Launched on September 8, 2017, Fenty Beauty came out of the gate with a ton of positive energy, leading to multiple items selling out. Results were strong enough to garner a positive shout out from parent company LVMH on its recent earnings call.
With Rihanna not only included in all campaign images but also making appearances at Sephora stores in multiple cities, social media coverage of Fenty Beauty was massive.
Tribe Dynamics, a company that tracks the value of publicity gained through promotional efforts (as opposed to paid for efforts), has issued its September report for earned media value within the beauty industry, and not surprisingly, Fenty Beauty tracked very high on the top ten list.
The top three cosmetic brand performers were Anastasia Beverly Hills with $97.3 million in earned media value, MAC with $77.1 million and Fenty Beauty with $72 million, beating out established labels NYX with $51.5 million, Benefit with $48.1 million and Urban Decay with $37 million.
In analysis of Fenty Beauty’s number, the report noted the team of high-power influencers who helped deliver the numbers: “Rihanna fêted the release with a launch party in New York, inviting established beauty YouTubers Alissa Ashley (778.8K subscribers) and Nyma Tang (440.0K subscribers), as well as powerhouse vlogger JeffreeStar (5.4M subscribers). Following the launch, the internet erupted with influencers eagerly reviewing the brand’s products on YouTube and Instagram.”
There has been misunderstanding around dollar figures with some misconstruing the earned media number as a sales figure when in actuality it represent an estimate of the value of organically generated social media coverage. While LVMH provides overall financial info on all the brands housed within it perfume and cosmetic category, it’s not likely it will ever provide Fenty Beauty’s stand-alone revenue figures.
