The Evolution of Beauty Marketing: Transparency, Trips & TikTok

Join us for Part 2 of our episode with beauty industry and social media expert, Mimi Banks.  In this episode, we dive into the evolution of the beauty industry and explore how transparency, accountability, and a two-way conversation have become key in the relationship between brands and consumers. Mimi shares her insights on how the rise of social media has fueled these changes, emphasizing the significance of community management and the impact of influencer marketing within today's beauty landscape.

Episode Highlights: 

- How the beauty industry's approach to consumers has transformed from a one-sided interaction to a responsive dialogue, with a focus on transparency and immediate communication.

- The critical role of community in brand success and how social media platforms have been instrumental in finding and building these communities.

- Influencer marketing strategies, such as the Cerave brand-building technique with actor Michael Cera and "Trippin with Tarte," analyze the effectiveness and the potential backlash from consumers of this influencer trip. 

- The impact of TikTok on brand visibility, consumer engagement, sales, and what brands might face if it were to be banned.

- The concept of brands as entities with personalities and a moral compass, and how they're held accountable for their values and practices, which is especially visible during grand influencer events.

Listen to the full episode and read more at: shespeaks.com/podcast

Follow Mimi on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/mimibanks/?hl=en

MB Social: https://www.mimibsocial.com/
https://www.instagram.com/mbsocial.agency/?hl=en

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Transcript

Mimi Banks: 0:00

And a lot of social media today is really about how well does the brand represent you, how relatable is it to you?

Aliza Freud (host) : 0:17

Welcome back. Hope you're all having a great week. We are here back with part two of my conversation with beauty industry and social media expert, mimi Banks. If you have not heard part one of our conversation, that was last week, please go back and listen to that how the beauty industry is interacting with people like you and I as consumers, and how they are changing what they do based on social media.

Aliza Freud (host) : 0:53

We talk about Michael Cera, the actor, and the brilliant move that CeraVe, the skincare brand, which is one of the clients that Mimi works with. We talk about that whole campaign that Michael Cera has done with CeraVe. And then we also talk about the impact influencer trips that the beauty industry has been doing for a long time. One trip kind of made headlines recently. That was one that Tarte Cosmetics did with influencers, sending them to Bora Bora, and all of the things that came out of that, both positive and negative. I think you'll really enjoy this conversation with Mimi, so we're going to jump right into it. Here we go. How has the beauty industry evolved in terms of how they approach consumers now versus maybe how they did in the past.

Mimi Banks: 1:55

I think that the beauty industry is held accountable by the consumers, so they have to stand by what they do. So there's transparency. There didn't used to be this two-way conversation between a consumer and a brand, so you would sit down at the makeup counter, I would get my Clinique makeup done, they'd prescribe it to me, I'd buy it and I'd come home and if I had a question I would call a number or maybe you'd write it and send a letter. I'm not sure I'll call my landline or you'd go back to the counter. Now, if somebody has a question, can I have this? Can I use this while breastfeeding? Is this kosher? Is this halal? What can this mix with retinol? Can I, you know? And the list is endless.

Mimi Banks: 2:41

And there's the expectation of, number one, being transparent and answering the questions. Number two is being available, because if you are not available or somebody doesn't answer, then that creates a whole second layer of frustration with the consumer. So, on top of just whatever the products are, there's the transparency and communication component that's expected specifically from the big brands. The smaller brands get away with things just by virtue of when I think the expectations are not yet there because the demand is not there. But beauty industry as a whole, they have to walk the talk.

Mimi Banks: 3:19

Everybody is exposing different brands, their practices, what their beliefs are, what their teams look like, what their shade ranges are, and there's a public conversation that's being had. So, yeah, that's, I think, the biggest thing. That's the conversation that may have been happening behind closed doors, that may have been happening in groups, now is very public and with all, with a lot of our clients, we do a lot of community management. So it's a lot of my team that's behind the wall answering the questions and it's people who don't know or people who are concerned and if they're going to have a skin allergy or they're allergic to X, y and Z ingredient and the brand is just cares about selling the product but not actually the usage. That is a sign to me of their values and I think community really fuels the best brands.

Aliza Freud (host) : 4:11

There have been some positive things to come out of social media. There have been some negative things to come out of social media, but I think one of the most wonderful things about social media is that people have been able to find community there and where they wouldn't have other ones, right? I mean, if you think about how community worked before, it was pretty much in person and people who live geographically near you. But just because I live geographically near you does not mean that we share common values or that we share common interests, you know. So I think that is one of the wonderful things, and I love that you're saying that the brands that do the best are the ones who put community at the heart of how they're interacting, and engaging.

