Marketing Happy Hour - Online to Offline: Translating Brand Messaging Across All Channels | Kewanna Donaldson of Glossier

Starting point is 00:00:00 you're listening to the marketing happy hour podcast where we discuss career and industry insights with our peers in marketing we're here to talk about it all like the ups and downs of working in social media how to build authentic relationships in the influencer and pr space managing a nine-to-five and a side hustle at the same time, how to be productive in your life and career without losing your sanity, and more. Ultimately, we're here to build a community with you because we're all trying to navigate the world of marketing together. Are you ready? Grab your favorite drink and join your hosts, Cassie and Erica, for this week's episode. Hey, Marketing Happy Hour listeners. This week, we are so excited to have Kiki Donaldson,

Starting point is 00:00:58 Senior Manager of Brand and Product Marketing at Glossier, joining us to walk through how the brand is positioning itself in the beauty space 10 years after their launch in 2014, how they consistently incorporate a spirit of play into their marketing strategy, their product launch process from ideation to execution, and how the brand translates its messaging across all channels. Glossier has been one of our favorite brands for a very long time, so we were completely honored to have had a chance to get this mini inside scoop. We hope you love this happy hour conversation as much as we did. So without further ado, please grab your favorite drink and listen in. Hello, Kiki. We are so excited that you're here. How are you today?

Starting point is 00:01:38 I'm doing so well. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. Oh my gosh, absolutely. We are huge fans of the brand. But before we get started, I do have an important question for you that we ask all of our guests. And that is what is in your glass this afternoon? I am an avid Starbucks buyer. So I get a coffee once a day, and it's usually first thing in the morning. So I get a iced white mocha with cinnamon dolce syrup, literally the same thing every day a routine yeah oh my gosh I also currently have Starbucks it's just um they were running like a promotion they always get me with those like gamified promotions so if they're wondering who their target audience is

Starting point is 00:02:16 right here um but I got a iced uh shaken espresso because they were doing like, if you buy three of those in a week, you get like 90 extra stocks, which is amazing. They get me with or without the promo. Cassie, what about you? That's so funny. I do not have Starbucks this morning. Unfortunately, I have a water and a Celsius. I am very tired this morning, so I am just trying to keep up. We're recording at like nine o'clock in the morning and I'm not quite awake yet. I don't think so. Hopefully this, this does the trick. We will see. You got this. I've been up since five. So it's definitely, gosh. Yeah. It's late in the day right now. Oh yeah. Yeah, of course. Well, Kiki, we are super stoked to just learn all about your career journey and everything that you've done so far. But would love to just kind of know what initially drew you to brand and product marketing and how has your career just unfolded so far? mean I like to say that my career journey hasn't been linear it hasn't been diving straight into beauty I started really in kind of like the I started in hospitality and marketing as a coordinator

Starting point is 00:03:35 and really for years my roles were very much integrated so across multiple channels with working with CRM with social etc and so really getting that cross-functional experience. And then eventually my career led into more brand. And that's where I was like, okay, yeah, this is, this is kind of what I like to do. I love the marketing aspect of being that brand champion. And then I found my way over to Glossier into the beauty industry. And that's how I landed into brand and product marketing.

Starting point is 00:04:08 Do you have any career advice for someone looking to grow in brand marketing? I know that's probably a pretty loaded question, but a lot of people are very interested in that space. But like, what would you say are some of the things that they should be focusing on in order to maybe dive into that category? Yeah, no, I think it's a great question. And a lot of people do reach out to me and ask me about it. And the first thing I would say is it's not linear, right? So it's not diving directly into brand because just because you have brands in your closet or you shop certain brands doesn't mean you understand a brand from a marketing perspective. So my best advice is to try something in marketing that's different outside of brand, to try email brand champion through that channel. And so once you start to understand different channels, you can piece it all together. For many brand marketing roles, it's very much integrated. It just now has a different title to it. But you are that person, that central person and department that everyone comes to because you're the muscle, right? So you help other channels pump and keep it, keep it, keep them aligned to what that brand strategy is. But you can't do

Starting point is 00:05:33 that unless you understand what they're supposed to be doing. Oh, totally. And we talk a lot to, you know, people fresh out of college or just like looking to make a change in their career. And we always recommend getting their, you know, experience in all of these different areas so that they can better understand the area that they actually want to be in. So I love that you that. I think that's very important. And I want to chat through marketing, brand marketing specifically a little bit. Glossier, i've been a fan of since probably the very beginning i don't know if it was like maybe it was like 2015 when i finally was like oh i love this brand this is great but they emerged on the scene in 2014 as sort of this like revolutionary leader among young beauty consumers and 10 years later which which is crazy, how is Glossier positioning itself in the beauty

