the most online purchases than any other age group, averaging nearly 19 transactions per year. There was also a drastic increase in online baby boomer shoppers ever since the beginning of the pandemic, giving Glossier the perfect opportunity to reach this audience through e-commerce. “Consumers 65 and older are now the fastest-growing group of online buyers, spending 49% more on the web in 2020 than they did the year prior, the Washington Post reported, citing data from the NPD Group's checkout tracking. The frequency of purchases also jumped 40%” (Dailey, 2021).
IV. General Insights: Industry Overview – External Analysis
Industry Analysis:
Skincare is the second-largest branch of the beauty industry being more than 23% of its annual revenue. The U.S. natural personal care market size was valued at USD 1.53 billion in 2017 while the global organic beauty product market is projected to reach over $22 billion by 2024 . An upswing in the demand for natural anti-aging products by middle-aged and young adult population in the recent past has provided an upthrust to the market. Increased awareness about the harmful effects of chemicals on the human body as well as increasing environmental concerns have steered consumers toward more sustainable and environmentally friendly brands. Consumers in this segment are familiar with the benefits of using natural and organic products as compared to their synthetic counterparts. Rising exposure of skin to harmful sun rays and other air pollutants is stirring up the demand among young adults for products that can help prevent early aging and ensure younger-looking skin with middle-aged adults holding a significant share as well. This demographic focuses more on products that have anti-aging properties and contain no harmful chemicals. In 2020, 67.4 billion dollars was spent on facial skincare alone with it projected to reach 71.2 billion by the fourth quarter in 2021, however, findings show prestige beauty sales have dropped 14% in 2020, while skincare within the natural beauty segment are up 11%, according to NPD.
Competitors:
Biossance
"We expected around 150% growth for our Biossance brand this year (2020) and are tracking for over 250% year on year sales growth after the first six weeks of 2020," said John Melo, Amyris (Biossance brand parent) President and CEO. "This momentum in Clean Beauty overall has the potential to deliver over $130 million in sales and over $90 million in revenue with very strong gross margins for 2020 across Biossance’s Clean Beauty portfolio. Debt reduced below $150 million in 2020 with record sales revenue of $173 million growing 13% versus 2019. Record Product revenue of $112 million increased 72% versus the prior year driven by record Consumer revenue and record Ingredients growth, up 197% and 26% respectively (2021).
Tula
Tula, a New York-based skincare company, has also benefited from the natural beauty trend and is now trying to keep up with demand posting a 400% increase in April sales compared with the year prior (2019) — the best April Tulas has seen in its six-year history — doubling its sales from March 2020.
Drunk Elephant
In 2018, Drunk Elephant's estimated revenue was more than $150 million, derived from sales of its 20 total products online and in Sephora stores and surely became the number 1 sold skincare in Sephora as of 2019. Shortly after, Shiseido bought Drunk Elephant for 845 million dollars . In 2020, Drunk Elephant has an estimated net sales of around 100 million dollars with web sales being anywhere from $25-50 million.
BareMinerals
“For bareMinerals, we continued to move forward with structural reforms, including the closing of unprofitable boutiques. Additionally, we made efforts to fortify our brand portfolio in such ways as concluding a licensing agreement with Tory Burch, an American lifestyle brand, and acquiring Drunk Elephant, a fast-growing prestige skincare brand centered on the U.S. market.”
