Celebrity Brands.

MC Savage, staff writer

Celebrities are beginning to branch out into the beauty industry, and their success is undeniable. Not only have they become a large force in industries like beauty and fashion, but they’re also changing how products are marketed and sold. These brands’ success is dependent on the celebrity’s name and fame but also depends on the strategic marketing concepts behind them. These marketing concepts have heavily influenced business strategies in today’s media centered society. Celebrity brands and their intelligent business strategies are affecting beauty and fashion as well as the marketing world.  

One of the biggest reasons celebrity brands succeed is the built in audience that comes along with a celebrity’s fan base. It’s common for fans to often feel connected to someone they look up to, such as a celebrity, so when they launch a product, there’s instant interest and a sense of trust and community. This connection to the celebrity becomes even more influential when there is a personal story or passion behind the brand, which creates an authentic feeling towards the brand. Fenty Beauty, Rihanna’s make-up brand, launched with the promise to include all skin tones, which is something that other larger beauty brands had overlooked. Committing to inclusivity was not just Rihanna attempting to market towards more people for a greater overall profit. But, it was also a genuine response to a gap in the beauty industry and market, which many customers appreciate.  

Kylie Jenner, who launched Kylie Cosmetics in 2015, experienced a giant amount of popularity and traction for her make up brand. Jenner’s beauty brand is driven by her huge social media presence with her millions of followers awaiting every single product drop. This brand is known for releasing products in limited quantities which creates scarcity of certain items. This scarcity creates a sense of urgency for potential customers and fans to quickly purchase the products while they can and while they are available. Jenner’s success with Kylie Cosmetics is largely popular due to her status and presence online, but the limited releases her company is known for is also a creative way to market her company and motivate sales, contributing to the overall success of celebrity businesses.   

“Lots of celebrity’s success in brands comes from their platform and fame. Also, loyal fans probably buy things just to support them (celebrities) even if they don’t really need it,” says junior and marketing student Chloe Hoover.  

Another celebrity brand is Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty. Gomez’s brand is a more unique approach to celebrity make up because it doesn’t just focus on beauty, but it also promotes mental health awareness. Rare Beauty is known for talking about self-acceptance and her passion for mental health and openness about her own journey is one way that she creates a connection with consumers and fans. This connection and vulnerability can foster loyalty to a person, which in this case promotes Rare Beauty’s products and the brand itself.   

All these tactics used by celebrities are ways to promote success for these brands. The loyalty of fans contributes as well as a large social media presence or overall popularity and also open campaigns that celebrities share about their own real life issues and experiences.