Glossier: how one company's blog changed the face of the beauty industry

From blog to beauty brand

For Weiss, the journey started in 2010, when she launched her blog, Into The Gloss, while working as a fashion assistant at Vogue. Weiss had risen through the ranks of the fashion industry, beginning her career at just 15 years old as an intern at Ralph Lauren (a gig she snagged thanks to the neighbor she babysat for).

«I proved myself to be very valuable,» Weiss, 33, told The Cut about her time as an intern. «You have to be so many things. You have to be a sponge, you have to be respectful, you have to roll up your sleeves. I really earned my right to be there. I was just like, ‘Put me to work. I love work!'»

From there, Weiss worked a string of assistant jobs at Conde Nast and even briefly starred as Lauren Conrad’s professional frenemy on the MTV reality series «The Hills» while interning at Teen Vogue. Working in the glamorous world of style, Weiss caught the beauty bug and launched her blog, which gave readers a glimpse into the enviable beauty regimes of fashion’s elite.

Weiss’s blog eventually served as a springboard for Glossier, her unicorn makeup and skincare company. She planned to launch the business with just four products and — according to The Cut — needed $1 million to do so. Out of the 12 venture capital firms she visited, Weiss was reportedly turned down by 11.

«I had no idea what I was doing,» Weiss told The Cut. «I was 28 years old. I didn’t have an M.B.A. I went to art school.»

She finally scored an investment from venture capitalist Kirsten Green and in 2014 began building the business. Weiss did things a little differently, putting an emphasis on millennial-friendly marketing and social media.

«I wrote out, ‘Here are all the things we need to launch: Website. Chemist. Office space.’ And then I just checked them off, one by one,» Weiss told The Cut about building the business. «Put all the balls in the air. Got pregnant with Glossier. Incubated. Gave birth to four beautiful products.» Glossier’s Soothing Face Mist, Priming Moisturizer, Balm Dotcom salve and Perfecting Skin Tint foundation.

Giving The People What They Want

From new colors to travel-sized items, the beauty brand listens to the comments and tweets of their followers. You ask — Glossier delivers. Literally, since most of their sales are made online other than their two storefronts in New York and Los Angeles, this ongoing interaction with the community it created is what keeps Glossier growing.

The company’s popularity is the outcome of one thing: Glossier truly cares about its customers. As Weiss told Entrepeneur, “Conversations are really important. What choice do you have but to ask your customer what they want?” Creating this relationship between brand and consumer is essential in having people feel as though they’re part of your company’s story, and, therefore will want to continue to grow with you. Through engaging design and a personable presence on social media, you can create a successful business.

Glossier Inc.’s Rise to Unicorn Status

As one of the first makeup brands to emerge from the social media scene, the rise of Glossier at times seemed unstoppable. Between 2015 and 2016, the company grew by 600%, and investors took notice of the new player in a global industry worth $500 billion.

The Series B funding round in 2016 attracted $26 million, predominantly from venture investors with social media experience. Glossier continued to stick to the e-commerce format, but the surging demand for its products increased its payroll to 200 employees.

Engaging marketing content and prioritizing consumers’ needs were the main drivers for growth, making a convincing argument for an infusion of $52 million during the third round of funding in 2018.

This was the year Glossier claimed to have sold one Boy Brow every half minute, inspiring investors in 2019 to pour more cash into the growing digital-first beauty company. Emily and her team got $100 million in Series D funding to expand the platform.

Glossier started sprouting roots through brick-and-mortar stores, positioning itself in New York, LA, Miami, London, and Seattle. The year ended with a valuation of $1.2 billion and an official validation of the unicorn status, signaling the sky’s the limit.

4) Acknowledge your weaknesses.

In 2016, Glossier was growing so fast, and the demand for their products was growing so huge, that the company hit a roadblock. Dubbed the “Great Inventory Stock Out of 2016” by Glossier employees, the company was regularly running out of stock on several of its best-selling products. As former Glossier chief operating officer Henry Davis explained:

Ultimately, Davis and CEO Emily Weiss recognized that they didn’t have the expertise or experience they needed in order to manage such a huge amount of inventory. And considering how fast Glossier was growing, they didn’t have time to become supply chain management experts themselves. (That’s not really something you can learn overnight.) So Emily did what any good CEO would do in the situation: She made an outside hire and brought in an expert — a supply chain management director from Apple.