Shiseido 2020 USA Sales 124.3 billion
Industry Threats:
Threat of new entrants: The laws pertaining to the beauty industry in the United States are flexible and do not require cosmetic products and ingredients, other than color additives, to have FDA approval before they go on the market. The two most important laws pertaining to cosmetics marketed in the United States are the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA). Companies and individuals who manufacture or market cosmetics have a legal responsibility to ensure the safety of their products. Neither the law nor FDA regulations require specific tests to demonstrate the safety of individual products or ingredients. The law also does not require cosmetic companies to share their safety information with FDA. Drugs, however, must generally either receive premarket approval by FDA through the New Drug Application (NDA) process or conform to a "monograph" for a particular drug category, as established by FDA's Over-the-Counter (OTC) Drug Review. These monographs, or rules, specify conditions whereby OTC drug ingredients are generally recognized as safe and effective, and not misbranded. The FDA has published rules for a number of OTC drug categories. These rules state requirements for categories of nonprescription drugs, such as what ingredients may be used and for what intended use. Among the many nonprescription drug categories covered by OTC monographs are acne medications, treatments for dandruff, seborrheic dermatitis, psoriasis, and sunscreens. It’s against the law for a cosmetic to contain any ingredient that makes the product harmful when consumers use it according to directions on the label, or in the customary or expected way. This is true whether or not there is a regulation that specifically prohibits or restricts the use of the ingredient in cosmetics. All cosmetics made and sold in the UK and EU, however, must comply with the cosmetics laws. These tend to be a lot stricter than the United States laws and regulations and make it harder for those looking to sell their products outside of the United States harder to do so.
Buyer Power: With the launch of Glossier’s adult skincare line it is important to consider the shopping habits of both Generation X and Baby Boomers. Data shows both generations have a higher average spend per transaction compared to Millennials, and outspent them in the retail category, among several others. This goes to show that while beauty brands should continue to target Generation Z and Millennials, they should also focus their marketing efforts on the Gen X and Baby Boomer market. The Baby Boomer beauty market represents a large untapped market with approximately 75 million in the United States alone. According to Forbes, Generation X holds 31% of the spending power while 70% of the United States disposable income is the hands of Baby Boomers who spend over $3.2 trillion a year. Over the next twenty years spending by those above the age of 50 is expected to increase by 58% to $4.74 trillion with spending by younger Americans from ages 25-50 to only increase 24%. “With the motivation and desire to look younger and healthier, baby boomers are willing to invest their time and money on an increasing number of beauty and skincare products and services, including those that are innovative and often utilize new technologies'' (SIS International, 2020). While considering the shift of each generation's shopping habits, it is also important to consider how the COVID-19 Pandemic has affected them as well. The pandemic has had a negative financial impact for many consumers in the U.S. as the unemployment rate reached 6.7% in December according to the Department of Labor. The PowerReviews conducted a study , “Changing Face of the Beauty Shopper” which draws on survey responses from 10,646 active beauty consumers across the country. These findings stated 41% consumers are spending less money on their beauty products than prior to COVID, however, 38% shared their beauty spending has not been impacted by COVID and 21% said their beauty spending has actually increased. Findings also showed 76% focusing on buying products that are sustainably made
These are all important factors to consider as it shows 100% of beauty consumers are still actively purchasing cosmetic products, however, due to the rise in unemployment it is no surprise to see nearly half of the participants spending less on beauty products compared to pre-COVID. This is exactly where Glossier’s skincare line comes in. We are not only a sustainable brand, but are focused on providing high quality adult skincare at an affordable price compared to our prestige competitors who’s pricing ranges from $30-$200 USD.
3. Supplier Power:
The charts demonstrate the top 10 beauty suppliers in the United States as well as globally. This is not a niche market and many suppliers are available to those in the beauty industry.
4. Substitutes:
To help better analyze the possibility of “substitutes” we will be discussing the PowerReviews Changing Face of the Beauty Shopper Study Survey more in depth. The 10,646 individuals who surveyed belong to the following generations:
Generation Z (1997-present) at 3%
Millennials (1981-1996) at 49%
Generation X (1965-1980) at 36%
Baby Boomers (1946-1964) at 12%
The results of this survey demonstrate the large portion of both Generation X and Boomers who label themselves as “Beauty Enthusiast” or those who are always searching for the next best beauty product and brand. As for “Beauty Novice,” or those who are just getting into beauty and are curious as to what is out there, each of Glossier’s target generations ranked about 15%. Both results give Glossier a nearly 75% reach of these markets as “Brand loyalist” fall to the lowest percentages. Although it may seem easy for consumers to find “substitutes” due to their versatility in their choice of beauty products - we must consider all of the data. Due to COVID-19 a majority of consumers have been spending less on their beauty products, however, Glossier’s purpose is to provide the Gen X/Boomer generations with a more affordable option while still providing the highest quality products. Glossier will be the substitute for our competitor brands who offer sustainable/environmentally friendly adult skincare at much higher prices, but due to the current global pandemic and its effects on the job force, our competitor’s pricing has become unreachable for a large portion of the target markets.
