Dive Brief:
- As it looks for scale, Glossier named its first celebrity brand ambassador on Tuesday in Grammy Award winner Olivia Rodrigo, according to details emailed to Retail Dive.
- Glossier has been building its relationship with the 19-year-old singer since early 2021, with Rodrigo wearing Glossier beauty products to events including the American Music Awards and the Grammys.
- The partnership will see Rodrigo featured in Glossier campaigns and also contributing to product and content. The first campaign with Rodrigo features the brand's motto, "You Look Good," and will include a curated set of Rodrigo's favorite Glossier products.
Dive Insight:
Glossier is going big with its first celebrity ambassador, bringing on a teen pop star who has risen to international fame over the past year or so and just this month won three Grammy Awards for Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Solo Performance.
The company already has a history of working with Rodrigo, after having the artist debut Glossier's Ultralip product a year ago on a Vogue Beauty Secrets video. Rodrigo also visited the site of Glossier's new Los Angeles flagship before it opened to meet with founder and CEO Emily Weiss.
"The partnership with Olivia signifies the brand's focus on building authentic talent partnerships grounded in real-life connections and shared values," the company said in the announcement. "It's also an extension of Glossier's people-first approach to beauty with Glossier and Olivia initially connecting over the belief that beauty is above all, celebrating where you're at today and taking pride in your beauty journey."
In addition to curating a set of products dubbed "Olivia's Favorites," Rodrigo will also work with the beauty brand to co-create content and develop custom product sets. Glossier will also be integrated into Rodrigo's tours and merchandise in some way.
The last couple of months have been busy for Glossier, and not always in a positive way. On one hand, the brand began aggressively re-entering brick and mortar over the summer last year after raising $80 million in funding. Glossier opened its fourth permanent store in March, with more on the roadmap. At the same time, mistakes on the company's path to scale caused it to lay off more than 80 employees in January, with Weiss saying the brand "prioritized certain strategic projects that distracted us from the laser-focus we needed to have on our core business: scaling our beauty brand."
The brand has also spent the last year filling out its executive team, naming a vice president of brand, a chief marketing officer, a chief financial officer and a chief commercial officer.
