Glossier International Marketing Plan
Glossier International Marketing Plan
Section 7
Professor: Dr. Gabriel Izard
Allison Chan
Constance-Sophie Almendares
Sarah Whealon
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Glossier International Marketing Plan
Executive Summary
Glossier is a makeup and skincare company which was launched in 2014 after the CEO
and founder of the company, Emily Weiss, began a beauty blog in 2010 called “Into the Gloss” a
beauty website that digs deeper into the beauty routines of inspirational women and where
readers could celebrate their own approach to beauty and the products they adore most. Since
then Glossier has launched their own website of skincare and beauty staples which is available
for shipping within the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Republic of
Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, and France with permanent physical store locations in Los Angeles,
New York, and Chicago with it’s most recent “pop-up” store in Paris. Glossier has established
their brand to be directed towards women of all ages, skin tones, ethnicities, etc. and is founded
on the fact that beauty is not established in a boardroom, but instead when you celebrate the
beauty of the individual who is buying the product.
Because of this concept, Glossier has created a line of products which promotes the
natural beauty of each customer by creating skincare products that improve the skin’s
complexion and tone, while creating makeup products that do not hide the customer’s natural,
unique beauty. Glossier distributes products such as moisturizers, serums, cleansers, eyebrow
products, mascara, highlighter, lip balms, blush, powder, body wash etc. Most recently in March
of 2019 Glossier released a new brand of makeup called Glossier Play which is detailed as “a
makeup brand of dialed up beauty extras”. Glossier Play is taking over the more eccentric side of
their beauty brand by targeting women who enjoy wearing and experimenting with makeup.
Objectives
The question that initiates the discussion of this paper is: Is Spain a feasible market to
enter at this time for Glossier?
Given that Glossier has already seen success in their previous international expansions,
there is potential for Spain to be the next up and coming market to emerge into. The objective of
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Glossier International Marketing Plan
Glossier’s international marketing plan is to expand their marketing presence in Spain
specifically. Sub-objectives include building brand awareness in the Spanish market and
enhancing customer relationships globally.
Environment Analysis
Marketing Strategies
The marketing strategy for Glossier is to be a back-to-basics brand that provides quality
makeup and skin care products. They want to be a company that focuses on natural beauty and
have a good relationship with their customers. With their tagline being “Beauty products inspired
by real life” they are veering away from the airbrushed artificial beauty that is prevalent in
today’s makeup industry. They also are an ethical company given that all of their products are
cruelty free.
Market Analysis
After conducting significant research on the makeup industry within Spain as well as the
existing target segments that Glossier has previously identified, it can be seen that millennials are
the prime target market. Given that the millennial demographic is quite large, two sub-segments
can be identified as the Socially Cautious Buyer and the Quality Product Investor.
Millennials
Millennials are defined as individuals born between 1980 and 2000. They are an effective
generation to market given their vast size and domination in the beauty and cosmetics market. It
can be seen in Figure 1 that Millennials make up a sizeable chunk of the population.
According to TABS Analytics in their 2015 report, millennial women ages 18 to 34 are
the heaviest buyers of beauty products. With the cosmetics industry being worth $13 billion,
“millennials are twice as likely to be heavy buyers and account for 47% of all heavy buyers”
(McCarthy, 2018). With the Millennial generation being known as the “selfie-generation” they
have made makeup the fastest-growing cosmetics category globally according to L’Oreal.
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Glossier International Marketing Plan
Additionally, millennials will be more likely than older generations to buy all-natural beauty
products (Weinswig, 2016). Spain itself is the 5th largest beauty market according to a cosmetic
study done by Space NK (Yeomans, 2016). In addition to this, market research has demonstrated
that the Spanish competitive landscape was shaped by the social value of looking good and the
global rise of social media (Euromonitor International, 2018). This is important because Glossier
has a tremendous influence on social media and can take advantage of this by building customer
relationships with potential consumers in Spain and gain insight into what they are looking for in
a beauty product.
Figure 1
Socially Conscious
The Socially Conscious segment can be described as individuals who are aware and
passionate about socially prevalent occurrences in today’s society. For example, the current
makeup industry displays women made-up in a way that is almost unattainable, and it is
portraying a negative message to young girls on what the definition of beauty is. Glossier’s brand
focus on natural beauty is an extremely positive and popular mindset that is being taken on in
popular media and aligns effectively with the socially conscious buyer’s preferences.