5. Competitors:
V. Current Business Model
Main Business Model:
Glossier uses a direct-to-consumer business model that interacts directly with their customers through their e-commerce website and social media. After closing their doors in the midst of the pandemic, Glossier has just announced their first three permanent brick-and-mortar locations located in Seattle, Los Angeles, and London. Their products are crafted based on customer and Into The Gloss community feedback. Since products are developed based on consumer needs, this gives Glossier the availability to cut down on inventory cost as they are only building on demand.
Revenue Model:
Glossier sells products ranging from Skincare, Makeup, Fragrance, and Glossier merchandise (clothing, water bottles, make up bags). However, their best sellers include their Milk Jelly Cleanser, Exfoliating Skin Perfector, Priming Moisturizer Face Cream, The Boy Brow, Cloud Paint, and their Generation G Lipstick both failing into the Skincare and Makeup categories. The chart below demonstrates the 50/50 split for both categories being the highest source of Glossier’s revenue.
SWOT Analysis of current business model:
STRENGTHS
Strong brand identity, culture and vision
Strong usage of social channels
In depth understanding of the millennial woman and social media usage trends
Digital creative and unique marketing strategies amplify brand identity, increasing brand profitability and engaging audience to become loyal customers
Uses customer feedback to develop products and strengthens brand culture
Cruelty free/Sustainable Brand Promise
Product portfolio in the affordable tier of the luxury market reaches a larger segmentation
WEAKNESSES
Website lacks a mix of media content that would elevate the online shopping experience
Lack of video testimonials
Has been accused of lack of diversity
Poor HR Department reviews
OPPORTUNITIES
Business model is disruptive to beauty industry standards, elevating the brand amongst competitors.
Strong product portfolio that ranges from skincare, makeup, and body care with opportunities for expansion
Provide online promotions including bundling as well as online sales.
Loyalty programs: can help retain customers, encourage repeat visits and increase purchase amounts.
THREATS
Beauty companies that offer products in a large range of brick-and mortar stores as Glossier has not yet even opened up their three.
Not accessible to customers globally who want “easy to use” skincare and makeup products that don’t mask your face.
Customer experience is mostly experiences online: instagram, twitter, Into the Gloss or glossier.com
VRIO Framework:
Value: Glossier’s Digital Engagement is highly valued amongst their consumers helping to establish a deep and authentic relationship between the two. Their sustainable market point as well as multi-use products makes the perceived value of these products high. They are also valued more than their competition due to their differentiation in their product lines.
Rarity: Glossier’s Digital presence is one of the greatest in the industry. Although there are other worldwide competing brands, Glossier’s Digital Engagement has made a distinct name for both its quality and customer relationships through social media. Not one only does competition lack the digital dominance Glossier has, but Glossier’s sustainable aspect including both product and packaging, as well as their aesthetic continuum and affordable pricing makes them quite rare in the beauty industry.
Inimitability: Glossier works under patents and trademarks. This makes it legally impossible for other competing brands to imitate their product lines. Their digital marketing strategies, however, are easy to imitate, but Glossier already has asserted themselves in the social realm and it would be hard for other brands to ever reach their online engagement.
Organization: Beauty Brand Glossier uses multiple platforms for digital engagement to manage the company’s growth. They use these networks to reach out to their customers by asking for feedback and always keeping the customers informed about the brand and their products through other customer photos and reviews. Because of Glossier’s strong media presence they have formed a loyal customer base who also believes in Glossier’s promise to cruelty-free and sustainable products as well as their reachable price point.These resources prove to be a source of sustained competitive advantage for Glossier’s growth.
