In beauty, there’s been plenty to talk about this year.
That’s well documented in a new report from data analytics firm Launchmetrics, which revealed the beauty brands that generated the most conversation in the first half of 2022 — and how they did it.
The company analysed the media impact value, a measurement that allows brands to assign a monetary value to posts, interactions or articles, of 700 brands across social media platforms, traditional media outlets and more. While social media continued to be effective for creating conversation, brands saw benefits from employing a variety of channels.
Though Instagram and YouTube are still the top performers when it comes to reach, they have both seen double-digit decline in MIV generated so far this year. Meanwhile, short form video platforms TikTok and Douyin (TikTok parent Bytedance’s version of the platform in China) are seeing triple-digit growth — a sign of the changing power dynamics in social media today. YouTube tutorials used to be the go-to form of social media content in beauty, but there are signs that’s changing as well: The top five beauty videos on YouTube accounted for $2.8 million in MIV, while the top five on TikTok generated $7 million.
While social media remains the hub for conversation in beauty, a number of brands still saw success in traditional media channels like print. The skin care label Augustinus Bader benefitted from mentions in titles such as Vogue and Us Weekly.
Beauty brands continued to lean on influencers (known as KOLs in China) and celebrities to drive interest. Certain brands’ performance showed the power of the right celebrity partner: at Dior, K-Pop star and brand ambassador Jisoo Kim created over $14 million MIV across eight placements for the brand. Where celebrities accounted for an average 4 percent of MIV across beauty brands, they made up 13 percent of Dior’s MIV. As well, Viktor&Rolf spokesperson Anya Taylor-Joy helped drive a surge for the American fragrance label, bringing in $472,000 in MIV with her February campaign.
Even as celebrities helped brands make noise as ambassadors, there are limits to a star’s power. Three of the four celebrity beauty brands included in Launchmetrics’ top 100 by MIV saw their engagement slump. Kylie Cosmetics, which saw MIV rise 39 percent, was the exception.
Fragrance, which posted 50 percent growth in US sales in 2021, according to the NPD Group, was the biggest winner by category. Scent purveyors Viktor&Rolf, Escada, MontBlanc, Coach and Blinc were among the brands that saw the largest MIV growth this year.
