How Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty goes viral, with CMO Katie Welch - The Verge

Selena Gomez’s beauty brand has grown beyond her own social reach, selling viral products and teaming up with beauty creators.

Katie Welch is the chief marketing officer of Rare Beauty, the beauty products company founded by superstar musician and actress Selena Gomez. Rare Beauty sells its products online and in Sephora retail stores, and importantly, Katie does almost no traditional marketing: Rare Beauty is a true internet brand that depends on social media strategy, influencer marketing, and community to drive sales.

This kind of marketing is essentially new: yes, there have been celebrity endorsements for a long time, but famous people making their own products and companies and using their online reach to launch and grow those businesses is a combination of art and commerce that is 10 to 15 years old at most. Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty is only five years old, but it’s redefined the industry and helped make her a billionaire. Some of the first big successes came from the Kardashian-Jenners including Kylie Cosmetics, founded in 2015, as well as Kim Kardashian’s Skims, founded in 2019.

I’ve been really curious about how these businesses work, how they reach their audiences and customers, how CMOs like Katie measure success, whether being the marketing executive for a super online celebrity-driven business feels different than being a traditional marketing person, and whether the ever-present risk of weird things happening online make her plan differently.

This one’s a lot of fun. Katie’s really direct and honest, and her enthusiasm for what she’s doing comes through. Also, we talk about Robert Smith and The Cure.

Okay, Katie Welch, CMO of Rare Beauty. Here we go.

https://www.theverge.com/23307449/selena-gomez-rare-beauty-marketing-katie-welch

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