The beauty brand that once seemed to have invented the direct-to-consumer playbook is now in the position of having to reread it.
Glossier, the cosmetics company that built a devoted following in the mid-2010s through millennial-pink packaging and an Instagram aesthetic that launched a thousand imitators, has appointed a new chief marketing officer as it tries to recapture the cultural momentum that once made it the envy of Madison Avenue and Sand Hill Road alike.
The move comes at a moment when Glossier finds itself in unfamiliar territory: chasing relevance rather than defining it. The brand, founded in 2014 by Emily Weiss, was valued at $1.8 billion in 2019, a figure that now reads like a dispatch from a different era of venture-funded optimism. (The era in question also gave us WeWork and Outdoor Voices, for those keeping score at home.)
The new marketing chief faces what might politely be called a cluttered landscape. The direct-to-consumer beauty category that Glossier helped invent is now populated by dozens of competitors, many of whom learned their lessons from Glossier's own early success. The brand's challenge is no longer to explain why you might buy lipstick from a website instead of a department store counter; it is to explain why you might buy it from this particular website.
Industry observers will be watching to see whether Glossier attempts to reclaim its original positioning — the "no-makeup makeup" look that resonated with a generation of consumers tired of being told they needed more product — or pivots toward something new entirely.
The appointment is the latest in a series of leadership changes at the company, which has been in a state of quiet reinvention since Ms. Weiss stepped back from day-to-day operations. Whether the new coat of polish will restore the original shine remains, as always, a matter for the market to decide.
Original story published in adage.com: "Glossier's new CMO is trying to restore the brand's appeal - Ad Age"