To quote Davis: “It was very much a hard lesson learned.”

But by recognizing this weakness in the business and tackling it head-on, Glossier was able to avoid further damage. They didn’t just put a patch on the inventory issue, they thoroughly repaired it. As CEO, Emily didn’t hesitate to hand over control of a portion of the business to someone with more knowledge and experience. And she didn’t question every tiny detail or decision after that. She trusted the expert to do the job and fix the problem.

As venture capitalist Kirsten Green told Entrepreneur, it’s this ability to delegate that makes Emily so effective as a leader:

Of course, that’s not to say that as CEO, Emily isn’t constantly learning new things and expanding her own skill set. With Glossier growing so fast, she has no choice but to adapt and evolve in order to match the company’s new, more ambitious goals — a fact that Emily is well aware of. However, she also has a secret for upping her CEO game. As she told Recode:

Leaning on mentors and is like a shortcut to unlocking growth, as you’re able to learn from the successes (and mistakes) of more experienced people who’ve come before you. To quote Emily, she’s “generally found a lot of success in surrounding myself and talking to people who are basically like two steps ahead.”

That includes Katrina Lake, CEO of the personal styling service — and publicly traded company — Stitch Fix. Katrina joined Glossier’s board of directors in 2018, so it’s probably not too much of a stretch to think that, sometime in the next few years, Emily might lean on Katrina’s experience and take Glossier public.

Telegram-каналы, на которые стоит подписаться

Сегодня буквально все — от айтишников и до бьюти-блогеров — перешли в Telegram. Почему? Все просто: это удобно

Любому специалисту важно быть в теме и следить за тем, что происходит в отрасли и «что сейчас в тренде». Выбери топ-5 или топ-10 тг-каналов, которые будут тебе идейно близки, и подпишись на них

Совсем не обязательно (скорее, даже вредно) следить за всем-всем-всем, подписывайся по принципу «меньше, но качественнее». Это поможет сформировать так называемую comfort zone, из которой можно черпать полезную информацию и вдохновение на проекты.

Начнем с самопиара — в своем тг я рассказываю про внутреннюю кухню AffArts, развитие команды с нуля, наши факапы и лучшие кейсы, а еще даю немного лайвов из жизни. Буду рад, если ты найдешь там что-то полезное для развития себя и своих навыков.

Каналы, которые можно почитать и вдохновиться:

Curated Design — найти вдохновение и развивать свою насмотренность;
Дизайн-снайпер — канал о развитии творческого человека.
Визуальная культура и дизайн под прицелом смысла. Субъективный взгляд;
Цифровые экосистемы — канал Heads and Hands про цифровые экосистемы и супераппы. Рассказывают, как они создаются и трансформируются;
UX Horn — регулярная подборка лучших постов про UX-исследования и смежных областей;
UI/UX Designer — один из крупнейших каналов с полезной инфой в мире дизайна;
Dynamic Perspectives — Kostya Gorsky — канал Кости Горского, со-основателя hirehire, экс-дизайн-руководителя в Интеркоме и Яндексе;
Вёрстка презентаций — канал Саши Бизикова о вёрстке презентаций и всего, что связано с их оформлением;
Ui Web Design — канал с классными работами по веб-дизайну для вдохновения;
uxuiтельные истории Богдана Гончаренко — авторский канал про дизайн продуктов;
Сломай и сделай нормально — канал CEO digital-агентства Nimax;
Про удобство (Михаил Греков) — про продуктоводство, UX, работу с b2b-продуктом, кейсы из жизни и пользование Озон;
Wannabe like Rozov — в канале Миша Розов пишет про дизайн, управление командами, про рост дизайнеров и возможные препятствия;
Что вы мне рекламируете? — авторский канал про диджитал и маркетинг;
Главред Максим Ильяхов — заметки о тексте, редактуре и рекламе.

Growing Glossier With Social Media

Social media was integral to Glossier’s mission to create a community and generate demand, as sales were to be made mostly by web on the company’s website.

Weiss’ first digital marketing decision was creating the company’s Instagram account. Even though Glossier wasn’t commercialized yet, it gained millions of followers due to smart marketing geared towards the right demographic: Glossier was directly aimed at millennial women who were interested in a low-maintenance approach to skincare and beauty.

