Glossier promotes Ali Weiss to chief marketing officer

Dive Brief:

On the back of growth across all categories, Glossier has tapped Ali Weiss to serve as its chief marketing officer, the company announced in an email to Retail Dive.
As CMO, she will oversee the DTC beauty company's branding, creative, product and consumer insights, the company said.
Since joining the company in 2015, Weiss has helped shape the brand's product portfolio, which saw growth across the makeup, skincare, body, fragrance and merchandise categories despite 2020 industry declines, per the announcement.

Dive Insight:

Weiss steps into her new role with six years of experience at the company already under her belt.

Among other things, Weiss led the launch of the body hero exfoliating bar and the dry touch oil mist in October, which involved a campaign in partnership with the WNBA, the company said. Her team also released "Lash Slick: The Movie," a campaign highlighting the brand's mascara using a series of film trailers, in March this year.

Glossier's promotion of Weiss isn't the only change to its leadership team recently. The DTC beauty brand hired Kleo Mack, who previously held roles at L'Oréal, Tarte Cosmetics and Pureology, as vice president of brand in April. Glossier CEO Emily Weiss also joined Allbirds' board of directors in February to help guide the fellow DTC company on brand loyalty and consumer relationships.

While the announcement touted growth across the business, the pandemic was not all smooth sailing for Glossier. After initially furloughing employees, the company laid off its retail employees in August and permanently closed its three stores for the remainder of 2020.

Chief marketing officers have been a hot commodity in the DTC space, with several other brands naming CMOs recently, often bringing in veteran talent from outside. DTC brands such as Mack Weldon, Grove Collaborative and Everlane have hired new chief marketers this year so far from companies including Amazon and Nike. Bringing on veteran talent from well-known retailers and brands seems to be part of a broader trend where DTC brands are leaning on experienced leaders to push their companies to the next growth stage, sometimes at the expense of founders.