Glossier’s big brand revamp begins with a juicy ode to its New York City roots

FastCompany: New York City is lending its iconic I <3 NY logo to your lips. For her first brand campaign since joining the company three months ago, Glossier’s new chief marketing officer, Nicole Solórzano, is utilizing an iconic Milton Glaser design on its new “I <3 NY” balm dotcom as a juicy ode to the brand’s New York City roots. It’s also the inspiration for a broad campaign rollout across retail, social, and the website that pays tribute to the city, where the company launched. But after years of decreasing relevance and revenue, and some internal restructuring over the past several quarters, it also signals where the brand is headed next.

Glossier defined the modern “clean girl” beauty brand when it launched in 2014, and over the next near-decade rode that millennial pink wave to a 2021 series E funding round that valued the company at close to $2 billion in 2021, according to Puck . But after years of scaling, product dilution, and a jockeying for place in a crowded sector (hey, Rhode and Rare Beauty ), it hasn’t since been able to maintain that market dominance . The company laid off more than 80 employees, or one-third of its staff, according to Forbes , in 2022.

Its products launched in Sephora in 2023—a coveted partnership in beauty—but its valuation is now reportedly below $1 billion. It’s also closed nine of its 12 stores . With new C-suite leadership including Solórzano and CEO Colin Walsh, both from the haircare brand Ouai, Glossier is in turnaround mode ( hello, Gap ), and the “Balmdega” campaign is its first major marketing campaign, which Solórzano describes as “looking back at our core to go forward.” [Photo: courtesy Glossier] Anatomy of a turnaround campaign The campaign has a few tiers.

Its social campaign , “24 Hours With Glossier,” features day-in-the-life vlogs from creators Asmeret Berhe-Lumax, Coco Baudelle, Ariella Starkman, and Penda N’Diaye + Elena Howes—as well as Glossier’s founder, Emily Weiss—set to release next week. The idea is to compliment Glossier’s refined brand with less polished user-generated content that the 3 million online followers of Glossier can follow along with, even if they aren’t in NYC themselves. “This is the first time in a really long time that we’ve been on the streets with a campaign and having it be a little bit more grassroots style,” says Solórzano.

Then there’s the retail element at its Soho flagship, which is made over as a New York City bodega or “Balmdega,” in a way only Glossier could. The front of store has shelves of bodega snacks and New York City-themed exclusive merchandise, including hats, tees, and crates full of locally harvested apples, bearing a “grown and packed by Glossier” stamp. [Photo: courtesy Glossier] It will host events over the next six weeks, including partnerships with local favorites like La Cabra coffee and Elbow Bread bakery. Glossier also gave 10 bodegas hundreds of the new balms to sell.

Localization creates community building moments with brand fans, but also FOMO-inducing online content, much like Victoria’s Secret Pink’s retail strategy . Glossier intends to lean into this more, with new key lead roles to develop localized activations in its three major markets with a remaining retail footprint: London, New York, and L.A. The brand is also seeking a new creative director. “It feels bigger than a balm,” says Solórzano. “I’ll put it that way.” Outside of its Boy brow, Balm Dotcom is the company’s most iconic SKU, and a fitting choice for this moment, she says. “We want this to be a brand coming-of-age story for Glossier.

Article truncated for readability. Read the full piece →

Glossier's rebrand is significant for the beauty industry as it addresses declining relevance while leveraging its NYC roots, making it a noteworthy case study for brand strategy professionals.