Weiss knew her customer base was ever-present on Instagram, so when the company received over $8 million in Series A funding weeks after their launch, the money went to investing in technology and data analytics in order to study the sharing photo app along with other social channels. Weiss wanted to see how posts and products performed and what users engaged with. Instagram subsequently became Glossier’s main marketing platform.

The company also has a representative program with over 500 reps promoting Glossier on their personal social media profiles for monetary commission and product credit. While compensation depends on the number of sales made per month, reps are interested in the program because it means they’re a part of the company. When there are openings for positions within the company, Weiss will do weekly posts on her personal Instagram account, referring to it as “Recruitment Monday”.

As mentioned above, Weiss wanted her company to truly connect with its customers. Glossier hasn’t disappointed yet, they are continually fostering engagement with the community they created. The customer service team, along with the editorial and marketing teams, still respond to each comment and direct message, making customers feel heard. Glossier prides themselves on their interaction with their community, they’re continuously creating polls or publicly answering frequently asked questions or concerns.

Glossier’s new rep program: Mary Kay for the new millennium

Glossier includes its most engaged commenters and customers—many with their own personal beauty blogs—in special events, and referral programs with promotional codes to share discounts with their followers in exchange for store credit at Glossier. Now, the company is trying out a more formal arrangement, anointing eleven women as the company’s formal representatives, with landing pages on Glossier’s website. Each representative’s Glossier page has a video introduction, and her top product picks.

“It’s basically the referral program on steroids,” Weiss said, emphasizing that the program is still in an early testing phase. “It comes back to making everyone an influencer…and so we’re building a platform that enables that.”

It’s the first time Glossier is offering monetary compensation, in the form of a sales commission, to its most engaged customers. But Weiss isn’t sure that money is the most meaningful reward.

“I would argue that there are things more important than money,” she said. “It’s about the ability to have a voice and the ability to be a thought-leader.”

This distinguishes Glossier’s approach from that of typical incentive-based programs such as Sephora’s Beauty Insider, which keep shoppers coming back for those free gifts, but do little to expand the customer base.

Glossier’s vice president of growth, Ali Weiss (no relation to Emily), said the goal is to help each representative create the engaging sort of content that has brought Glossier success, and help them grow their followings. Unlike the multilevel marketing schemes of Mary Kay or Avon (which have been called pyramid schemes), she said Glossier’s rep program is not based on enlisting salespeople or racking up commissions.

The program is more about exchanging social capital than money, Ali Weiss said, adding that the Glossier girls do derive real value from their association with the brand, and vice versa. “They’re rewarded by association with the brand, in sort of this intangible social currency,” she said. “Follower count means so much to so many people in this world, and that’s a huge part of what we think we’re giving them.”

And there are more tangible benefits on the horizon, too, Emily Weiss said. For instance, she would love to host the most valuable Glossier girls at a “Glossier Coachella,” not unlike the ”Camp Glossier” staff retreat the company held last summer.

So, How Did A Beauty Blog Turn Into One Of The Biggest Disruptors In The Beauty Product Industry?

Into The Gloss launched in 2010, producing incredibly compelling and surprisingly personal content. In “The Top Shelf” columns, Weiss would interview women who were rich and famous, with bathrooms filled with pricey products. Even so, they were extremely candid with their skin insecurities.

After a year of being online, Weiss was averaging 10 million page views a month. She quickly realized she tapped into something special: the relatability factor of beauty. Women were united in this assurance that everyone has struggled with acne, hair loss, and a myriad of other issues. Weiss also noticed some major flaws in the beauty product industry: the corporations that traditionally dominated were exploiting the lack of self-confidence in some women in order to sell expensive products.

They weren’t listening to their customers, and before our current era of YouTube beauty vloggers and Instagram influencers, the $250-billion industry wasn’t very accessible or affordable for the average consumer. Weiss wanted to do things a little differently by making beauty more affordable and a lot more fun.

The result was a site that brought a sense of vulnerability to beauty routines previously unseen by consumers. She wanted women to feel good about themselves, and so she set out to create an accessible brand that inspires two-way conversation and creates a kinship between customers.