Mimi Banks: 4:57

I mean, I really think so. We talk, even amongst our team, about how we want to make sure that everybody's voice is heard, that every question is answered, that there's 100% response rate to let them know that there's a person behind the brand, that it's not just an automated system, and I think that that's what makes the difference.

Aliza Freud (host) : 5:19

How do you think TikTok has had an impact on the beauty industry? Like what? Do you think you know the implications are for the beauty industry as it relates to TikTok?

Mimi Banks: 5:28

So I think it's given visibility to brands that maybe had limited marketing means and limited budgets, and given visibility, in a way, that's again products that the people fell in love with. So that's one. The second way is that it's driven a tremendous amount of sales. So brand awareness and sales huge, and now, because of that, everybody wants to try to do that, and the best people. It's more authentic, it's natural, it's not forced, it's not with the goal of I want to be viral, I want to create this. Maybe it's something disruptive, maybe it's a new take on what you see already, but the potential is very real. Now, with TikTok Shop, tiktok Live, they've solidified a way that you can monetize TikTok beyond, just like the collaborations and partnerships.

Aliza Freud (host) : 6:26

Yeah, yeah. So if you think about CeraVe, let's talk about them for a second. So they did some very clever things recently and got a lot of press for it. So what I think?

Mimi Banks: 6:36

is brilliant and so amazing about the Michael Cera campaign is the ability to think out of the box, and so every campaign that CeraVe does is so well thought out and so on brand at the same time.

Mimi Banks: 6:53

So it's not just something that's creative and it's not something different, but there's always this deep tie-in to dermatologists, to therapeutic skincare for all, and what I think is also amazing is the pinnacle of the whole Michael Cera campaign that was unveiled at the Superbowl, and so that really speaks volume to the let's. We're gonna talk about influence and we're gonna talk about awareness unveiled at the Super Bowl, and so that really speaks volume to the list. We're going to talk about influence and we're going to talk about awareness of what CeraVe as a brand understands and how to tap into that influence and how they leverage or the strategy of the awareness play is via influence. Some people do awareness in so many different tactics, but CeraVe is so good at storytelling and because the product is so good, it's very easy to tell the story, and so it's really exciting to watch. But it's also exciting to see that, to your point, how many new eyeballs now are on CeraVe because of this strong influencer strategy.

Aliza Freud (host) : 7:56

Yeah.

Mimi Banks: 7:56

And they're using influence in the real sense. Influence has impact, has strong communities. They can tap into new communities and get a lot of new eyeballs. The team that came up with executed Michael Cera campaign was not ours. We are fans, just like everybody else.

Aliza Freud (host) : 8:13

One thing that we started talking about as it related to TikTok was. So you have brands like CeraVe, other brands that came out of nowhere and were able to build huge followings using TikTok Poppy, which is a drink, and there are loads of them. There's so many examples of brands that came out of nowhere, like products that came out of nowhere, nobody knew about them and they became huge on TikTok. So obviously, sales and awareness and all of that from it. Now, what happens for these companies and these products and the influencers, quite frankly, if TikTok gets banned in the US?

Mimi Banks: 8:53

I mean, it's a real issue. It's an issue from the creator, influencer side, who has built their life, their career, on TikTok. Whether it's creating content, whether it's brand partnerships, it's a real challenge. I think the bigger brands will pivot and reinvest their funds elsewhere. They have more flexibility but the smaller ones they'll also. If they were innovative here and they were scrappy, they will be innovative again. And the newer ones it's who don't have the following, but we're saying, okay, we can be scrappy here. It's going to present a real challenge. It's going to present a real challenge. Will people go back to Instagram? I'm not sure.

Aliza Freud (host) : 9:39

Will Instagram adopt TikTok ways? Because already?

Mimi Banks: 9:40

Instagram is doing that. Yeah, we'll see that with Reels. I mean Reels kind of their version of TikTok, totally and like the technology and what they try to do and the editing and just the names are a little bit different. Yeah, but it's a real. It's a real threat to to people's career and livelihood and income.

Aliza Freud (host) : 9:55

Right. Well, and not to mention then the brands, because I think that's one of the other things that we're noticing is that it's still possible to pretty organically go viral on TikTok, right, I mean, you know, it's it's way harder to do so on the other platforms, I think.

Mimi Banks: 10:13

For whatever reason. Oh, totally, it's pay-per-play on the other platforms.

Aliza Freud (host) : 10:17

Yeah, and for TikTok it's right you pay to get the awareness and the relevance and the eyeballs, as you said, but for for TikTok you can still have somebody go viral for creating a good piece of content, totally, which has implications. That has implications for, obviously, for creators and influencers, but it also has implications for these brands that oh, it's a whole sales channel.

