Last Updated on September 29, 2022 by Ithos Global Regulatory Team
Seeing Stars: Rise of Celebrity Beauty Brands
Name a famous singer, actor, or athlete today and there is a good chance they’ve launched a make up or skin care line. The rise of celebrity beauty brands is connected to explosive growth in the global beauty market, increased influencer marketing and more celebrities branching out to create lifestyle brands. .
At Ithos, we’ve been working with celebrity brands for years, including Rare Beauty (Selena Gomez), Half Magic (Donni Davi/Euphoria), Florence by Mills (Mills Bobby Brown) and Moon (Kendall Jenner).
While a celebrity provides built-in name recognition and cross-promotional opportunities, fame won’t protect you from pitfalls that can plague any small start-up cosmetic line. Brands use the Ithos Information Network to carefully navigate product development, saving valuable time, money and – pardon the pun – face!
1) Marketing: Too many start-up brands lack a 2-3 year business plan to guide their growth. If your strategy is “we’ll see where it goes from here” you could be making major investments – and costly mistakes. Too often, brands focus on the market they launch in (the US, for example) without considering compliance rules in other potential markets. With a celebrity, brands can quickly go viral – and it takes too long to fix a formula to sell in Japan, Israel or Argentina.
2) Responsible Person Review: To align with a show’s new season or album release, celebrity brands may agree to aggressive timelines and commit major resources – without considering how long it could take for approval – or making changes to be compliant in a new jurisdiction (US vs.UK, for example).
3) Retailer Compliance: Increasingly, retailers maintain their own compliance lists, whether banned ingredients or endorsed “clean” brands. Know the retailers you are targeting. While celebrity brands may get attention, they won’t sell in a store with ingredients on a “no-no list.” Recovering from this kind of setback not only costs time and money, it can damage your reputation across the industry.
4) Social media: Publicity is a double-edged sword, and celebrity brands should not underestimate the power of social media, both positive and negative. There is more pressure and exposure when a product is tied to someone famous. News is instant and lives online forever. When it is good, it can create global demand. When it is bad – especially if a product is criticized for being unethically tested or not sustainably produced – it can decimate your brand’s growth potential.
How Ithos Helps Celebrity Brands
To avoid the problems outlined above, many brands rely on the Ithos Information Network to meet regulatory requirements. Those who see the greatest return on investment partner with us as they begin the product development process.
The IIN ensures ingredients and formulas are compliant from the start in the United States, Europe and around the world. With this regulatory roadmap, brands can be nimble, reacting quickly to new market opportunities, or, as we saw over the past few years, supply chain disruptions.
Because the IIN stores and organizes your documentation, the brand has one source of truth. All your data – the heartbeat of your company – is maintained in one location, accessible to anyone who needs it. This is especially valuable as a brand grows its product portfolio and expands into multiple markets.
And, because we’ve guided celebrity brands through every stage of development, companies rely on our team of regulatory experts for trusted guidance. Whatever problem you’re facing, there’s a good chance we’ve handled it before. For celebrity brands, this can be especially helpful, given the heightened pressure and scrutiny of the spotlight.
Whether you are considering a celebrity brand or already working for one, talk to our team today about how we can streamline your product development process and help you plan for the future.
