Beauty brands already know they need to do more than just sell products to stand out in an increasingly saturated market. Today, winning brands must build communities, create cultural relevance and show up in consumers’ lives beyond the bathroom shelf. Being culturally relevant can take on myriad meanings, too — whether it be activating at Coachella or partnering with the stars of“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.”For The Outset and Nécessaire, the latest community-building efforts center on book clubs, floral workshops and contemporary art, all aimed at turning beauty consumers into lifestyle communities.
The Outset’s ‘Out of Office’
Next week, The Outset kicks off the third chapter in a community series it launched in March, dubbed “Out of Office.”
The series started in March when the brand activated at Fuze House, a studio known for its heated sculpting and pilates workouts, in New York and Miami. It hosted designated days for creators, and, during the rest of the period, customers at the Miami studio could purchase two special collab beverages. Both locations gave customers samples from the skin-care brand founded by Scarlett Johansson in 2022.
The Outset spread the word to its community in the common ways — through its email list and social media following (439,000 Instagram followers) — but also via its community on TYB. “With a brand like ours, Scarlett really starts [a lot of] the excitement around it … But [this is about asking], ‘How do you harness all of that?’ ‘Where does it go [from there]?’ ‘Where does the energy go?’ We’re trying a couple of different things, and we want to make sure that not only is that excitement online, but it’s in real life, as well,” said Joanne Sulit, the brand’s COO and CMO.
