How ‘Rare Beauty’ Selena wins the internet everyday

Selena Gomez’s beauty brand has grown beyond her own social reach.

Rare Beauty, launched by internet’s sweetheart and actor/singer Selena Gomez in 2020, is growing up to be the most trusted makeup and skincare brand now.

You’ve got to be living under a rock if you’re not familiar with Selena Gomez. Being a Disney star, she made her way into the hearts of teenagers around the world and continued winning everyday with her songs, movies, interviews and social media posts. The tag of being “the most followed woman on Instagram” is just another feather in her hat.

However, Selena is not just another popular celebrity with a long illustrious career. What makes her “rare” is her personal mental health journey which she graciously shares with her fans on social media and her initiatives to make the internet and the world a better place. She is now synonymous with being not just a successful businesswoman but also a kind, and beautiful person inside out.

This persona of her is exactly what has made her baby “Rare Beauty” a makeup/skincare brand to reckon with today.

Rare Beauty

As for makeup, Rare Beauty stands for inclusive shades, much like Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, but is also perceived to be more natural and real. The brand focuses on no-makeup makeup looks and promises its consumers to give them the most natural coverage which shows off their real and “rare” beauty.

The cruelty-free, vegan, paraben-free, dermatologists tested, and non-comedogenic products and formulas are generally received well by influencers and users alike and are loved by makeup gurus around the world.

However, RareBeauty is not just another celebrity-backed beauty brand. What really makes it work are their mental health campaigns. Along with the beauty line, Selena also launched “Rare Beauty Impact” which raises money and seeks to expand mental health services for young people in schools and educational settings. One percent of all Rare Beauty sales go towards the fund.

“Your Words Matter”

She took the cause one step further during the Mental Health Awareness month last year. On May 1, 2022, she launched a campaign called “Your Words Matter” to raise awareness around the words people use when discussing mental health — and how casually joking about mental illness can stigmatize or belittle people living with the conditions.

The beauty line also released a limited-edition crewneck sweater, to celebrate the new campaign. One hundred percent of its net proceeds would benefit the Rare Impact Fund. Furthermore, Serendipity Brands, co-owned by Gomez, also donated $1 from every ice cream pint sold to the Rare Impact Fund for that month.

The goals of the Campaign were to:

• Raise awareness that the words we use and how we respond can impact someone’s mental health.
• Educate people to be mindful of word choice and the vocabulary they use.
• Destigmatize mental health through the power of words.
• Raise funds to support grantmaking and expanding access to mental health education and services for young people.

Media:

Rare Beauty extensively uses TikTok and influencer marketing to spread awareness about their products and they leveraged the platform for the cause as well. Selena also used her powerful social media presence on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter to talk about mental health and encourage her followers to buy the sweatshirts.

Results:

Did the campaign work? Well, it’s Selena. What do you expect?

Within the month of May, they secured key media placements with outlets like ELLE, Billboard, ESSENCE and Yahoo! News, amongst others, that helped raise awareness of the campaign. These placements resulted in over 108.4M media impressions.

The educational campaign resulted in more than 25,329 users visiting their mental health blogs.

Over 700 members of the community tuned in to the Virtual Mental Health Event to learn about the campaign resulting in 22 social media posts, $141K EMV and a total reach of 19.1M from influencer attendees.

The social media content, reached over 3.2M members of their Instagram community resulting in 304,602 total engagements.

They also managed to sell out the limited-edition Crewneck sweatshirt allowing Rare Beauty to make a significant contribution to the Rare Impact Fund.

Rare Beauty today

With the success of the campaign, Rare Beauty established itself as more than just a beauty brand and paved its way to form a special bond with its consumers. It stands not just for outer beauty but for inner strength, resilience and confidence to show your real self with minimal makeup.

Selena continues to be the center of the brand, around whom Rare Beauty’s story is created, portraying her life beliefs and depicting some of her life’s events. She also uses her clout, platform and businesses to support mental health organizations — and make the conversation about mental health healthier all around.

The brand integrates her social image well in their persona and that is what makes it “rare” and a winner!