Her mission was to have women construct their own idea of beauty, utilizing products that were both attainable and affordable for the average consumer. In 2014, Weiss launched Glossier’s first four products on Into The Gloss, “ is about living in—and embracing—the now, not the past, and not the future. It’s about fun and freedom and being OK with yourself today.”

‍Success ingredient #2: Prioritizing user-generated content

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For Glossier, user-generated content (UGC) isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s in their DNA.

Glossier has let go of the standard beauty industry obsession with the aesthetically driven feed. While their Instagram account is chock-full of gorgeous product shots and thoughtful color palettes, they understand that customers want to see real people using their products above all else.

Every week Glossier posts a “Top 5” highlight on their Instagram account, featuring their favorite tagged stories from the week. Now that Glossier has 2.7 million followers, there is a certain status that comes with a Top 5 feature––sort of like when a friend included you in their top 8 on Myspace back in the day. ‍

How to prioritize UGC for your brand:

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Forfeit some control of your brand’s design aesthetic––while more of a mindset than a tangible action item, a focus on UGC starts with embracing the messy parts of authenticity and having the courage to highlight them front and center.
Catalyze UGC by finding micro-influencers to post about your product.
Post UGC on your feeds every day, multiple times per day. People who post about your products should be made to feel like VIPs on your social accounts. Invest the time and resources necessary to engage with UGC––don’t think of it as a passive activity.
Use a platform like #paid to find the right micro-influencers who can post content others can model. ‍

Что делать, если хочешь научиться делать 3D-графику?

Для работы с 3D советую обратить внимание на два варианта: Blender и Cinema 4D. Не скажу, что программы простые, но когда мы говорим о 3D, понятно, что уровень скиллов растет

Кстати, по работе с Blender есть классный курс от Mad Rabbit, иронично, что он так и называется «Самый лучший курс по Blender 3D». Но все-таки «самый сок» в плане полезности образовательного контента — официальная документация.
Кстати, чуть не забыл про Spline — современный инструмент с простым и понятным интерфейсом. Если изначально работа с 3D пугает, то начать точно стоит со Spline. Редактор интегрирован в браузер, можно делать анимацию объектов, а еще — выгружать код. Большой плюс — возможность совместной работы над проектами, а-ля google-доки. Звучит круто, да?

2) Be genuine and realistic with your marketing.

As a former model and fashion assistant at Vogue, Weiss knows the beauty industry inside and out… Which means she’s also familiar with the tropes that plague marketing and advertising in that industry.

As you saw in the previous section, Glossier already avoids the industry standard of packaging their beauty products in flashy, fluorescent colors. But it doesn’t stop there.

When shooting photos for their campaigns, for example, Glossier doesn’t use DSLR cameras, which is how beauty campaigns have always traditionally been shot. Instead, they shoot everything on phones, just like their customers do. Their “models” are Glossier employees (wearing Glossier products, of course) as well as “genuine fans of all shapes, sizes, races and ages,” to quote The Telegraph, whom Glossier recruits via Instagram.

Glossier’s goal is to be authentic with their marketing and to represent the beauty industry in a more realistic light. That means highlighting customers from a diverse set of backgrounds and shedding light on the positive and negative experiences they’ve been having. As Emily once explained in an interview with Inc.:

So, what does that look like in practice? It means Glossier’s marketing doesn’t bombard women with unrealistic and heavily edited images of beauty. And they don’t try to trick their customers into expecting unrealistic outcomes. Instead, they strive to be more grounded. More raw. As Emily once said in an interview with Quartz, in response to a question about beauty industry advertising tropes:

Instead, they’re going to keep snapping pics on their phones and keep encouraging their customers to do the same.

The Blog that Gave Birth to a Brand

In the wake of the fourth industrial revolution, Cinderella stories are no longer fairy tales but real-life examples of young women building empires from scratch. Blogging was a hobby for Emily Weiss, and she would share beauty tips in the morning before clocking into her day job as a fashion assistant at Vogue.

Fashion has played a role in Emily’s life from a young age. As a teen, she interned at Ralph Lauren. Weiss learned the trade at Teen Vogue during her studies at New York University.

She also had a brief modeling career, lasting two summers, and even gave acting a try, with an appearance on the TV show The Hills.

Following graduation in 2007, Emily returned to work for fashion magazines. She showcased her talent first at W magazine as a fashion assistant before moving to Vogue as a styling assistant.

