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Beauty entrepreneur Jaimee Lupton wants her brands to be a modern LOreal. Heres how she plans to get it done
www.fastcompany.com
After years of working in PR and branding for luxury beauty, Jaimee Lupton decided to break away and disrupt the space by making beauty products that are accessible. With her business partner and real-life partner Nick Mowbray, she launched Monday haircare in 2020.Lupton saw a gap in the market for a brand that was targeted toward a younger demographic. There were few haircare brands that addressed the needs of younger customers, and even fewer who knew how to speak to those customers through their branding, messaging, and packaging. Lupton knew the power of a personalized message, and she created Monday with that in mind.The haircare company has received its fair share of accolades since it launched. Beauty outlet Glossy named Monday Haircare Brand of the Year for 2024, and the company has 21 other major beauty awards to its name, including from Allure, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, and InStyle. Its currently the number-one haircare brand globally on TikTok, according to statistics from the platform measured by the most liked and most followed haircare brands.The brand is on track to reach half-a-billion dollars of retail salesno easy feat for five years of business.The success of Monday then set her up to self-fund other brands. It also put her on the radar of retailers, whichbegan to ask Lupton to work with them to create new bespoke brands. She has since done so with retail partners including Target, Walmart, and Ulta. In the span of five years, Lupton founded five other beauty brands, with more currently in development, maker her a kind of big box Gen Z beauty whisperer in the process.[Photo: Monday]Luptons bespoke portfolio of accessible brandsLuptons most recent brand launch is Daise, a range of playful, mood-matching fragrance and bodycare, which launched February 1 at Target.Its a clear play for younger, emerging markets, Lupton says, referring to the specific spending potential of Gen Z. Theyre in control of $450 billion of spending power, and thats set to increase by 48% before 2030, so theyre a huge demographic that we need to be able to target, says Lupton, referring to a 2021 World Economic Forum statistic cited by Snapchat and November 2022 Gen Z report by Afterpay. She also notes, referring to a report by consumer insights platform aytm, that Gen-Alpha is now the fastest emerging group of beauty consumer. Daise is a way to tap into that purchasing power early, too.[Photo: Daise]It seems to be working. The brand had $1 million in retail sales in just one week, according to Daise sale statistics, and is forecasting over $50 million in retail sales in the first year. The company hit $400,000 of sales in the first four days of launch in Ulta. On February 1, Daise launched at Target. Lupton says that the number of sales are looking more impressive every day as the brand builds.Lupton described Daises creation as a way to build a fun self-care brand where beauty could meet play, and isnt taken too seriously. This manifests in the fragrances many form factors, like spritz, mists, and foams, all with youthful appeal. The visual brand is all very Gen Z-oriented, utilizing many of the visual tools of brands targeting similar demographics. It includes bright, sunny colors, like yellow and light purple, with a sans serif all caps type, and bold gradients with combinations such as pink and orange or blue and green that seem to speak to a younger generation.Its form factors also stand out on the shelf. The body foam, which comes in a uniquely styled body whip, is one example. Daise is one of the first brands to do this at Target and Ulta, creating a product range that is unique to consumers, especially for younger consumers. (Suncare brand Vacation is perhaps most known for popularizing this novel form factor, with its whipped sunscreen that comes in a spray can.) The body mist, bath bombs, and lip balm come in the shape of a flower, with designs including sprinkles or daisies.[Photo: Being]Prior to Daise, Lupton launched Being Haircare in July of 2024 with Walmart, after the mega-retailer asked Lupton to create a haircare brand that was in one aisle and on one shelf, and that could target everyone across demographics and for every hair type. The brand has vivid, color-on-color packaging that carries through to its website, type, photography, and styling.Being was the number-one brand for the retailer in the haircare space in the first three months of its launch. Similarly to Daise, Lupton harnessed Instagram and TikTok marketing as they launched in store aisle endcaps. Its all around being you, says Lupton. And its not a segregation of brands. Were a unisex brand, and the products are shopping arranged for each hair type, noting it will expand into masks and treatments.[Photo: Being]Lupton has a few other brands in her portfolio. Theres Chlon, which according to its website, she made with a leading Parisian perfumer to create scents that convey elegance and tradition but fit into modern life. Then theres Osna Naturals, which is described on its website as a skin- and haircare range crafted with care to nourish both body and mind. Both ranges are free from sulfates, phthalates, and parabens, and are certified cruelty-free, dermatologically tested, and suitable for all skin types.While the brands may target different sectors, the mission across her portfolio of brands stays the same: providing accessible beauty for everyone.Digital-first with a major retail footprintLuptons North Star is to be a modern day LOreal: creating accessible brands that modern consumers want. To do so, Lupton has taken a two-prong approach: the brands have an in-house digital team, but they are also partnering with big retailers. With this strategy, she taps into a beauty business model that has proven success: launching a digital-first brand with a brick-and-mortar retail footprint.I would say were 90% digital in terms of our marketing spend, and we create really unique ways in which we speak to [consumers] on digital platforms, Lupton says, citing the brands creator studios, influencers its consumers naturally migrate toward, and UGC content which together creates a multiplatform digital brand destination.Though Lupton markets her brands as a direct-to-consumer, the digital-first marketing approach is complimented by physical presence in stores like Target, which she views as tween destinations. She explained that the goal is to make the products accessible in terms of price point and purchasabilitybeing able to go to a store and grab a product off the shelf. Retail partners are a big part of how far they have been able to go.Lupton plans on continuing to grow her brands and expand her portfolio into a bigger range, including treatments and styling. There is a lot in the pipeline for Lupton. She has about 22 brands in development, and intends to roll out all of them in the next three years.
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