Additionally, Glossier’s products are all cruelty free which is another prevalent issue in today’s
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Glossier International Marketing Plan
makeup industry. Their vow to create products in an ethical manner is yet another value
proposition that attracts the socially conscious buyer.
Quality Product Investor
The Quality Product Investor segment is a group of individuals that are willing to spend
the extra money on a product that can be trusted to do its job well. Glossier’s products are not
only well-made but they have the earned media to validate it. The Glossier blog and two-way
communication that they have with customers effectively advertises their brand as a quality one.
Competition
The competition that can be identified within Spain are brands such as L’Oreal, Lime
Crime, Maybelline, STANPA, Birchbox, 3INA and Kendo. The
new launch of 3INA (pronounced Mina) is a new domestic
brand in Spain that would present the largest threat given their
similar value proposition. They launched with the aim of
challenging the one-size-fits-all definition of beauty with
“confident aesthetics and a positive, inclusive attitude” (Allen,
2017) which is similar to that of Glossier. Fenty is another top
brand that has entered Spain and is a well-known and loved
brand by Millennials (Hanbury, 2017). In terms of Glossier’s
skincare line and their competition, the leading brands for
health and beauty in Spain in 2017 were Colgate as number 1,
and Evax and Nivea ranked in second and third place (2018,
Statistica). Figure 2 showcases the global competition and top beauty brands based on 2017 data.
Beauty sales included only cosmetics, fragrance and personal care items.
Distribution
The method of distribution that has worked effectively in Glossier’s past has been
through a business-to-customer method. Glossier sells majority of their products directly through
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Glossier International Marketing Plan
their online site but has also found success selling products through pop-up stores and traditional
brick and mortar. The best way to analyse the climate of the Spanish market is to experiment
with online sales as well as a pop-up boutique before investing in that of a brick and mortar
store. Glossier has remained an independent brand from big box stores and popular makeup
distributors like Sephora and this strategy will be continued in Spain unless sales are low, and
another approach is necessary.
Marketing Mix
Promotion
In terms of promotion, there are three key types of media to take into account; earned
media, paid media and owned media.
In terms of owned media, Glossier’s Instagram has already seen tremendous success with
1.9 million followers on their main page. Owned media is critical for promotion as it gives the
company an opportunity to represent themselves on their own platforms such as their website
and social media. Social media also provides an opportunity to have a consistent conversation
with their customers. What sets Glossier apart from other beauty brands is that they have a
two-way flow of communication with their consumers. This demonstrates earned media.
Customers are constantly commenting on their Instagram or interacting with the Into the Gloss
blog and feel heard because Glossier representatives respond promptly. Having positive
comments and reviews as well as word-of-mouth are forms of earned media that are the most
valuable form of promotion given its validity. To
continue this form of promotion through all forms
of social media in Spain, it would be essential that
Glossier have Spanish representatives responding to
Spanish customer inquiries.
The most successful form of paid media
when targeting that of millennials is through social
media. Paid influencers on Instagram are a prime
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Glossier International Marketing Plan
example of a successful promotional tactic that many beauty companies have undertaken.
Partnering with Spanish influencers with a high-following rate and positive image that coincide
with the Glossier brand can help promote Glossier’s entrance into Spain.
Spanish Instagram influencers such as Aida Domenech who is behind Dulceida, with 1.6
million followers. She has a modern look, extroverted character, she's hosted the show Quiero
Ser and has written her first book, "Dulceida. Style guide" which have all added to her popularity
and reach.
Another influencer that Glossier would potentially partner with is Lovely Pepa who has
1.3 million followers. Behind this account is
Alejandra Pereira who shares her love for fashion,
photography and travel on Instagram and is now
one of the most important influencers in Spain.
She has a classic and refined style and fits nicely
with the Glossier brand (Chismol, 2018).
Another platform that is prevalent with the
Millennial generation is YouTube. Partnering with
makeup artists with a high following rate in Spain
on YouTube would additionally be a successful promotional tactic. YouTube video
advertisements are also a popular form of promotional material when targeting millennials.