Starting point is 00:06:26 industry today? I know that's also kind of a loaded question, but give us a little insight into that. We are actually really excited because like you mentioned before, it is year 10. It's our anniversary. We've been around for a decade, which is amazing. And honestly, after COVID, a lot of brands haven't been. So we're very thankful that we're continuing to grow in this space, but we were year 10 out of a hundred plus multi-generational

Starting point is 00:06:51 brand. That's what we say, right? We're a growing brand and our mission is to continue to give everyone a chance and a voice to, to grow through beauty, right? So that's what we've been focusing on and that's kind of what we doubled down on and continuing to move forward towards that mission. That's amazing. And we want to talk to you about, you know, one of the things that we love about the brand is the apparent playfulness and all of the messaging that's out there and all of the products. How have you and the team at Glossier been able to really incorporate that spirit of play and just fun branding into your brand story? I love to say like the brand, the activations, the community is really the magic of the brand. And that's what keeps us pumping. That's what keeps us going. And honestly, that's what fuels me through everything that I do with this brand. And I, you know, there aren't certain moments that they say, but like, as we think about

Starting point is 00:07:50 like testing and learning, we're still, again, we've been around for 10 years and that hasn't been that long when you compare us to like the Estee Lauders, the L'Oreal's of the world, but it allows us to continue to have a voice in culture and continuing to listen to our community. And Glossier was founded by listening to our community. So kind of double downing on what, what does the community want to see? What are the products they want and meeting them where they're at essentially. That's amazing. And how are you staying in touch with that community? Is it social media comments? Is it like focus groups or in real life events? Like what are you doing to stay in touch with that community? Yeah, I, it's funny because so we just relaunched our, our number two products

Starting point is 00:08:35 called bomb.com and we did a mean tweets video, like a comment section video when we launched. And it was all of our HQ kind of reading back comments that we've heard over the last year and a half with this product. And the concept of it comes from like mean sweets, but we were just so excited to do it because we wanted the community to know we're listening. We're human. We see it. And so to your question, we're always looking at comments. We're always looking at DMs. Our CX and social. And I think meeting people where they're at and continuing to pivot while staying true to who you are is what we've tried to do. Oh, absolutely. I love hearing that.

Starting point is 00:09:35 And I know you mentioned that moment as the brand, just having that fun video come out in conjunction with that product. But could you walk us through some of the other standout moments at Glossier that you've been a part of or any favorite projects you've been able to work on at the brand? I always say it's hard to say one because I am very grateful

Starting point is 00:09:58 that I have the opportunity to do so much. But a few things that I would call out retail. So we have 12 retail stores now, and soon to be 13 when we open up Dallas. So very excited to be on that team to help with openings. And it really, between that and the brand activations that I have the opportunity to put on is, it allows me to kind of get on the ground to talk to people, to hear everyone's thoughts, and just to be a part of that magic IRL. And that is special to me. So we've done retail. One of my favorite projects for brand activations is last year,

Starting point is 00:10:37 we did a You Look Good tour. And so we took a truck and we created this retail fun house. And we went to three cities we didn't have retail stores in. And it was fun to go into cities we haven't been in, but also see what people wanted. Right. And and be a part of the opportunity for people to try the brand for the first time. So that's very exciting. And then the other note that I would mention is probably the grant program. So the grant program for black Beauty Businesses, we're on year four. So exciting. Cohort four.

Starting point is 00:11:10 And the applications, the talent, the founders, it's truly inspiring to meet these people because you see the passion in the work. You see how talented they are with the products they're coming out with. And for us to have the opportunity to provide resources, to provide advice is amazing. So I'm very grateful that I've been a part of those, those projects since I've been here. Yes. Oh my gosh. That is so incredible. And just bringing it back to retail and kind of like those in real life activations for a moment. How are you making sure that the brand is consistent across all of these different touch points with the consumer? So you have your digital touch points and then you have your in

Starting point is 00:11:54 real life touch points at retail and you have all of these different things going on in the community. How does your brand, you know, stay true to who they are across the board when you're looking at going out into your community? Yeah. So I, well, one thing I think is important to, even if you're doing something IRL, what about the digital community? How are we incorporating them into the fold? So always keeping them in mind, even though you're in one location. So I think that's super helpful. And then, you know, I mentioned that I come from a hospitality background and something that I've always loved about Glossier is the magic of wanting people, wanting to make sure that people feel seen and feel heard and feel like they're a part of the

Starting point is 00:12:42 journey. Right. So that's that hospitable part of what we do. And having that touch point in real life is important. And then talking to them as if they're a friend, like online. So continuing to stay true to who we are and who we were 10 years ago when we started and how do we continue to grow with them is is how we stay relevant is how we stay immersed and but also just it adds the playfulness it adds the fun to it and and that's what keeps it exciting yeah kind of piggybacking off of that too I feel like my earliest memories of Glossier is going to the pop-ups you guys did in like New York and LA and everything like years and years ago. And so I feel like you guys have always kind of prioritized being in

Starting point is 00:13:32 front of the consumer in real life, like you were talking about, and now you're at Sephora and you have all these different touch points and everything. How important do you feel is it to have consumers actually touch, feel, and experience your product in person? I know not every brand has the budget and the luxury in order to do that, to host a pop-up or to go out across the U.S. and do that. But thinking about the importance of that, how important is that to you guys? Because obviously digital is awesome, but actually getting out there, speaking to consumers face-to-face, what has been the benefit of doing that? Yeah, I mean, I think the way people shop continues to change.

