The Best of BoF 2024: When Beauty Trends Tap Culture

In 2024, beauty marketing was of two worlds.

While TikTok remains an advertising powerhouse, offering brands access to younger, more diverse audiences than ever before, there has also been a clear pivot back to old-school tactics as a way to hedge against the growing uncertainty surrounding the platform’s future in the US — and the wider digital landscape.

This year, beauty brands made moves to capture the attention of new, unexpected consumer groups. Marketers turned their attention to Gen Alpha, men, athletes and even pet owners, tapping into these expanding markets with a variety of creative campaigns. Beauty merch became a key engagement tool, while community platforms and even brand trips helped labels foster deeper connection with their customers. Major cultural moments — including the Olympics — saw beauty brands aligning themselves with the global sports culture, further emphasising the need to connect with consumers’ passions beyond the beauty aisle. Despite these successes, an over-reliance on celebrity endorsements highlighted the limits of star power in today’s authenticity-driven market.

But what really caught our eye this year is the rise of niche cultural movements gaining wider traction, such as the increasing visibility of “trad wives” and “MomTok“. These once-private began influencing mainstream beauty trends, and brands took notice. By tapping into these traditional, family-oriented values, beauty marketers were able to expand their reach and appeal to a broader and more diverse range of consumers — a stark contrast to the youthful, hyper-digital consumer base that has dominated the beauty industry in recent years.

With TikTok’s ban looming, beauty brands are increasingly wary of putting all their eggs in one basket. If the app does go the way of Vine, the beauty marketing landscape may change rapidly. Brands will need to deepen their reliance on multifaceted approaches, diversifying across platforms and tapping into cultural moments that transcend the digital realm — lest they get trapped there.

Top Stories

Beauty’s Most Viral Brands Are Moving Offline: Trending beauty companies are looking to old-school forms of advertising like billboards, taxi wraps and wild posting to boost their brand awareness. Crafting a great out of home campaign means using a different playbook to what they might be used to.

How Tweens Took Over the Beauty Aisle: Gen Alpha has become increasingly captive with beauty, but as their preferences and purchasing power changes, beauty labels need to find the right mix of messaging and product to keep them coming back for more.

It’s Time for Beauty and Fashion to Get Serious About Female Athletes: Viewership of women’s sports has steadily grown into a year-round affair, but most brands have been slow to capitalise on the segment’s biggest stars.

How ‘Anti-Spas’ Sell Wellness to Men: Remedy Place, a luxury social wellness club, has completely rebranded the spa experience via athletic recovery with an eye on the male demographic. The company has an ambitious retail and product expansion plan.

How to Make Beauty Merch That Matters: Beauty is in the midst of “merch” madness, with brands rushing to debut branded sweatshirts, stickers and more in hopes of securing viral hits like Rhode’s lipgloss phone case. But as more brands focus on merch, making products that stand out takes a sharper strategy.

Why Brands Are Inviting Customers on Influencer Trips: Lavish trips full of free swag are no longer exclusively for the high-follower-count elites.

A Skincare Routine – for Your Dog: A $99 luxury dog perfume from Dolce & Gabbana ruffled furs, but it’s just one in a string of premium pet care products targeting beauty-savvy, wealthy shoppers.

Beauty Brands’ New Method for Driving Loyalty: Blockchain rewards platforms have scored big partnerships with brands like Ulta Beauty and Glossier in recent weeks, offering beauty brands a new way to connect with fans and reward loyalty.

Mormon Wives’ Puts Momfluencers’ Selling Power in the Spotlight: “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” on Hulu sheds light on a powerful influencer segment that drives shopping habits well beyond Salt Lake City.

Dua Lipa, Again? Why Beauty Lines Need to Find New Brand Ambassadors: A familiar cast of celebrities became beauty spokespeople this week, but how many brands are too many for a gorgeous woman to promote?

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