Glossier: How a Blog became a Brand
With the age of social media comes the era of a new type of business strategy: self-promoted marketing. You may have noticed in the past five or so years, new types of pseudo-celebrities known as "influencers" have flooded the market. Every page you turn, every link you click is somehow connected to an Instagram persona or YouTube celebrity's sponsorship.
Take Aimee Song, for example, who started her blog Song of Style as a way to share her interior design skills and later followers asked her about her outfits. Soon, she was sharing her outfits on her Instagram, becoming a lifestyle/travel/fashion icon and cultivating a hefty following of 4.6 million users, receiving invitations to exclusive events such as New York and Paris Fashion Week shows, and eventually curating her own fashion line.
Into the Gloss, a beauty blog started by 30 year old Emily Weiss, began as a mere side project 6 years ago and has now birthed one of the most popular cult beauty brands known as Glossier. Emily was once an unmotivated student like the rest of us with big dreams of success that seemed out of reach. She's relatable as the very least and her brand captured that essence in its products.
Glossier's success hinged on Into the Gloss' massive following and the advertising revenue Emily made off of it. After raising a little more than $8.4 million, she was able to finance her beauty project Glossier by beginning with a line of skincare products. From there, the brand released more new products in waves (a wave of makeup products, another with sunscreen and later more skincare) by listening to what fans and customers were asking for. Responses flooded their Instagram page and blog comments, and they were able to take in that data and release products people actually wanted.
YouTubers and various Instagram influencers displayed these products as a way of advertising and soon, people who didn't even know about the original blog were vying for these products as well. After a few years, Glossier was finally able to open a flagship store in SoHo in New York City where customers could come in and try products as well as purchase them. From here on out, the brand plans to expand more offering more jobs and eventually more products.
Glossier took advantage of the growing social media plane and was a pioneer in its industry. Brands now have followed suit and used similar strategies of customer response via social media to garner a greater following.
What do you think about how influencers and social media have changed the market? We can probably expect more brands to take advantage of this new age if we haven't already seen it.
Take Aimee Song, for example, who started her blog Song of Style as a way to share her interior design skills and later followers asked her about her outfits. Soon, she was sharing her outfits on her Instagram, becoming a lifestyle/travel/fashion icon and cultivating a hefty following of 4.6 million users, receiving invitations to exclusive events such as New York and Paris Fashion Week shows, and eventually curating her own fashion line.
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| Aimee Song AKA Song of Style |
Into the Gloss, a beauty blog started by 30 year old Emily Weiss, began as a mere side project 6 years ago and has now birthed one of the most popular cult beauty brands known as Glossier. Emily was once an unmotivated student like the rest of us with big dreams of success that seemed out of reach. She's relatable as the very least and her brand captured that essence in its products.
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| Glossier's 'Phase One' Set |
Glossier's success hinged on Into the Gloss' massive following and the advertising revenue Emily made off of it. After raising a little more than $8.4 million, she was able to finance her beauty project Glossier by beginning with a line of skincare products. From there, the brand released more new products in waves (a wave of makeup products, another with sunscreen and later more skincare) by listening to what fans and customers were asking for. Responses flooded their Instagram page and blog comments, and they were able to take in that data and release products people actually wanted.
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| Glossier's Hydrating 'Moon Mask' |
YouTubers and various Instagram influencers displayed these products as a way of advertising and soon, people who didn't even know about the original blog were vying for these products as well. After a few years, Glossier was finally able to open a flagship store in SoHo in New York City where customers could come in and try products as well as purchase them. From here on out, the brand plans to expand more offering more jobs and eventually more products.
Glossier took advantage of the growing social media plane and was a pioneer in its industry. Brands now have followed suit and used similar strategies of customer response via social media to garner a greater following.
What do you think about how influencers and social media have changed the market? We can probably expect more brands to take advantage of this new age if we haven't already seen it.
I definitely believe that this era in social media gave way to these new celebrities known as influencers. I love how we now have the ability to express ourselves to the masses and possibly be rewarded for our creativity and productivity. Influencers and social media changed the market because now we can see normal people because people with a voice while still living a normal lifestyle. This creates marketing opportunities everywhere because these people are more relatable than full blown celebrities, so certain brands can use the factor to their advantage. I love this new age of influencers and social media. Normal people need to be heard as well! Great post Val!
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