Hailey Bieber just sold Rhode – her skincare & beauty brand – to E.L.F. for one billion dollars. Dang girl, hope you got a prenup.
The crazy thing is, she launched it just 3 short years ago, which is like, half the age of my YouTube Channel.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Well yeah, it’s Hailey Bieber. She has the fame, the funds, and the followers. That’s not realistic for the ‘average’ business owner.”
And you’d be right, OBVIOUSLY being famous is a perk. But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn a thing or two from this billion-dollar deal.
From the branding to the product strategy, partnerships, and launch timing – there’s a lot more going on than just celebrity authority.
What did Hailey and her TEAM do right? Because YES I’m aware she didn’t do this ALONE, but it is her brand.
And as marketers and business owners, we can def take a page from her playbook. So let’s break it down.
I am excited about this post because I LOVE dissecting great brands, product launches and marketing campaigns to show how YOU can replicate some of the same strategies in your own business.
Now, again, OBVIOUSLY, being famous and having a MASSIVE following BEFORE you launch a product or business is going to give you a competitive advantage.
So don’t come at me in the comment section.
BUT LET’S NOT FORGET,
Fame, fortune and followers do not GUARANTEE success.
There have been PLENTY of “celebrity brands” that flopped in recent decades.
Because at the end of the day celebrity or not, you need to understand great branding and marketing if you want to stick around.
And I am here to help you do just that. I make marketing tutorials on everything from branding to email marketing, social media strategy, messaging, and so much more.
So if you’re not already part of the Posse subscribe to my newsletter here.
And now, to the good stuff, what DID Hailey Bieber do RIGHT when she created and launched Rhode?
And more importantly, what strategies can YOU adapt in your own business?
Let’s start with the first – and probably most important – move she made.
#1. Sell An Identity (Not A Product)
Rhode isn’t just a skincare line. Rhode sells a feeling. A lifestyle. A whole identity.
You’re not just buying a serum – you’re buying into the “clean girl” aesthetic.
That dewy, minimal, effortless, cool-girl-with-a-glow energy.
Yup, you’re the kind of girl who looks like you drink 3 liters of water a day and sleep eight hours every night.
The term “glazed donut skin” went viral in 2021 BECAUSE of Hailey; and yes, she started the “glazed donut nail” craze too.
In an interview with Vogue, she literally said:
“I want skin that looks like you want to take a bite out of it.”
I mean, marketing GOLD. And she didn’t just talk about it – she embodied it. Her TikToks, her IG selfies, her no-makeup makeup looks.
And it caught fire.
Experts credit Rhode’s success to this identity-first branding. According to Northeastern University, Hailey’s clean-girl aesthetic resonated hard with Gen Z.
So what’s the TAKEAWAY FOR YOU to apply here?
Build a brand that speaks to how your audience wants to be perceived, a persona, vibe or value system they want to embody, one that is reinforced every single time they purchase your product or service.
In Rhode’s case, it was that clean girl aesthetic.
Alright, moving on to #2.
#2. Solve ONE Problem
Most brands make the mistake of doing too much too soon. It’s the age-old problem of trying to solve – or be – EVERYTHING for EVERYONE.
Remember, when you try to help everyone, you end up helping no one. Doing it “all” isn’t memorable.
But having a VERY SPECIFIC brand promise?
Like a dewy, delicious skin and a nourished skin barrier?
That’s memorable. That’s unique.
At the time Rhode launched, not many brands were focusing on this concept of having a “nourished skin barrier.” To be honest, I had never even heard that team until a few years ago, and now EVERYONE is talking about it. Brilliant.
So sure, the product likely helps your skin with lots of other issues and problems – acne, rosacea, fine lines and wrinkles.
But Rhode ONLY focused on ONE thing. And that ONE thing helped her brand stand out.
Not only that, but Rhode’s initial brand launch ONLY had 3 products.
A serum, a moisturizer, and a lip treatment.
All designed to work together for the same ONE promise:
A glazed-donut skin barrier.
Today, the brand has more products and expanded into makeup, which was always their plan from the BEGINNING.
But they knew if they came out with all these offers right away, it would make less of an impact.
So they started SMALL. And tackled ONE PROBLEM first.
They grew a fan base and THEN they began to launch new products and expand. It’s GENIUS.
And that’s exactly the lesson we marketers and business owners can take away here.
Don’t try to be everything to everyone.
Start with ONE hero product or offer that solves ONE clear problem. Let simplicity be your strategy.
Refreshing right?
Alright, next up:
#3. Anticipation + Scarcity + Exclusivity
Here’s where the marketing nerd in me really gets excited.
When Rhode WAS ready to roll out new product lines, they were VERY STRATEGIC about it.
They didn’t just launch and hope for the best, they built serious anticipation, did exclusive collabs and released limited drops of their products.
Like the “Strawberry Girl Summer” campaign with Krispy Kreme.
This was a collab that was actually secured BEFORE the brand even launched.