The work experience in the fashion industry enabled Emily to get an insider’s perspective, observing the scene from the first-line trenches. It also boosted her credibility among readers that fatefully followed her posts on the blog website Into the Gloss, which she launched in 2010.

The emerging reputation of a fashion guru stemmed from Emilie’s revelation that there is a disconnect between cosmetic companies and their clients. Weiss believed that women no longer wanted to bow down to the authority of beauty companies and do as dictated. Instead, they preferred to create their style by finding inspiration from their peers.

Weiss’s content appealed to an entire generation of young women. This became obvious in 2014 when the In the Gloss website registered 1.5 million active followers over several social media platforms.

Emily did not ignore her devoted readers and focused on analyzing their likes and dislikes, creating a reference base for the affinities of the new wave of customers. Confident as ever, in 2014, the then 29-year-old fashion influencer decided to become an entrepreneur.

Супергайд. Часть I:

Почему я решил написать этот гайд? Чтобы без лишней воды и лирики рассказать о своем пути в UX/UI-дизайне и помочь начинающим специалистам значительно сократить и упростить этот карьерный челлендж. Меня часто спрашивают, с чего начать, что почитать и что посмотреть — этим гайдом я хочу закрыть все базовые вопросы и помочь найти работу своей мечты тем, кто реально этого хочет и готов идти к цели и конкретным результатам.

Я Игорь, CEO и главный по дизайну в AffArts. Чтобы прийти к этой позиции мне потребовалось более 7 лет, в течение которых я рандомно изучал все, что попадалось под руку — статьи по первым google-ссылкам, требования крупных компаний, чужие диджитал-проекты, проходил онлайн-курсы и вкладывал все больше и больше как денег, так и времени в свое обучение. Если бы 7 лет назад мне на глаза попался этот гайд, все было бы намного проще — за пару лет я бы стал сеньор-дизайнером, и чтобы открыть собственную дизайн-студию мне понадобилось бы значительно меньше времени.

Эта статья будет полезна джунам и тем, кто хочет попробовать, а может и прокачать свои скиллы в дизайне, но не знает, с чего начать, теряясь среди бесконечных курсов типа: «Как за 2 недели стать UX/UI-дизайнером и зарабатывать по 100 000 ₽ в день». Лови план, по которому я бы учился сам. Погнали!

‍Success ingredient #4: Building an army of brand ambassadors

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During its first year, Glossier didn’t invest in any formal marketing tactics. Emily Weiss says that, in the beginning, “79 percent of sales were from organic and peer-to-peer and earned sources.”

Through pitch-perfect product development, Glossier had reached the holy grail of marketing: genuine word of mouth. Their customers became evangelists for their brand.

To keep up the momentum, Glossier has since invested in hiring an army of 500 brand ambassadors. Emily Weiss credits her army of “fangirls” with 90% of Glossier’s meteoric growth.

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How to invest in brand ambassadors for your product:

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Create a brand ambassador program that rewards evangelists who love your product.
Sort your existing evangelists into customer types: Are they entertaining or informative? Are they a celebrity or an authority? Set goals for each ambassador type and develop loose guidelines for them.
Develop a product-focused hashtag for your ambassadors.
Use a platform like #paid to find the right ambassadors for your brand. ‍

Emily Weiss’ foundational philosophy remains true for Glossier: every woman is an influencer. Glossier’s commitment to brand ambassadors, user-generated content, and community development create the environment for what is now one of the largest and fastest growing makeup brands of 2020.

Validation of a Unique Vision

Although In the Gloss started as a hobby blog, it quickly generated a steady revenue stream through ad sales. This motivated the young influencer to quit her day job and capitalize on the blog by expanding the brand’s reach.

In 2014, Weiss founded Glossier Inc. after she managed to raise $2 million in seed funding. Investors were not discouraged by the initial limited offer of only four products, including a lip balm, cleanser, misting spray, and priming moisturizer.

Providing only a selected line of products is the core philosophy of Weiss. The narrow product range aims to celebrate natural beauty, not create artificial looks.

This concept is still in practice, and seven years after the company’s founding, only 40 different products are available on the website. Wess has taken the minimalistic approach, and creating top-of-the-line products remains her driving principle.

