Glossier During COVID-19: SMMP Part 2

Everyone is experiencing this pandemic in different ways, and we are trying to fit into the new normal. Have you found yourself staring at your lipstick and lipgloss wondering when it will make sense for you to wear it again? Me too, you are not alone. 

As a makeup company that thrives off of embracing your natural beauty, Glossier experienced a downfall from the pandemic and has been trying to make up for lost time. As you can see in the graph below provided by Google Trends, Glossier has been slowing declining when it comes to their interest over time since April. 

To adapt to COVID-19 and the change in makeup usage - or lack thereof - they have adapted and evolved to skin care products instead. In this analysis, I will be looking at the different products and campaigns that Glossier has been releasing in order to combat the pandemic and to help business improve. 

Hand Cream 

The first product, that was released around April 20th, was a hand cream - strategically released when almost every person in the country is experiencing dry skin due to over washing and sanitizing. In addition to releasing the hand cream, Glossier promised to donate the first 10,000 units to healthcare professionals the US working on the front lines. This warranted great reviews from customers. 

In addition to simply releasing this hand cream, it was also all over their social media pages - especially Instagram. Something that Glossier does great with is advertising their campaigns and products tirelessly. When they release something new, it is all you will see on your timeline for weeks, maybe even months. Glossier understands the groundswell - they understand that if you learn to engage and understand it, then you will thrive and the groundswell will help you. In this case, the groundswell loved the hand cream and to Glossier's advantage. 

Body Hero Collection 

Glossier, most recently, has released a body oil and exfoliating collection. This campaign is based off of embracing all body types and skin types, and helping dry skin which can be a major problem in the next coming months. As I said with the hand cream, if you have Glossier on social media then their is so way that you have not seen this product - it is all over my timeline. 

This product, which was released October 18th, helped Glossier recover a little bit. With that being said, they are still declining and it seems as though they are scrambling for ideas. They are currently reposting old products, or photo submissions from fans of the products, or information on how to vote. They are doing everything in their power to target the groundswell but something seems to be missing. 

The Body Hero collection is enough to gain temporary attention, and allowed them a good amount of social media posts for the past couple of weeks but they need something that will save the company and bring up their interest. They are listening to the groundswell, but they are asking the wrong questions. As you can see in the images below, they are marketing the products perfectly and responding to concerns from their audience, but the true solution would be to engage with the groundswell by requesting information that could be useful to the brand. 

 

What Needs to Change 

Glossier made a weird move in between the Hand Cream launch and the Body Hero Campaign: they chose to release a line of lipstick. This release happened on August 4, maybe due to a lack of attention and interest in the brand. It resulted in a slow decline of interest and they immediately switched gears to raising awareness for the upcoming election. 

Another issue that has been at the forefront for Glossier is environmental concerns surrounding the packaging they use for their products, and the lack of environmental friendly packaging. 

 

In order to gain back attention and interest, Glossier needs to put aside new products for a second and take the time to really listen to the Groundswell and what they are saying. In my opinion, it seems that Glossier as a brand is almost obsessed with having constant campaigns and new products to try, and this was working for them before the pandemic but they need to understand that we are in different times. People are at home and are critical of brands who are not being conscious of what is going on around us. 

Glossier engages with the groundswell, we know that, but they need to be asking the right questions and listening to what their audience is saying. Remove plastic packaging, take a break from lip products, and understand fully what the groundswell wants from Glossier instead of releasing meaningless products just for a strong social media page.