Starting point is 00:14:11 And it was great being able to offer products and seeing how people loved products just by buying it offline. Right. And now coming into a world where it is more omni-channel, it's like it's retail, it's wholesale, it's online and creating the opportunity for people to touch and feel. I think it's incredibly important. Right. So it it captures those people who heard of the brand or might have never heard of the brand and wanted to experience that brand and touch and feel before they even convert to buying that product. So even when you think about the You Look Good tour that I mentioned. So we went to Austin, Ohio, and Nashville. And we had a pop-up in Austin years ago.

Starting point is 00:14:55 But Ohio was very random to everyone else. To us, we have a huge community in Ohio. And so allowing us to bring our core products there and for people to touch and feel for the first time and buy it, I think that's, it's amazing. And now that we are in hundreds of Sephora doors and in Australia starting today is amazing. So it allows us the opportunity to continue to grow where people are curious about our brand. Yeah, absolutely. Well, I want to talk a little bit more about product marketing specifically. So as you mentioned, you've been a part of launches and just new brand ideation. So I'm just curious overall, what is the process of marketing a new product from ideation

Starting point is 00:15:46 to launch? You know, how long does that take you guys? When do you start kind of thinking about the messaging and everything like that? Just really curious to get an inside look there. Years. It takes quite a long time and a hundred percent, a cross-functional effort. The, the lead time honestly depends on the product. Formulas are very different, right? And we like to make sure that we're developing a product that we feel good about. And so whether it's something net new or it's a classic core that we already have that we're either, you know, changing something about it or creating an extension shade, if you will, making sure that we are continuing to, again, get consumer insights

Starting point is 00:16:34 to see what products our community is asking, actually craving for, looking at trends to see what's coming up in the market and what's exciting people, but also just making sure it feels right for the brand. We continue to, you know, double down on our classic core products, like our Glossier You, our number one fragrance, our bomb.com number two, Boy Brow, which is, you know, the classic, right, of Glossier when you think about Glossier. But it is, it's a process and it takes a bit of time to perfect to the way we feel excited about marketing. And then from the product ideation phase, so working with the packaging and development team, product development team, And then we start to think

Starting point is 00:17:25 about, okay, so what is that message? What is the concept of this product? What is going to be so exciting that it sets this product apart from what is in our portfolio, but also what is out there in the market? So continuing to look at it from like a strategic lens and folding it into a story. And then that beginning phase leads into the go-to-market phase of like, okay, so now how are we launching it? What is the messaging around it as far as from a marketing perspective, how are we putting it out there? And then working very closely with my influencer team,

Starting point is 00:18:00 with my brand awareness team, with my social team and CRM, et cetera. I'm like, okay, so now how are we bringing it through those different channels? Are we looking at out of home? Are we looking at linear and TV? Does it make sense to do a TikTok live video? So every product, every campaign will feel a little different depending on the scale of the campaign. But ensuring that we have, again, that integrated approach. So everyone's laddering back up to that same messaging, the same strategy that we developed in the beginning. So you're telling a story.

Starting point is 00:18:37 It's always a story that you're telling. Yeah, for sure. Well, and speaking of that, I know speaking across departments and keeping consistent messaging across departments can be a task in and of itself. Right. So I'm curious, too, how are you guys kind of staying on the same page together as a team? How do you build that trust and communication internally so that everyone does strive to meet that same goal and you stay kind of consistent towards that goal. I think you said it. It's communicating. It's continuing to communicate with your individual stakeholders to ensure that we're still laddering back up to that strategy. And by continuing to connect, you see where the white space is. You see if something doesn't feel right. You go back and see like, okay, so this is what we originally aligned on. Are we still headed in that same direction?

Starting point is 00:19:36 And don't get me wrong. Like sometimes we make pivots and sometimes we might change later on because something changed in the market. I don't know, but continuing to stay flexible, continuing to stay connected with each other is how you, is how you make sure that you're still laddering back up to that strategy and that approach for launch. Totally. Love hearing that, like just echoing the importance of collaboration across the board. And just like, when you are sharing ideas, sharing knowledge, and just like on the same page about what's coming forward, you do identify some areas where you can then move into at a later time. So I love that. I want to hear you mentioned very casually a little bit that Glossier is now in

Starting point is 00:20:23 Australia. So do you have anything else that's coming up for Glossier that you're able to speak to that our listeners would love to learn about? There's a lot of stuff coming up. I can say that. I can't say much, but we have a lot of exciting products that are coming up, exciting events that are coming up, exciting events that are coming up. And just, yeah, stay tuned to our social pages. But we, yeah, it's going to be exciting end of the summer.

