What Makes a Beauty Brand Worth Creating?

Standing out matters, but being different isn't the same as offering something better.

I spend a lot of time thinking about what makes beauty brands distinctive. I mean, it is literally my job.

Who they're for. What they stand for. How their positioning translates into products customers will want, experiences they crave and language they resonate with.

I loooove my job, and I love noticing small details that make a brand feel considered at every touch point, from how the customer first discovers the brand, to how they open the product, to how they feel afterwards.

But starting a brand and figuring out how to sell the products isn't where the thinking ends.

Helping a brand stand out is just one piece of the puzzle, I am also interested in the question of what makes this worth creating?

A brand can be beautifully presented, do a stellar job at their marketing and brand awareness, convert customers and sell a shit ton of product.

But what lies beneath that? What is the customer gaining? How is the brand contributing to the world in a meaningful way that isn't just churning out more and more?

For me, a key part of building a strategy for a beauty brand is not just asking the question 'How do we differentiate ourselves?'.

It's asking 'How are we contributing in a positive way to people's lives?' and I mean this in a fully holistic way, for the future of people and the planet.

I don't believe every beauty product needs to solve some big world issue to justify its existence, but I do believe there should be a meaningful contribution. A soul to a brand that delivers genuinely more value.

Purpose becomes interesting when it changes a decision.

A brand's purpose underpins everything else that it does. It influences how a business behaves, the choices it does and doesn't make, it breeds culture and explains the deeper human or societal impact the brand wants to create.

If purpose isn't decided upon at the beginning, or is weak and wishy washy, it shows. Consumers can tell. Especially now when everything a brand does is blasted over the internet and it is very difficult to hide when information can so easily be dug up.

Purpose is built into the foundations of a brand from the very start. This is what gives a brand substance, meaning and responsibility. We are now living in a world where consumers don't just value transparency, they demand it. A purpose is not just a nice to have tick box exercise to add to an about page because a branding expert told you you needed one.

It's fundamental to the ecosystem of building a great modern brand, not just creating a good product.

So, how do you know whether your purpose is actually doing a good job?

If you are starting a beauty brand, or building an already existing one, this is an exercise I would start with.

Write down your purpose. Why do you exist beyond the products you sell? What positive contribution are you making to people or the planet?

Then ask these questions:

1. What does this mean we do?

How does your purpose specifically influence the business? If your purpose is to make beauty feel simpler, what does this mean for your product range? The way you help your customer choose?

"Making beauty simpler" starts to mean more when a customer can see how you made it simpler for them. Whether that's through how they purchase the products, how they recycle the products or how they use the products. If your true purpose is to make your customers lives easier, this should be thought about through every experience, every interaction and every touch point of the brand so it runs through the brand ecosystem, and doesn't just end up being 'nice words on our about page'.

2. What does this mean we don't do?

What does your purpose rule out? What would you say no to as a brand?

For example, if you are "making beauty simpler", would adding more and more products to your range add value to your existing customers? Or just make it more confusing for the very consumer you are attracting.

Sometimes, brands have to make tough decisions and not go where the money is, because it means compromising on their very reason for existing. This is what I believe sets a true purpose led brand from the rest, and where loyalty from your customers will pay ten-fold over the lifespan of a business.

3. Where can someone see the evidence?

Look at your brand as if you are completely unaware of your brands purpose. Look at your most recent marketing campaign, your product pages, your packaging. Imagine you are a customer who has just come across your brand, knows nothing about you and is considering a purchase.

Can you point to something that reflects the contribution you say you want to make?

If not, it might mean there is work to do in translating your purpose into the experience of your brand.

Finally, bring your answers together into a final statement. This is an internal guide for you to follow, so it doesn't need to have customer facing language or be a polished, perfect sentence. It's simply a way to give yourself something useful to refer to next time you are deciding what new product to launch, how to communicate it, or where to invest next.

Follow this structure if it helps.

“Our purpose is to____, for____. That means we will____, we won't____, and customers will see it in_____.”

Good luck!

Mel