CASE STUDY: GLOSSIER


Image via Glossier Instagram

Authored by: Dhanshri Parob

INTRODUCTION

Glossier, conceived by American businesswoman Emily Weiss, originated as an extension of her popular beauty blog, Into The Gloss. This blog tracked beauty trends and featured celebrity interviews about their favourite beauty products. The cosmetic company was founded in 2014, initially only operating online. The pandemic surge propelled Glossier to become a leading product in the market. Following the pandemic, the brand expanded to offline stores and collaborated with significant beauty retailers like Sephora in the United States. Weiss identified and capitalised on the emerging trend of makeup minimalism, positioning Glossier as the face of the trend. At its peak in 2021, Glossier reached a valuation of 1.8 billion US dollars (Gross, 2019).

THE STORY

Weiss started her blog Into The Gloss in September 2010, when she worked as a fashion assistant for the American edition of fashion magazine Vogue. The website gained popularity for its series “Top Shelf,” offering insights into beauty products used by actresses and models. The idea stemmed from Weiss’s observations of celebrity beauty routines during her time at Vogue. Managing the growing viewership, which reached 1.3 million in 2016, while holding a full-time job meant Weiss had to work on her blog in the early morning hours, starting her workday at 4 AM (Meltzer et al., 2019). Her blog began with a modest investment of $750 in a used camera and a website domain. However, for the launch of Glossier in 2013, she raised two million dollars in investment. Despite facing multiple rejections, Weiss eventually secured funding for her project through Kirsten Green at Forerunner Ventures in San Francisco (Segran, 2023).

GLOSSIER’S RISE AMID THE COVID PANDEMIC

Glossier embraces the beauty philosophy of “skin first, makeup second,” emphasising enhancing facial features rather than concealing blemishes or altering women’s faces (Meltzer et al., 2019). During the Covid lockdown, with many women working from home or staying indoors, a shift could be observed in beauty trends. Full faces of makeup were no longer necessary, as women did not step outside as often, and this led to a rise in the demand for beauty products aligning with the concept of “makeup minimalism.” This shift brought Glossier into the spotlight, amplified by social media attention (Paintsil & Kim, 2021). Capitalising on this momentum, the company launched multiple advertising campaigns to cater to the evolving market during the pandemic (Kääriäinen, 2021). High-demand products like Balm Dotcom and Boy Brow frequently sold out, leading the company to expand beyond its direct-to-consumer model. Post-pandemic, Glossier debuted on Sephora shelves in the United States and Canada.

GLOSSIER GRANT PROGRAM

Weiss saw success in her business venture amid the pandemic, prompting her to support fellow beauty entrepreneurs through the Glossier Grant Program (Glossier, 2023). This initiative, which seeks to bring change in the beauty industry, invests in black beauty entrepreneurs who have historically faced barriers due to racial inequality and exclusion. A 2021 data report found that black business founders faced multiple obstacles to raising funding and only received a small proportion of venture capital investment (Jackson, 2022). Through this program, Glossier has partnered with over 30 black entrepreneurs and funded 26 beauty brands with over one million dollars in investment (Glossier, n.d).

CHALLENGES

In 2019, Glossier responded to customer demands with the Play line by introducing vibrant makeup. Despite aspirations to launch new brands regularly, the strategy failed, leading to the closure of Play in 2020 due to disappointing sales. Challenges escalated in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, as employees revealed a toxic workplace culture and racial mistreatment on an Instagram account called Outta The Gloss. In 2022, despite raising $80 million, Glossier fired 80 employees, a third of its workforce. Weiss acknowledged missteps, attributing the layoffs to prioritising brand expansions over core business focus. The tumultuous journey reflected lessons learned and internal restructuring (Horton, 2019).

PRESENT DAY: LEAHY’S LEADERSHIP

In May 2022, Emily Leahy assumed the CEO role at Glossier, acknowledging past challenges rooted in a lack of focus. She aims to reinforce Glossier’s unique identity as a community-centric beauty brand. The Sephora partnership accelerates Glossier’s scale, tapping into massive customer demand despite holding less than 1% of the $500 billion beauty industry. Leahy defends embracing retail as a means to reach consumers nationwide efficiently. Glossier’s pivot to wholesale aligns with industry trends as direct-to-consumer brands increasingly explore retail partnerships for growth. Responding to customer feedback about a perceived lack of new products, Leahy is revitalising Glossy Labs to release products every four to eight weeks. Notable successes include the reformulation of Balm Dotcom, leading to $1 million in sales within a week. Leahy sees Glossier’s recent growth as a positive trajectory despite past hurdles, emphasising the brand’s resilience and commitment to progress (Segran, 2023).

REFERENCES

1. Gross, E. L. (2019, March 19). Glossier Raises $100M And Now Has A Billion-Dollar Valuation. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/elanagross/2019/03/19/glossier-raises-100m-and-now-has-a-billion-dollar-valuation/

2. Glossier. (n.d.). Grant Program 2023. Glossier. https://www.glossier.com/en-in/pages/grant-program-2023

3. Glossier (2023, July 31). Meet the Grantees from Glossier’s 2023 Grant Program for Black-Owned Beauty Businesses. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/meet-the-grantees-from-glossiers-2023-grant-program-for-black-owned-beauty-businesses-301888716.html

4. Horton, A. (2023, September 19). The complicated rise and fall of Glossier: ‘There were missteps and there were successes.’ The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/19/glossier-beauty-brand-book-emily-weiss

5. Jackson, A. (2022, February 4). Why mentorship and access to capital are “critical” keys to closing the VC gap for entrepreneurs of color. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/03/mentorship-and-access-to-capital-are-critical-to-closing-the-vc-gap-for-entrepreneurs-of-color.html

6. Kääriäinen, P. (2021). The cool girl cult: Glossier and building brand identity on Instagram. Master's thesis.

7. Meltzer, M., Schoeller, M., & Smith, A. (2019, October 10). How Glossier Founder Emily Weiss Built a Billion-Dollar Megabrand. Vanity Fair. https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2019/10/how-emily-weiss-grew-glossier-from-millennial-catnip-to-billion-dollar-juggernaut

8. Paintsil, A., & Kim, H. S. (2021, September 7). Sharing personal experiences and online consumer engagement: A case study of Glossier. Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/20932685.2021.1947150

9. Segran, E. (2023, February 16). What happened to Glossier. Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/90849720/glossiers-sephora-launch-is-part-of-a-bigger-transformation



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