Mimi Banks: 10:40

That's right, and you're cutting off a channel distribution. Yeah, you're fully cutting off a channel distribution.

Aliza Freud (host) : 10:47

So well. I mean more to come on that there has been so much written and talked about with these influencer, the beauty industry, using these influencer trips. I'll give an example. Tarte Cosmetics did a recently did a trip that was called the Welcome to Trippin with Tarte, I think it was called, and they had 30 social media influencers that they flew to Bora Bora, which you know nice. They put them up in the Four Seasons Hotel, they paid for all the flights. They, you know they had private jets. There was all sorts of stuff going on. They got tons.

Aliza Freud (host) : 11:27

I remember seeing a video that one of these influencers on the trip put out and she had gone with her mom and they walked into the room where they were staying and literally everywhere you looked there was product, there was something free, something new. She got luggage, she got expensive sunglasses, she got, of course, product, cosmetic product, but there was just so much product there and they had a little bit of a backlash because people started seeing this and saying this is not realistic. Why are you spending all this money on this? You should give this instead back to. You should do something for the everyday consumers of your brand, as opposed to these extravagant trips. So let me first start by asking as a beauty industry expert has the industry been doing trips for a long time, and why do they do trips?

Mimi Banks: 12:22

So Tarte has been doing trip in with Tarte for years and years and years and years and years, years. I don't know if they're even. They could have been one of the first ones. You know the the first ideas of these trips were the press. It used to be press trips, now it's influencer trips that they take influencers on experience and generate millions and millions and millions of impressions and views. Because every moment is so heavily branded. Every single moment is product related. Every moment has the opportunity to generate, um, significant, just brand awareness really, because if they're, they're taking the big they used to take really big people and it's it's in a way it like pays itself back and tenfold because of the impressions of all these people are talking about tart. If it's for a new collection, they're all talking about the collection because they're so excited. And why are they excited? Because they're on this like amazing trip and doing these amazing things that of course they're going to talk about the brand. Of course they're going to talk about these things.

Mimi Banks: 13:23

Now it's a little bit different, because brands still do this. They stop for a little while during the pandemic for a lot of reasons. But also, if we go back to this transparency, there's some influencer fatigue sometimes, in that people, influencers are not new anymore. So to see people that they know have already lived this lifestyle of luxury, already getting the free products, already getting the free things, generates some frustration and backlash.

Mimi Banks: 13:52

And I think that's what started to happen with Tarte is that it was so extravagant and over the top that it started to turn people away and to say, well, this is not necessarily a brand I want to be associated with, because I just want to buy the Tarte mascara and I'm actually wearing Tarte right now Tarte mascara, my Tarte eyeshadow but this does not resonate with me. This is not relatable. And a lot of social media today is really about how well does the brand represent you, how relatable is it to you, how authentic they are, and I think it just slapped them back in the face. Now there's more events. You'll see dinners all over social media. That influencer invited, invited to dinners, or they've invited to ski trips. It's still happening. It's they're doing it in a way that's more exciting than sitting in a room. What they used to do is go to breakfast and then you're like sit with a PowerPoint, you get some free product and you leave, and now it's all about that brand immersion.

Aliza Freud (host) : 15:04

When you think about these brands, they are now almost like people. Right about these brands they are now almost like people right, they almost have to be. The brands are, they are like a person to the people who are following them. There's community. There is more to it than just oh, there's this thing that I buy.

Mimi Banks: 15:20

You feel more accountable right For their ethics and their values, how they treat people and do they only cater to these people? I mean, you're going to see at Coachella all the brands that fly people out and do all of the crazy things and do the houses and do the events and celebrities and moments and makeovers that this is a huge branded event and some now have to be paid to go to attend because either there are multiple invitations or people go on so many trips that the allure is different. So in this case it's the allure and maybe it's.

Mimi Banks: 15:56

I don't know if they paid people or not, but if they're saying we're going to fly you private, you're going to go first class, first accommodations and four seasons and all of the things. Then they save money on the other side because nobody has to pay to be there. There is a certain level of accountability that has to be had. When you go back to your community to say, oh, their perception that you spent these millions of dollars on this select group of people and you're showing this extravagance, that is just not in the slightest relatable and it's so unrelatable that it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Aliza Freud (host) : 16:32

I think it is that what you've mentioned earlier, that brands today have a responsibility because their followers, their community, are going to hold their feet to the fire and say this is important to us and that's just a new. It's a relatively new phenomenon. I think that brands have to deal with that social media kind of that. This is one of the elements. If people want to follow you, what is the best way for them to do that?

Mimi Banks: 17:02

You can find me on Instagram at Mimi Banks, and LinkedIn also at Mimi Banks. Awesome, thank you so much. Thank you for having me.