VI. Internal Analysis: Firm’s Main Functions
Product and Research and Development:
“Unlike beauty incumbents, Glossier has a unique direct relationship with their consumers. A key driver of this relationship is the authentic, two-way communication that is achieved via Into the Gloss and social media platforms. Glossier has been able to leverage these online channels to make products specifically for their audiences. Their content encourages conversations about customers wants and needs, often leading to new product ideas and existing product adjustments. Glossier has created a new type of digital focus group with much lower costs and reduced time to collect feedback. Because they are digitally native, they better capture this data and utilize it to influence product development and iterate further on ideas with the Glossier community. The product co-creation makes consumers extremely engaged with both Glossier products and the brand, even outside of the sales funnel. It also promotes a sense of ownership. This creates an extremely valuable consumer and starts a flywheel where they help create better products but also become a sales channel themselves” (Iglehart, 2020).
Technology Department:
Glossier’s social media presence is a complex core platform built by an in-house tech team that powers the unique Glossier customer experience. “What would set them apart was their ability to build and leverage tech to create a new customer experience centered around community discussion and discovery of products” (Tom, 2018). Although due to COVID-19 Glossier shut down their pop-up shops, the technology team created their own POS (point of sale) system rather than purchasing one of the many options in the market. This gave them the opportunity to create the ultimate customer experience through a seamless customer experience that allows them to begin shopping online and then finishing their purchase in store as well as giving their retail associates background information to help guide the customers. We expect to see this Glossier system reboot as they open their doors to their first three permanent locations in fall of 2021.
Marketing:
Digital Marketing Team:
“A month before the site went live, we started posting photos of the products we were developing and the branding. By the time the website went live we had 15,000 followers on Instagram—and those were a lot of our first customers,” she said in an interview with Telegraph.”- Emily Weiss, Founder and CEO
Digital marketing is the very foundation of Glossier. They use it to their full potential for advertising to customers while also staying consistent across all of their social media offering daily engagement to existing and potential customers. They produce content including editorial how-tos for their products as well as reposts from their brand ambassadors and other chosen Glossier customers. Being so active on social media leads to success due to the loyal customer base they have built through these platforms taking time to thoroughly consider customer’s feedback and applying it every step of the way.
Influencer Marketing:
“At Glossier, something we’ve always stayed very true to, since pre-launch, day one, is that every single person is an influencer.” – Emily Weiss, Founder and CEO
Rather than exclusively using influencers with thousands or even millions of followers, Glossier uses 500 chosen “superfans” as their brand ambassadors. These are real Glossier customers who promote their favorite products through their personal accounts contributing to Glossier’s authentic brand image. Micro-influencers are key to catering to the customer to brand reliability factor which will be deemed as a more valuable source of trusted opinions. These endorsements are both the most powerful and cheapest source of advertising for the brand.
Ethics and CSR:
Glossier is a cruelty-free brain with a commitment to sustainability. None of Glossier’s ingredients, formulations, or finished products are tested on animals anywhere in the world.
VII. New Strategic Marketing Strategy
Current Limitation(s):
Through thorough analysis of the above research, we find Glossier’s current marketing strategy holding limitations to reaching a larger customer base which affects the company’s ability to grow. Glossier is focused on millennial beauty and skincare with their customers coming directly from e-commerce and social media. Consumer behaviors have changed due to COVID-19 and it is important Glossier is able to grow their strategies to reach the new and rising demands - sustainable, affordable, high quality skincare for adults.
New Strategy Chosen:
It was chosen to create a Glossier Brand Extension Line focused on adult (Gen X and Baby Boomer) skincare needs. Glossier is currently focused on the younger generation’s needs including makeup and basic skin care based on consumer feedback. We must implement a niche differentiator strategy to begin expanding our target audiences to older generations. Based on the research provided, we understand our new target audiences (Gen X and Baby Boomers) are active social media users who are also more likely to shop with sustainable brands than ever before (no longer just millennials). We will maintain our current digital marketing strategies as well as our sustainable approach, however, we will begin to expand our “influencer marketing” ambassadors to older generations that are relevant to our new target market. @AccidentalIcon and @WhiteHairWisdom are our two new key brand ambassadors for reaching an older audience. We also will honor our product development by using consumer feedback - to do so we will launch our own surveys based on Adult Skin Care Needs and Demands (anti-aging, anti-wrinkle, dark spot correctors, etc.) to decide which products will be best to launch for our new customers. All products will be the highest quality available at an affordable price made with sustainable packaging methods - this will differentiate ourselves from competitors in the market as well as establish an alternative to those looking for a sustainable adult skincare that is not overly expensive.
