Fenty Beauty

Fenty Beauty

Introduction

Fenty Beauty is a cosmetics brand that launched in September 2017 by music, fashion, and beauty icon Rihanna.  Ever since she was a little girl, makeup has always been her weapon of choice for self-expression and a way to radiate her ever-changing mood. The inspiration to establish Fenty Beauty came after years of trying out the best of the best in beauty and consequently identifying a gap in the industry for various products (Fentybeauty.com, n. d). It also powered a fearless take on beauty that helped her to become the barricade breaker that she is today. The popularity of the brand is due to its broad inclusivity across skin tones and genders. Products from the brand are designed to feel lightweight and deliver buildable coverage that layers effortlessly and to work as an inspiration. Most of Fenty Beauty’s success has been attributed to social media strategy outreach. According to a YouTube press release, Fenty beauty YouTube tutorials, acquired over 132 million views in one month (Gray, 2017). In October, Rihanna’s Fenty beauty was reported to have gained $72 million in a single month, which was a win.

Thesis

Fenty beauty was meant to fill a gap that Rihanna spotted after years of using some of the best makeup brands in the business and noticing they fell short in terms of some skin tones and skin types. Her intention was to create a line so that women would be included everywhere. The beauty line is now available in 1,600 stores and in 17 countries, at Sephora, her own website, and Harvey Nichols (Wischhover, 2017). The products include multiple sticks and foundation for the face, a single lip gloss, blotting papers, and various papers. When it comes to the packaging, it has a nice heft, and it feels pricey. They come in shapes of geometric octagons and hexagons in shades of cream and pinky beige. In a way, the sticks are magnetized to stick together, and the travel brushes hold to compacts. Of the primary reasons why Fenty Beauty became successful is the inclusivity marketing that jolted the industry and the beautiful landscape. The brand incorporates people and cultures that are not present fully or underserved. Additionally, her position in the limelight and a massive following on social platforms made the brand accessible by creating awareness. In creating the brand, Rihanna opened doors to a whole new world for women of color by creating a product that speaks for them.

Body

The launch of Fenty beauty highlighted the importance of inclusive marketing, which jolted the industry and jolted the beauty landscape. For the very first time, the brand incorporates under presented, underserved women and cultures featuring them in the global prestige beauty campaign. Fenty of beauty’s radical approach to inclusivity broke and disrupted all the traditional marketing rules and brought about a new path. From the beginning, it was clear that no one was to be excluded making it the brand’s sole mission. At first, the brand started with 40 beautiful shades of foundation with the number going up to 50 presently (Saputo, 2019). This was at a time when no other brand covered everyone from the lightest skin tone to the darkest. Not only was the inclusion in the number of shades, but it was a well-crafted nuance in each shade in the range that came in as a proof point. Therefore, this allowed so many women to identify themselves in the brand and feel included effortlessly.

Before the launch of the brand, Rihanna wanted it to be available to women around the world at the same time. During the start, the brand went live in 17 countries on the same day at the same hour and was also ready to ship to 137 countries directly (Saputo, 2019). After the launch, there was a call for all industries to do more and challenge the status quo. In the world of beauty, it brought about a chain reaction of brands that responded positively by extending their makeup lines to be more inclusive. According to the brand, the best way to break inclusive marketing is by sharing authentic stories that are based on the culture and double up as emotionally meaningful to the consumers being served. Summarily, Rihanna made it clear that she had her hand in every part of her product creation, branding, and to the last detail of choosing faces. It included models of all colors shapes and sizes, making her brand stand out even more.

Being already renowned for a musical career that includes a multitude of awards and chart-topping hits, Rihanna has not only made a mark in the music industry but has also written the rules for both the fashion and beauty business again. Since the signing of her first recording agreement, Rihanna has become one of the most streamed artists of all time. Her songs have hit number one on the Billboard charts 14 times, and she has also won multiple awards. Additionally, she has done something equally impressive and even more by rewriting the rules in the beauty and fashion industries (Deal, 2019). Since popular music and fashion are intertwined, Rihanna has always understood the power of style to shape perception as one of her influences, Madonna. As she achieved music awards and song hits, she also acquired a reputation for her creative and daring dressing that she gained through collaborations with designers. With time, she added the title of an official fashion icon to her list of recognition of achievements when she was named as the fashion icon of the year in 2014 (Deal, 2019). However, she wanted more than that; she wanted to shape the popular taste in fashion and beauty. In the year 2011, she capitalized on her music career and developing a reputation as a style maven to start significant business ventures. However, her crowning venture was her Fenty Beauty personal care brand, whose main objective was the people of color. Her stakes have awarded her the chance to alter the entire industry by creating beauty brands and paying attention to the purchasing power of people of color. Fenty beauty has been credited with making other beauty lines to accommodate people of color by creating more foundation shades.

Unlike other brands whose campaign imagery appeared to be taking stock, Fenty Beauty’s marketing showed a range of women with a variety of different skin tones and religions. It was an entire celebration of diversity. It changed the theory of there being no market, and it has shown that women of all skin tones and especially the darker ones have a huge desire to shop affordable and reasonable quality products and in a high-end environment. Fenty’s success is the baseline of Rihanna’s growing global influence. For instance, in 2016, her social following has increased by over 26 million, while her Fenty fashion and beauty offerings have built up an audience of over 3 million fans (Grazia Daily, 2017). Additionally, the products have excellent quality. Within Fenty Beauty lies brilliant technicians, outstanding technology, and firm financial backing.

Additionally, being a person of her stature, and in comparison to her previous collaborations over the past years, it is clear that whatever she touches turns to gold—her fan army and huge following which she influences. Again, for a very long time makeup counters have been inhospitable places for women of color and also men. In some of its promotional clips, Fenty Beauty embraces makeup for men. As super lighted as the ad is, it is also a reminder of how far the beauty industry has to go before it is considered fully inclusive. However, the brand has continuously drawn a line between inclusivity and marketing without being complicit in tokenism. When a fan asked why she does not include more transgender castings, she clearly stated that it is not fair for any transgender to be used as a convenient marketing tool (Muller, 2018). From her observation, many companies do this to transgender and women of color, which is a spot in the campaign for an award.

For many people, Fenty Beauty may be seen to be all about makeup, but for the average woman of color, it opens doors to a whole new world. Women with deep tones have finally come to a product that speaks to them. Fenty Beauty stood out because it was not all talk, and the brand advertisement stayed away from the whitewashing of models and presenting diverse casts of brand ambassadors. For the very first time, women were represented from all sides, were they just an afterthought before. Before Fenty, many black women used to be turned away from the counter since no makeup brand sold foundation that matched their skin. Moreover, those in the mixed background or a different alternative ethnicity were at a loss for a perfect shade. Cosmetics have always given women power, and it is seen as a tool to enhance their features and beauty. Therefore, Fenty offers women the ability to rock a perfect skin with a range that does not make them ashy.

In conclusion, the Fenty Beauty line has been praised for its inclusivity and diversity. Forty different foundations were released along with six highlighters and more than 30 skin sticks, one lip gloss, blotting paper, brushes, a primer, and many more. Rihanna was determined to include many shades after identifying a gap in the makeup industry in concerns with inclusion with all skin tones and types. Additionally, Rihanna evokes women’s empowerment through her brand. Her primary goal is for all women to not only feel included but also to feel beautiful and powerful. Also, the brand has a website that serves as a guide for users and includes many features, which include video tutorials, detailed descriptions of the products, and notes on what inspired Rihanna to create the products and various photos of herself in her brand.

References