Ariana Grande:
Brand Strategy For r.e.m. beauty

CONTEXT

In January 2021, Ariana Grande and Chandelier Creative tapped OAS to define the initial brand strategy and positioning for the pop star’s new beauty line, r.e.m. beauty.

Instead of the standard approach of selling the aspiration and image of the celebrity as a core messaging pillar, Ariana wanted a more meaningful narrative and point of view that would let the brand compete with other celebrity-led competitors in the space like Rare Beauty, Fenty Beauty, Humanrace, etc.

A core part of the engagement was answering the question of how to build a sustainable, meaningful beauty brand that wouldn't be perecived as yet another celebrity beauty brand.

Key to doing so was building a strategic brand framework that would synthesize not only opportunities in market dynamics and consumer gaps in the beauty industry, but also translate Ariana Grande's creative practice as an artist into a compelling brand point of view that would resonate with Gen-Z consumers without relying solely on selling Ariana Grande's name or face as the aspiration.

RESULTS

• Created the brand house for r.e.m. beauty: establishing the brand's mission, values, target consumer segmentation, key points of differentiation, and tone of voice.
• Crafted the story and reasoning behind the naming for r.e.m. beauty – linking the power of dreaming with imagination to craft the brand's messaging around exploring new worlds and embracing new identities.
• Established the creative framing and narrative for brand messaging, connecting Ariana Grande's creative practice as an artist with beauty consumer need states and market gaps based on competetive anlaysis to create a compelling brand point of view that is differentiated in the market.
• Developed high-level psychographic and demographic consumer profiles that drove brand decisions around product architecture and brand offer.
• Conducted consumer insights analysis to understand in-market consumer need states and requirements.
• Defined the brand’s creative point of view in relationship to Ariana Grande, the beauty landscape, and the broader cultural landscape — with a specific focus on the metaverse as both a metaphor for fluid identities and a key growth vector for shifting standards in how consumers identify and express themselves.