Snapchat is another key social media platform that would be utilized in the Glossier paid media
strategy. Paying for advertisements that pop up when individuals are scrolling through stories as
well as investing in a Glossier geofilter near the pop-up store would be potential initiatives to
undertake for Snapchat.
Other paid media would be more traditional promotional material such as billboards and
subway signs to directly interact with customers on a day-to-day basis in Madrid. Given that
millennials are a generation that rarely watch television anymore, traditional commercial
advertisements on TV are not worth investing in.
Other promotional campaigns that would be initiated are seasonal sales, coupons for
savings on the next visit (to encourage incoming customers to come back) and giveaways.
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Glossier International Marketing Plan
Products
The products sold by Glossier include natural makeup including that of foundations,
lipsticks/liners, blush, eye shadow, mascara etc. as well as skin care products. These products are
all made in a cruelty-free environment and focus on quality as well as natural beauty.
Place
The city that would be the most strategic to enter initially would be Madrid. Not only is
this the capital of Spain with a lot of traffic and it being more cosmopolitan than Barcelona, but
majority of the influencers that Glossier would partner with are based out of Madrid. Thus, for
the initial entrance into Spain, Madrid would likely see more success and we will be placing the
pop-up store on Gran Via as it is known as the main shopping street in Madrid. This area for a
commercial store is approximately (225 € / m2) per month (Real Estate News, 2018).
Price
Given that the millennial generation has a limited disposable income, it is wise to price
Glossier products as a mid-range product in order to be competitive with their target audience.
When looking at other key players in the cosmetic industry, L’Oreal and 3INA are also priced in
the mid-range area. It can be seen in Figure 3 that millennials tend to have the lowest gross
income globally yet Figure 4 showcases how their different values influence their spending and
Glossier effectively resonates with the different categories. Thus, pricing Glossier products in a
mid-range category is the most strategic way to enter Spain. With some of their most popular
products being the Boy Brow priced at 15 euro, and the highlighter priced at 21 euros in France,
their makeup is in the high/mid-range price category when compared to that of its competitors.
Figure 3
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Glossier International Marketing Plan
Figure 4
Marketing Action Plan
As Glossier moves their business into Spain, firstly to gain more attention and consumers
from their target audience on their online platform and then as a bigger move to have a pop-up
store location in Madrid, Spain. We will target millennial women through online advertising as
well as billboards and printed ads on the metro. While targeting these millennial women in
Madrid, we want them to be turned on to the Glossier advertising so that they would go online to
check out the website and products, while also being influenced to go to their promoted pop-up
shop. By using traditional media such as billboards and printed ads on the public transportation
system within Madrid we will be able to target regular working millennial women who are
located within the cosmopolitan city as well as target them online when they use social media
platforms such as Twitter, Snapchat, Youtube and Instagram. We also will be hiring prominent
social media influencers within Madrid to post promotions of Glossier products to their
following.
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Glossier International Marketing Plan
We will be tracking how many engagements and impressions are made through the
social media marketing campaign by following the analytical data through the platforms by
looking at likes, comments, favorites, retweets, reach and engagements. After the advertising
campaign is complete we will be opening a pop-up store on Calle de Toledo where we will be
selling Glossier products and handing out one to two free samples of Glossier products such as
the milky jelly cleanser or the priming moisturizer with each purchase made. We will also be
handing out promotional codes to consumers and people walking by the pop-up shop for a
discount if they visit the Glossier website and buy products.
Marketing Budget
In 2018, Glossier brought in one hundred million dollars in revenue. On average,
businesses should be spending around ten to twelve percent of that on their marketing. With
these statistics, Glossier has around 10 million to use towards its marketing campaigns. Of that
$10 million, around $4.5 million will be allocated towards digital and social media marketing.