VIII. Marketing Research on Competitors
Tula: The average age of a customer on Tula.com is 32 and 75 percent of customers are below the age of 35. Although Glossier and Tula have a similar customer base, Glossier has a much larger brand recognition. Tula offers their products at a lower price than most luxury brands, however, they are still higher than Glossier’s target price. Tula uses a CRO strategy for a seamless interaction on their website which drives user interaction and percentages of purchases - nearly a 27% increase.
Drunk Elephant: Drunk Elephant appeals to a full range of consumer demographics, especially Gen Z and Millennials. Their packaging is millennial clickbait, but their high prices tend to attract older audiences as well. Their website allows for easy access to products and seamless click through options.
Comparison of 3 brands:
Similarities:
Customer Base: Highest sales of all three brands belong to the millennial market, the next top buyers of all brands belong to older Generation Z.
Sustainable: All three companies are marketed as “sustainable” brands.
Tula: TULA Skincare® Recycling Program: Recycle TULA jars & tubes that can’t be curbside recycled, free of charge, thanks to partnership with TerraCycle®. Carbon Neutral Shipping: Choose “carbon neutral shipping” at checkout to help offset the environmental impact of your delivery, thanks to our partnership with Cloverly®. SFI-certified: TULA.com mailer box is 100% curbside recyclable. It’s made from materials certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative standard & has eco-friendly, pine-based resin ink.
Drunk Elephant: “ “Recyclable packaging has been a goal that I’ve had for the brand for a long time. I approach Drunk Elephant as a consumer, and we do our best to make the right choices across the board and be as sustainable as possible in our formulas, ingredients, and packaging. We balance and evaluate the consequences of every choice we make at every stage.” -Tiffany Masterson, founder
Glossier: “In early 2019, leaders from across Supply Chain, Packaging, Product Development, Design, and other teams did a thorough audit. We developed a set of principles to empower our entire team to make decisions across the company with sustainability front of mind. And we’ve made some early progress: In the world of packaging, we’re focused on reduction—of excess, waste, and impact on the environment. As a direct-to-consumer business, an important milestone was the launch of Limited Packaging, which makes it easy to opt out of the pink pouch and any packaging extras when ordering on our website. Since we launched this option in June of 2019, you’ve selected Limited Packaging more than *250,000* times. We also updated our shipping boxes to be made from 100% recycled content, discontinued sticker sheets, and began the process of removing all unnecessary liners in our boxes. Starting in April of 2019, we’ve offered pink pouch recycling at our pop-up shops (2019). As a company, we’re making an ongoing commitment to the environment, our customers, and our team that we will always seek to improve and innovate when it comes to our products, packaging, and operations” -Emily Weiss, CEO and Founder.
Differences:
Social Media Presence/Brand Recognition:
Glossier Instagram Follower Count = 2.7 million
Glossier Youtube Follower Count = 151K
Glossier Facebook Follower Count = 388K
Tula Instagram Follower Count: 396K
Tula Youtube Follower Count = 219 (no engagement in last 2 years)
Tula Facebook Follower Count = 98K
Drunk Elephant Instagram Follower Count: 1.1 million
Drunk Elephant Youtube Follower Count = 3.16K
Drunk Elephant Facebook Follower Count = 2,869
Glossier has the top social media presence amongst all three brands. This differentiates them from Tula and The Drunk Elephant in terms of digital marketing, brand recognition, and consumer engagement.
