Beauty brands are proliferating at speed, driven in significant part by a constant feed of independent newcomers. In the US alone, the number of brands has increased by another 4% this year while the industry is predicted to be worth $75 billion by 2025 (McKinsey).

Driven by the desire to address unmet beauty needs, there are many indie success stories—but are they positioned to reap the benefits long-term?

Vying For Attention

Entrance to the beauty market can be swift and impactful. The rise of ecommerce and direct-to-consumer models, as well as social media and influencer culture, has levelled the playing field for independent beauty brands. In addition, people are increasingly looking for brands that share their values and make a positive impact on the world.

However, it’s often difficult for these brands to maintain momentum. Among the throng of entrants and instant successes in the category, there are few that are set up to last the distance. Brands that were on a roll just a few years ago, can quickly be forced to close. 

Beauty is a notoriously crowded sector. Emergent brands and incumbents vie for shelf space with distributors and heart space with consumers. It makes it hard for brands to gain traction. You might have the must-have product one day, a hero product that carries the entire range. But there is so much innovation in the beauty industry, that you can’t rest on your laurels—sooner or later a new cult product will come along.

Elevating The Brand

This is where beauty newcomers often come unstuck—and it highlights a misconception about what a brand is or what branding can do. Too often beauty businesses fail to realize the importance of elevating their brand above a product list or set of features or ingredients. Their focus will be on how to get packaging to stand out on shelf, they confuse a product differentiator with a brand differentiator. Not appreciating this distinction can lead to difficulties once the initial thrill of success wanes.

Of course, there are the standard business practices that indie brands should think about when looking to scale—ensuring the right investment to sustainably grow, investing in product innovation to keep a product pipeline and so on.

Alongside this, however, you need to build a solid brand platform. Knowing what you stand for as a brand, developing that into a clear identity and activating that through a strong customer experience from the outset, sets the foundation for long-term success. It will allow you to thrive and sustain yourself, adapting to changing market dynamics and consumer preferences.

Don’t confuse this guiding principle with committing to promises that should be table stakes – sustainable practices, for example. Being environmentally friendly, cruelty-free or organic is not a belief. Half your independent beauty competitors are likely to follow the same philosophy, so this alone is not enough of a differentiator.

Belief as a Competitive Advantage

What you stand for should give you an ownable competitive advantage. It is an unshakeable conviction. Ilia, for example, exists to challenge the conventions of clean beauty; or Milk Makeup takes a strong stance on issues such as body positivity and representation in the industry. With its tagline of “LiveYourLook,” it believes that “it isn’t about how you create your look, but what you do in it that matters”.

Selena Gomez’ Rare Beauty, meanwhile, believes in promoting individual beauty. As a brand, it creates a welcoming space that celebrates individuality and self-acceptance.

Such examples show how a singular conviction also allows you to nurture a tribe of dedicated fans. It lets you identify and connect with those that are like-minded—from employees that help take your brand to the next level, to customers who grow to be loyalists, distributors that will sell your product, or influencers you choose to represent your brand.

It provides you with the focus to make the right decisions and ignore those that might divert you from your core belief. Rather than chasing an audience based on the latest trends and random opportunities, you can use insight into what you believe about the world—and what you want to do about it—to connect with people in an authentic way.

Nurturing Organic Growth

When you’re looking to scale, it’s so easy to chase different audiences for short-term revenue gains. Yes, it’s important to deliver consistent, measured growth, but that growth needs to be nurtured in a way that’s authentic and true, while letting you flex as the market and consumer needs shift.

Paid strategies on their own can deliver quick customer acquisition, but they potentially erode brand equity, diminish customer loyalty and harm the long-term health of a brand. Instead, brands should focus on living out their guiding principles through everything they do—whatever strategy or tactics they are pursuing. Customers in the beauty category replace or buy new products regularly. If you have a strong conviction that is consistently being lived out, you are more likely to retain those customers and grow them.

After all, authenticity is perhaps the single most important consideration when looking to grow a brand. It is arguably the main scaling challenge – and hurdle to longevity. It is so easy to lose sight of who you are as a brand. When you grow quickly, you risk straying from your belief and the heartbeat that was at the centre of your authentic experience. Glossier’s recent struggles are a case in point.

Unilever Prestige CEO, Vasiliki Petrou, recently put down the business’s success in such terms, telling Business of Fashion that positive social impact will continue to be an important part of its business model: “It’s what has helped us stand out in the industry, because even now, it is still rare to see truly authentic purpose-driven brands.”

It is a valuable tenet for any brand—whether emerging or long-standing—to live by. Those rare brands that are truly authentic will be the ones to endure.

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Lenya McGrath, executive director of Business Development at BLVR, leads business development at BLVR and is well-versed in partnering with clients to drive long-term value for their organization. She honed her craft working on global brands like Procter & Gamble, Anheuser-Busch, Sony and Canon at leading agencies, including Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett and BASIC. A master of purpose-led creativity, her work has been honored by the Effie Awards and the prestigious Cannes Lion Festival.