How TikTok, NFTs and nostalgia gave Clinique a new lease on life

Launched in 1968, Clinique is battling far newer makeup and skincare brands in a notoriously fickle business. But a combination of nostalgia, TikTok and NFTs have helped the 54-year-old brand reach new heights lately. Clinique Black Honey lipstick, which originally debuted in 1970, was rediscovered by the TikTok community starting last summer, said Michelle Freyre, global president of Clinique for the Estee Lauder Cos. The lipstick naturally adjusts pigment for each individual skin tone, Freyre said. That led creators to buy it, test it and make videos about it. “TikTok is a place that loves nostalgia,” she said, so that helped. And once Clinique noticed the trend, it amplified it with paid support. See America's Hottest Brands 20 brands that are having a moment Click here It all helped the beauty brand boost household penetration 1.8 percentage points to 7.7% for the 52 weeks ended April 17 from the prior year, according to research firm Numerator. Those new users were largely younger, but also included plenty of older consumers, Freyre added. TikTok wasn’t the whole story. She cited Estee Lauder CEO Fabrizio Freda’s term, “multiple engines of growth,” for driving double-digit sales gains the past year. Those engines included a host of new products and in-house creative led by Global Creative Director Liz Nolan. Clinique also recently launched its first NFT collection, also built on nostalgia, giving away three representations of the brand’s story —and an assortment of brand products annually for a decade—to three people who submitted the most compelling stories about their own experience with the brand. The NFT program drove a 20% lift in social engagement, 60% lift in search and substantial increase in loyalty program membership, said Roxanne Iyer, Clinique’s VP of global consumer engagement. See America's Hottest Brands 20 brands that are having a moment Click here

How TikTok, NFTs and nostalgia gave Clinique a new lease on life

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