With a desire to tap into influencers and the unstoppable Millennial generation, 2014 saw Estée Lauder break away from its traditional brand ambassador mould to sign on Kendall Jenner as its new face. So why Jenner? Well, it had a lot to do with her social Where media pull – with Estée Lauder global brand president Jane Hertzmark Hudis claiming Jenner “is the ultimate Instagirl” with “extraordinary social media power”.
Jenner has gone on to do wonders for the brand, paving the way for Estée to look into doing further campaigns with digital influencers to help drive the company forward – with the brand even prepared to choose a slightly controversial route in order to do so.
To help launch its revamped brand Flirt Cosmetics, it has appointed Donald Robertson (Drawbertson – of 179,000 Instagram follower-fanbase) as creative director and Amber Rose as face of the brand. With Flirt Cosmetics’ mission to “bridge the gap between beauty and the massive entity that is social media” – Rose’s 12.1 million Instagram followers is likely to give the brand a helping hand in achieving this aim.
But Rose is probably not the first name those that comes to mind when you think of the Estée Lauder company. Even she is quick to admit she was a little surprised, telling WWD: “When he [Robertson] approached me with the idea, I was like, ‘I’m tatted, bald headed, I talk about sex like really raunchy — but I’m very sex positive — but I just speak my mind. Are you sure you want me for your brand? I’m not sure. I have SlutWalk and s–t!’,” Although she’s quick to add: “It’s the perfect match. I am their modern-day woman. My 12 million Instagram followers get it.”
While under the Estée umbrella, Flirt Cosmetics will be its own entity. It will be the first time the company has delivered an online brand that is only sold via e-commerce channels.
Image: Instagram.com/AmberRose