Around $1 million will be used towards print marketing, which will include a billboard and ads
put up in and around the metro. When doing the budget for Glossier in Spain there are two main
components; the social media advertising and the pop-up shop. Glossier is an E commerce
business so there is no need to set up a brick and mortar store right away. We are going to test
out the success of a store in Madrid by setting up a pop up shop. The best place to set up this
shop is in the heart of the city, by where all the shopping happens. The cost per day of the space
is around $675, and the space fits around fifty people. We want to first start by doing this shop
for a weekend, Friday through Saturday. The rent cost incurred for this weekend would be
$2,025. Utilities are included in this price. There would be three people on staff, one manager
and two sales associates. The cost of their salary for the weekend, based on an eight hour work
day, would be $360 for the manager and $500 combined for the sales associates. Other budgeting
factors that go along with the pop up shop would be refreshments and decorations for the space,
free samples, and retail.
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Glossier International Marketing Plan
The largest part of our budget will go towards our advertising. We will run print
advertisement leading up to our pop up shop. Because Glossier is an online brand, we do not feel
as though we need to run newspaper or magazine campaigns because that is not where our
customers are seeing the products. The only printed ads we will run will be shown in the metro
and around the entrance. We will also have a billboard close to the shopping district in Madrid.
The average cost for a month long billboard can range from anywhere between $10,000-
$15,000. Because Madrid the capital of Spain and the most populous, it is safe to assume that we
will be spending upwards of $30,000 for our billboard to run for two months.
The focus of the majority of our advertising will be online and on social media. On
average, companies will spend thirty- five to forty-five percent of their marketing budget on
digital marketing. We will run different advertisements on multiple social media platforms.
When budgeting for our social media content there are two ways of payment. For our Facebook
and Instagram advertisements, payment will be based off of price per click. This means that you
pay only when you hit a certain amount of viewers of your content. For facebook, on average in
the beauty industry, it is $1.81 per click. On average the cost per click for Instagram is between
$.50 and $1. It is also more expensive to advertise to women, which is our target market. Below
are two graphs showing the price per click. The first is based off of age, we are mainly targeting
Millennials. And the second graph shows us that it is more expensive to target women on
Facebook compared
to men.
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Glossier International Marketing Plan
Because Glossier is a beauty brand, the people who are going to purchase it want to see
how it works and how it looks. We can advertise this by paying for an influencer to do a tutorial
using the product. On average, it is one thousand dollars per one hundred thousand followers.
We are going to use a Spanish influencer since we are trying to enter the Spanish market. The
two Spanish influencers we want to partner with both have over a million followers. Ada
Domenech has 1.6 million followers, we will budget around $16,000 for her to make a post
about Glossier. The other influencer we will be using, Lovely Pepa, has 1.3 million followers.
The budget for her post will be $13,000. The budget for a Youtube tutorial by an influencer will
be six to eight thousand dollars.
Marketing Control
Glossier was a brand that built off of customer feedback and reviews. One of the best
ways for us to monitor how successful we are is by reviewing what customers are saying about
the products. This can be done in many different ways. The most effective way to go about this
would be to use online surveys. Once a customer purchases from our pop up shop or our online
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Glossier International Marketing Plan
store we can acquire their email and send out a survey shortly after their purchase. Through this
we can gain information about the customers satisfaction with their experience and the products
they chose.
Another way we can monitor how we are doing is through revenue earned. Most of our
sales will be done through our online store. When customers check out they will be giving
information like what country they are purchasing from. This way we can specifically how much
revenue we are bringing in from Spain.
The pop up store is being used to bring in revenue but it is more about brand awareness.
Glossier is not sold in Spain and many people do not know much about the brand. We want the
pop up store to be an informative experience for our potential customers. Yes we want them to
buy product, but we also want to see a lot of foot traffic through the store. The store we are
renting can hold up to fifty people, so the goal would be to have it two-thirds full for the majority
of the weekend. That would be a way we could measure success.
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Glossier International Marketing Plan
Works Cited
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www.emarketer.com/Article/Millennials-Dominate-US-Beauty-Market/1014857.
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Weinswig, Deborah. “The Millennials Series: Millennials and Beauty.” Fung Global Retail &
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Yeomans, Michelle. 2016. German Consumers Spend the Most on Cosmetics in Europe.
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spend-most-on-cosmetics-in-Europe
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Danbury, Mike. “12 Hot New Brands That Millennials Can't Get Enough Of.” Business Insider,
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Glossier International Marketing Plan
“Spain: 20 Most Chosen Health & Beauty Brands 2017 | Statistic.” Statista, The Statistics Portal,
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