Starting point is 00:20:55 It's going to be exciting fall into winter. And I love to say we're just getting started because we are just getting started. There's so much I'm excited about and can't wait for everyone to experience. Oh, that's so exciting. We cannot wait to stay tuned with you guys too and see everything unfold and roll out. But we have to close out by asking you a couple career related questions, of course. So first question I got to know is, you know, there's so much change happening in the marketing industry all the time. How are you personally staying kind of up to date

Starting point is 00:21:31 with all the changes, all the just marketing evolution that's happening all the time, whether it's on the platforms or just new channel options? How are you staying on top of all that? Me specifically, I'm a reader. So I, I stay online reading, like I'm on LinkedIn reading all the time and throughout social media. And again, staying connected with other people. I love to hear other people's journeys, especially if they're in another industry. Cause again, I didn't come from the beauty industry. And I think that there's magic to that. When you pull people from the same industry that you work in and different industries, you have different perspectives. So I stay connected with people in my network just to see what's going on. And I'm sure that they love to see what's going on with me as well and just sharing perspectives. So I think that's honestly the biggest key and just reading what's out there. Absolutely. That's awesome. Well,

Starting point is 00:22:30 another favorite question of ours is just what do you know now that you wish you knew earlier on in your career? I know that's another loaded question, but excited to hear your response. I feel like it's probably not the most helpful answer, but it takes time to figure out what you like versus what you don't. I've had many challenging conversations, many challenging days where I was like, this is hard. Like, I can't figure this out. And I've had people say to me, oh, well, maybe it's not for you. And don't get me wrong, maybe sometimes some things aren't for us. And that's okay. And that's a reality that you have to come to for yourself. However, I want to encourage people to continue trying, especially if they're passionate about

Starting point is 00:23:20 something, even if they don't have the most experience in it, continue reaching out to people. And I know people are busy and sometimes it's hard for people to respond, but you will get connected eventually. Someone will share some insight with you and you will learn and you will grow. So that is my advice to employ people to just continue to pushing through because I know it's hard sometimes, but you'll get, you'll get there. Absolutely. So encouraging. And thank you for that. I feel like a lot of times, you know, we look back at our careers and we're like, okay, what is it that I wish I knew earlier on, but it's so true. Things take time. And we say it all the time. Like you're probably, we both and everybody that we talk to really

Starting point is 00:24:06 is not where they thought that they would be at this point in their lives, like earlier on in their career. And it speaks to the fact that it does take time to get where you want to go and to learn all the things along the way. And that every step in your journey is, you know, it's kind of cliche, but like everything happens for a reason, but every step in your journey leads you to the place that you're meant to be. And so I love that you spoke to that. Thank you so much. No, yeah, I a hundred percent agree. Like I going into 2020, just like everyone else in like hospitality and in marketing, I got laid off. And so I like to tell people that because

Starting point is 00:24:43 I was laid off for a while it was like seven months and leading into Glossier I didn't know that this is where I would be sometimes I'm like oh I wish I was you know further on in my career but then I look back and I'm like oh wow like you've done so much and so I think it's not always as planned, but you're exactly where you should be. Yep. Couldn't agree more. Well, we want to make sure everybody can follow you, find you online, find the brand, follow along with everything coming up for the brand.

Starting point is 00:25:16 So where can we find you online? Yeah. So you can find me on LinkedIn under Kiwana Donaldson. And then similar to my Instagram as well, it's Kiwana.Donaldson. Those are the two places I'm primarily. Amazing. Amazing. And then is the brand Glossier on Instagram and everywhere, basically?

Starting point is 00:25:36 Everywhere. We're on Instagram. We're on TikTok. We are on YouTube as well as LinkedIn. You can find us on all those channels. Amazing. We'll put everything in the show notes for people to follow along with you in the future. But thank you so much again for joining us. This has been such a great conversation and I've loved getting a little inside look at your day-to-day at the brand and just your experience and your career overall. I know

Starting point is 00:26:00 it's going to help a lot of our listeners. So thank you for joining us. And I really appreciate you two reaching out and it's, it's been a great conversation and here to help in any way that I can. Thanks for listening to this week's episode. We hoped you loved it as much as we did. If you enjoyed the conversation, we'd love to get your feedback on the episode. Head to the review section of your favorite podcast app and let us know what you thought thanks for listening and we'll see you next week

Marketing Happy Hour - Online to Offline: Translating Brand Messaging Across All Channels | Kewanna Donaldson of Glossier

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