Brand of the year: How Fenty Beauty went against stereotypes and was ahead
Now, when beauty brands are connected one by one Fenty Beauty continues to show the industry what it means to be progressive in 2018 (no, shooting in which models darken the skin is not considered to be a tribute to diversity, clean blackface). After a series of successful decisions, it became finally clear that Rihanna was able to create not just a source of easy income, but a whole community, whose members are united by something more than love for a particular singer.
Naturally or not, but cosmetic companies rarely show in advertisements for skin prone to inflammation, real acne. They are something that substitutes for sure: red dots drawn, computer graphics — anything, except real inflammations, is used. Apparently, Rihanna is decisively bored, so the girl with acne became the model in the appropriate make-up video tutorial: if the desired goal is to hide the reddening, then let's not at least pretend that they are not there from the very beginning. Do you remember Dexter Mayfield? This is the same guy whose hot dance you bought, or at least wanted to buy a Diamond Bomb highlighter. Dancer, choreographer and model Mayfield collaborated with Fenty Beauty for the first time, but surely this is not his last work for the brand. By the way, the brand recently hired makeup artist Hector Espinal - and he has already recorded a makeup lesson for men; Waiting for the drag-tutorial tutorial featuring Dexter or Quailon Rogers.
There is also a criticism of the singer's brainchild, which is positioned as extremely inclusive. For example, art director from Brazil, Alberto Otero, once offered Rihanne to use transgender models in brand advertising. The pop diva replied about the following: "I have worked with many talented transgender women, but I will not be holding castings specifically for transhumans - just like I'm not looking for cis-gender models on purpose"; The singer insists that using transgender people for the advertising campaign would be unethical. With this approach, you can disagree, but at least it is consistent.
But would every launch of Fenty Beauty cause so much noise if its advertising was inclusive but looked different? What makes Fenty Beauty stand out on the market now that brands have forgotten about the traditional concept of “beautiful woman beautifully advertises lipstick” is the spirit of boundless freedom. Despite the fact that the brand is owned by Kendo, which in turn is part of the LVMH concern, it seems that its employees are not constrained by any conventions. And although Kendo’s portfolio includes equally creative Bite Beauty, Kat Von D Beauty and Marc Jacobs Beauty, the fact that for Fenty Beauty they united a team that can not only invent cool things, but also sell them without harming their reputation, - This is a serious merit.
According to Slice Intelligence, buyers of African-American, Latin American and Asian origin make up the largest share of Fenty Beauty’s customer base, which means that the brand has occupied a niche that has been empty for a long time. As for financial success, everything is more than perfect there: in terms of brand sales, Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner are ahead of the beauty brands. It seems that the recipe for success of Fenty Beauty is not so complicated: collect people you personally trust, do not hesitate to translate your views, invent new ways to engage celebrities who work for you, and voila - you have become the breakthrough of the year.
Fenty beauty
Jay brown
It was the skillfully chosen team that made Fenty Beauty so cool. Although this information is not advertised anywhere, according to Billboard, the general director (co-founder) of Roc Nation, Jay Brown, controls all the transactions of Rihanna, and he is the secret weapon of Fenty Beauty. She has been cooperating with the company since 2010: Roc Nation has led her contracts with Puma and TechLab brands. This does not negate the fact that Rihanna can be directly involved in each stage of the production process, including the creation of advertising, but Brown helps the brand not to turn into another boring celebrity brand.
Priscilla ito
Another important person is Priscilla, now an international make-up artist of the brand, and in the past - Rianna's personal make-up master. "International" in the title of the position means that she not only comes up with makeup for models in campanes, but also takes part in the development of the products themselves. For example, it decides how blinding a new highlighter should be: just brilliant or mega-brilliant. Priscilla Ono paints Rihanna for all events and cover shooting, using only Fenty Beauty cosmetics for work - and this is another way to unobtrusively announce a new product.
Jalil weaver
You can not forget about Jalil Weaver - another personal assistant to the singer, who got a place in the Fenty Beauty team. Jalil is a stylist, junior creative director of the brand (the elder is Riri herself), an activist and a public person. He participates in public discussions and gives interviews in which, for example, he admits that he is happy to work for a woman of African descent. For Weaver, targeting an African-American audience is not a marketing gimmick, but a matter of principle, since he himself is part of the community.
Slick Woods
She is twenty-one, she has an unusual appearance for the industry, a criminal past and she is the muse of Fenty Beauty. This is the same girl who was taken to the hospital immediately after the show Savage x Fenty, where she defiled on the runway in lingerie. Woods has been filmed for the very first Fenty Beauty advertising campaign and continues to take part in all of Rihanna’s initiatives. In addition, women are friends: Slik calls Rihanna "the queen of ass" and devotes gentle posts on her to her.
Rihanna
Of course, one cannot forget about the queen of this ball - Rihanna herself. Celebrity brands are not a new story, but the singer invented a way to advertise their products more interestingly than typical "confessions" to journalists about how a person sat in laboratories for years without end, and studied a chemistry textbook. Remember the movie with Body Lava body highlighter - you can watch it endlessly (here’s a looped version). What about a beauty tutorial for Vogue, where Rihanna jokes endlessly, getting ready for another cocktail? The most observant then noticed new, not yet sold products Fenty Beauty - this is what it means to trade in person.
Cover: Fenty beauty