The Rare Beauty brand has become one of the most interesting and influential beauty brands targeted towards Gen Z. It took five years after its launch to create its first major advertising campaign, yet it’s the second most popular beauty brand amongst teens in the US. What is Rare Beauty doing right that other beauty brands are missing out on?
The answer is community-based marketing.
Rare Beauty CMO Katie Welch recently opened up about community-based marketing on the Uncensored CMO podcast. She described one of the brand purposes of Rare was to help people “feel connected to something,” and build a “community” of people with the same shared interest.
Welch also explained that Selena Gomez, the celebrity face of the brand, was passionate about “creating a community where people feel warm and welcome and connected,” taking inspiration from the daily positive affirmations she wrote on post-it notes and stuck to her mirror.
Welch shared a particularly interesting anecdote from before the brand first launched. She recalled putting out an advertisement for regular people to model different foundations for Rare, which received over 20,000 applications. Welch encouraged applicants to send in “real, open and honest stories” about what made them feel “Rare” in their own lives and a community was born.
The Rare Beauty community turned its customers into micro-influencers
Another way Rare Beauty has grown communities is by encouraging customers to share their own content online. By using the #RareRoutine hashtag, anyone has the chance to be featured in the Rare Beauty gallery and Instagram page. It’s a golden opportunity for influencers of any level to reach a wider audience, or to just become part of the Rare community - a real win-win.
She reiterated these points last weekend at SXSW.
“True loyalty will come from the experiences where people feel valued just beyond a purchase. I really believe any brand can do this,” said Welch. “I can argue not every brand has to have a brand purpose but I do think every brand should have a community. That’s why you exist.”
It’s clear Rare Beauty has mastered community building, and it looks like the way forward for influencer marketing in the future.