And months before announcing the collab, and the drop of her new lip treatment, Hailey was online posting photos about “Strawberry Girl Summer”.
She sparked an internet frenzy BEFORE the launch even happened – strawberry nails, strawberry makeup, strawberry everything.
And this well-thought-out and carefully planned launch strategy wasn’t exclusive to Strawberry Summer.
Hailey dropped hints like this for nearly all of her launches.
In honor of her birthday, she launched a limited-edition vanilla cake Peptide Lip Treatment.
Or what about the limited-edition launch of Cinnamon Roll lip treatment?
Each new release built up serious anticipation and demand long before anyone could buy anything.
But when they did drop, well, people WANTED it. “Clean girls” were flooding into Sephora like the Walking Dead.
Fans had to “virtually” line up for restocks of these lip products to the point that they sold out in minutes. Even Kim Kardashian shared that she had to call in a favor with Bieber herself to get ahold of the Peptide Lip Treatment.
So what’s the TAKEAWAY FOR YOU to apply?
While major brand collabs aren’t necessarily in the cards for the average new business owner, what IS repeatable here is the idea of strategically planning a product campaign months or even years in advance.
And don’t JUST think about the initial launch, think about future promotion opportunities, partnerships and opportunities to build anticipation.
Map out a long product timeline where you slowly drip out content, drop clues and craft campaigns using scarcity and exclusivity.
Alright, next up:
4. Make The Brand The Main Character
One of the smartest things Hailey did was to NOT make Rhode all about HER.
When she first launched the brand, she told Allure that her biggest dream was for someone to pick up a Rhode product and not even know it was hers.
Why would that be a goal if it was her fame and large following that allowed her to make such a big impact right away?
Simple. She knew that if Rhode was ever going to grow BEYOND “just another celebrity brand”, it had to stand on its own.
It couldn’t just be “Hailey’s Skincare Line.” It had to become a brand people trusted, loved, and shared – regardless of who was behind it.
And that mindset influenced everything about how Rhode showed up.
The branding is minimalist. The packaging is muted neutrals that look expensive but aren’t.
You want these products on your bathroom counter because they say something about YOU, not the founder.
Even the product names leaned into the IDENTITY of the BRAND.
Glazing Milk. Peptide Lip Treatment. Barrier Restore Cream. Pocket Blush.
They are also clear, purposeful, and totally aligned with the “clean girl” identity Rhode has claimed from day one.
Now this doesn’t mean that Hailey isn’t the FACE of the brand. It doesn’t mean she’s a total GHOST, and no one knows who the founder is.
Of COURSE, she still shows her face in the marketing and of course she still posts about Rhode products on her personal Instagram account.
The point is that the BRAND isn’t Hailey. It can stand on its own.
And THAT is exactly how you go from “influencer product” to a billion-dollar brand.
Now, this isn’t something that EVERY business can or should try to replicate. If you’re a freelancer or a 1-person-show service provider.
Your brand PROBABLY IS and should be YOU. Your personality is your brand’s personality.
And that’s not a bad thing. There is a difference here between building a personal brand vs a product brand, so this tip involves a bit of nuance. And if you need help building your personal brand, check out this post right here.
Now this next tip is something EVERYONE should be doing.
#5. User Generated Content
In my opinion, this is where Rhode really got it right – their best marketing material wasn’t the product ads they ran. You can see their ads, just like the rest of their branding, are very simple.
Nothing of marketing genius at play here – I mean, besides those killer product names!
The marketing gold for Rhode really came down to the MILLIONS of shares, tags and shoutouts they got on social media.
The TikTok girlies. The beauty bloggers. The Gen Z skincare lovers.
EVERYONE wanted to show off their “glazed donut lips,” dewy skin and minimalist bathroom shelves.
And Rhode made it easy for them.
From the shareable product names to the aesthetic packaging to the viral campaign hashtags – the whole brand was built for social. It was BUILT for sharing.
And clean girls WANTED to share it. Why? Because it reinforced their sense of identity.
User Generated Content like this creates WAY MORE TRUST than brand advertising ever will.
So what’s the TAKEAWAY FOR YOU to apply here?
Make your brand shareable. Give your customers a reason to POST about your product – not just use it.
Make your CUSTOMERS the hero of your brand – not just your product.
And remember – people are never going to want to share your ad.
But they DO want to show off something that makes them look good or feel good if it reinforces how they see themselves (and how they want others to see them).
Again, this all comes back to helping your customers step into the IDENTITY they desire and then making it easy for them to show the world.
So, did Hailey’s famous husband, modeling career and large social following help establish her brand? Sure, it did.
But that’s not the whole story. Rhode’s marketing was smart, simple and strategic. They made A LOT of decisions that you can absolutely replicate in your own marketing initiatives.
And if you like branding breakdowns like this, check out the next post from me where I analyze the absolute HOLD Taylor Swift has had on pop culture and everything she did right.
I’ll see you next week with a brand new post. Until then, I’m Alex. Ciao for now.