Additionally, Glossier works hard on reinventing the idea that price always reflects the quality. Although Glossier cosmetic products tend to be pricey, they are not at the level of premium brands, making them accessible to a diverse panel of customers.

The direct-to-consumer beauty company was consistently moving in the right direction. At the end of 2014, a Series A funding brought in $8.4 million of capital.
The funds helped shore up the company’s headquarters in New York, improving the online infrastructure and increasing the workforce. At the same time, Emily’s work got validated by Forbes after her inclusion in the 30 Under 30 List for 2014.

Что, если нужно сделать схемы, планы, структуру сайта или User Flow?

Используй FigJam — новый вайтборд от Figma, который сразу интегрирован в платформу Figma, что удобно, потому что твой проект — от первоначальной идеи до окончательного прототипа — может храниться в одном месте. Разобраться в приложении легко, ты сделаешь это буквально за 15-20 минут методом тыка. Изначально FigJam задумывался как единый «центр взаимодействия», поэтому он собран так, чтобы можно было реализовать разные задачи под разные цели: от командного брейншторма до итоговой сборки или фреймворка.

Miro чуть сложнее, чем FigJam, но суть такая же. Можно работать в команде, создавать любые схемы, графики, диаграммы и сетки, а еще есть коннект с большим количеством приложений, так что переносить и использовать данные удобно. По моим наблюдениям, Miro больше популярен не у дизайнеров, а у всех, кто связан с организацией работы в команде, например, менеджеров или продакт-директоров.

Для работы со структурой сайтов не видел ничего удобнее, чем Octopus. Используй, чтобы:

наглядно показать карту сайта;
создавать схемы страниц;
добавлять описание блоков контента;
работать совместно с командой.

The Future’s Still Bright for Glossier

Although the company’s trajectory was cut short in the past two years, the foundations built by Weiss are still strong. After five rounds of funding and $266 million in total accumulated, many market experts believe Glossier is ripe for an IPO in the coming years. It is still one of the most recognizable beauty brands, with a significant online presence and an ever-increasing inventory of physical stores.

The brand garnered attention with a philosophy of allowing customers to explore the freedom of being themselves in an age where it’s almost a crime to do so. Glossier is a revolutionary beauty brand, and seven years after its lauded launch, its power is undeniable.

The social network: Into the Gloss

Of all Glossier’s social platforms, the one that has most contributed to the brand’s development is its editorial website, Into the Gloss. In 2010, before Glossier products were a glimmer in Weiss’s eye, she launched Into the Gloss while working as a stylist’s assistant at Vogue. (She had achieved brief reality-show fame when she appeared as a “super intern” from NYU on The Hills in 2007.) She filled the site with how-to’s, product reviews, and, most importantly, interviews. The interviews featured admirable women—designers, models, artists, and fashion editors among them—dishing to Weiss about the details of their beauty routines, in their own bathrooms and in their own words.

By the time Weiss launched Glossier’s first product collection in 2014, she already had an extensive archive and engaged audience—one might even call them a focus group—at her fingertips, thanks to Into the Gloss’s community of subjects, readers, and commenters. (The name Glossier refers to the “dossier” of research amassed at Into the Gloss.)

Today, the editorial arm of Into the Gloss employs just three of the company’s 55 full-time employees, and Glossier continues to cultivate its community across a variety of platforms.

Glossier’s social team regularly re-shares photos from its Instagram followers, and replies to comments on the platform. Around 150 of the brand’s most active consumers chat online using Glossier-provided, city-specific Slack channels. There, they plan events and serve as an immediately accessible focus group for quick feedback on topics ranging from online features to product development.

Weiss said she is constantly asked how she makes her customers “feel involved,” and the answer is simple: “Involve her. Don’t just make her feel involved,” she said. “Reward her if she’s involved. Get her involved and say thank you. Use that information, that feedback loop.”

Long before Glossier launches a new product, Into the Gloss will publish an “open thread,” soliciting advice on what its readers want. (Sample questions: “Which two creams could have a baby and produce your ideal moisturizer? What’s the best song reference? Please say something by Boyz II Men…”) When it has to compromise on those wishes—say, in the case of an unavoidable, less-than-desirable packaging choice—it will do so publicly:

“There’s no real way to house the sumptuous texture we wanted in anything other than a jar,” read a recent post about a forthcoming moisturizer, acknowledging many readers had requested a tube.