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Good morning! It's Tuesday, November 28th. Today’s post looks at Bobbi Brown’s new makeup company, Jones Road, which is expected to generate $120M in sales this year!

THE FEATURE

Making a 9-Figure Makeup Empire with TikTok

Bobbi Brown sold her makeup company, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, to Estee Lauder in 1995 for $74.5M. 

This deal included a 25-year non-compete agreement that expired in 2020, and the 66-year-old makeup entrepreneur has wasted no time creating a new cosmetics empire. 

Her latest company, Jones Road Cosmetics, expects to top $120M in sales this year!

So, What’s the Business?

Free from Estee Lauder, Brown set out to create her own makeup brand that focused on clean, high-grade formulations for every skin type and tone. 

Brown’s view was that there was an oversaturation of low-grade products in the makeup industry, and she wanted Jones Road to be a brand for shoppers who care about sourcing and the effects of ingredients on the body. 

Jones Road was a hit right from the start, generating $20M in revenue in its first year. But the company’s continued growth isn’t due to Brown’s star power in the makeup industry— it's thanks to TikTok marketing.

How They Win: Using TikTok to Gather Zero-Party Data

When Bobbi Brown pioneered her first eponymous cosmetic brand in 1991, the marketing technique to drive sales was to be featured in magazines and appear on the Today Show. With the release of Jones Road Cosmetics in 2020, Brown found that those traditional marketing tactics weren't moving the needle. 

Luckily, her son Cody Plofker, a marketing consultant for companies like Northbeam and Octane AI, knew how to tap into modern consumer trends. Brown is an iconic figure in the makeup world, and Plofker knew she could garner a massive following on TikTok and ultimately drive sales. 

Brown’s first round of TikToks, which wove together the makeup brand with her values of confidence and empowerment, went extremely viral and nearly tripled sales overnight!

However, it isn’t just Brown’s celebrity status in the makeup industry driving sales on TikTok. Jones Road spends $8K on TikTok ads per day that primarily feature educational makeup content but ultimately serve to funnel viewers to their Octane AI “find my shade” quiz.

Helping consumers find the right makeup can undoubtedly help win them over, but what Plofker was really after is zero-party data— customers must submit a personal email address to take the “find my shade” quiz. In addition to the email address, the quiz creates a consumer profile for each user with their skin tone, type, pain points, and product interests. 

Within the first three months of combining TikTok ads with Octane AI’s quiz, Jones Road collected 124K emails and increased its AOV from $60 to $90. The increase in AOV is thanks to the personalized recommendations customers receive after completing the quiz, allowing Plofker to upsell and bundle together cosmetic items.

The TikTok Advertising Playbook

1. Use broad targeting for age, gender, and geography: TikTok will autonomously optimize based on viewership data

2. Create entertaining content: TikTok users are there to be entertained, not to shop

3. Direct consumers off TikTok to collect data: In Jones Road’s case, it directs customers to the Octane AI quiz

4. Use data to personalize shopping experience: Consumers love feeling seen, and recommending products specific to their needs is a winning strategy

5. Create loyalty outside of TikToks: Promote personalized product selections via email and SMS marketing

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