Price range:
Glossier:
Highest Price Product: Priming Moisturizer - $35
Lowest Price Product: Milk Jelly Cleanser - $9
Tula:
Lowest Price Product: Travel Size Purifying Cleanser - $10
Drunk Elephant:
Lowest Price Product: No. 9 Jelly Cleanser - $32
IX. New Strategy Implementation
Highlighting Year 1
Redefining Glossier as more than a Millennial based beauty company
Begin to create Into the Gloss Blog Posts focused on topics that are relevant/trending to our new target market that will then be synced to our social media platforms
Expanding our ambassadors to older generations to reach our target audience on a more relatable level
Begin product development through surveys and feedback from our new target audience (Gen X and Baby Boomers)
Launched through heavy populated Gen X/Baby Boomer sites including Facebook (81% actively use FB)
Launch our Sustainable Adult Skin Care Line based on our consumer’s feedback and needs
Highlighting Year 2:
Continue implementing older generations within our influencer marketing
Continue incorporating Gen X/Baby Boomer beauty/wellness topics into the Glossier Blog: Into the Gloss
Continue growing Adult Skin Care Line by launching new products based on the needs of Gen X/Baby Boomer market
Continue Sustainable Packaging
Recycled plastic containers, minimal packaging options, ethical product sourcing
Highlighting Year 3:
Begin selling Glossier Adult Skin Care in our Brick-and-Mortar stores as we establish a loyal Gen X/Baby Boomer audience
Begin developing Glossier’s own in-house sustainable ingredient that focuses on adult skin and is not yet seen on the market
We can use La Mer for reference who created “a fermentation process that transformed sea kelp and other pure ingredients into Miracle Broth™. This cell-renewing elixir at the heart of Crème de la Mer products would finally transform the look of any skin.”
Highlighting Year 4:
Launch our own in-house sustainable ingredient to incorporate into a new Adult Skin Care Product based on consumer feedback
Begin implementing our new in-house ingredient into other new products throughout Year 4
Highlighting Year 5:
Begin expanding beyond Adult Skincare and into other Adult needs
Varicose Veins, Age Spots, Thinning Hair, etc.
X. Assessment and Success
To measure the success of our Adult Skincare line we must use segmentation to split up the different age groups by revenue:
Segmentation of Age and Revenue: Currently, over 75% of Glossier’s sales are coming from the Millennial and Generation Z market. In order to determine our success we would like to see the percentages of the older generations shift to at least 30% after the first launch. We plan to succeed to near equal percentages amongst all of our target age groups by Year 5.
Segmentation of Social Media: We currently cater to our millennial followers who rank the highest age group that follows our Instagram. To determine if we are capturing our audience's attention, we would like to see an increase in the number of followers we have that reside in the Gen X/Baby Boomer Generations.
Other measurements:
Market Share: We would like to see an increase in our presence under marketed Sustainable Adult Skincare. We have never formally been present in this market and we would like to see Glossier become a top competitor amongst high-end/luxury brands in the market category.
Customer Satisfaction: Glossier’s entire product model is based on customer feedback. We will measure the success of the launch through customer satisfaction rates. This will ensure we met their demands as well as exceeded expectations through our new product line.
XI. Conclusion
Glossier’s current business model creates limitations for the brand. The company is known as being a “millennial beauty brand,” however, this is no longer a sustainable approach for growth as many competitors are beginning to show through with similar strategies. To maintain the growth of Glossier we suggest they implement a new Adult Skincare Line within the same affordable price point. This product line will offer the company the opportunity to expand their target audience beyond Millennials and Generation Z and to begin tapping into the Generation X and Baby Boomer Markets. Research shows COVID-19 has shifted consumer behaviors - especially among our new target markets. Findings show 41% of consumers are spending less money on their beauty products with Generation X and Baby Boomers falling into the Brand Ethustisit and Brand Novice Categories (page 11). This gives Glossier a timely chance to approach this market as many are looking for more affordable options. Glossier will honor their sustainable approach and high quality products at affordable pricing compared to the above competitors (Tula, Biossance, Drunk Elephant) who’s price ranges are not reachable for a large percentage of buyers. Glossier will function as the alternative to these brands that will give Gen X and Baby Boomers the opportunity to try high quality adult skincare without overspending.
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