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When Rare Beauty, Bogg, and Goodles arrived in stores, they had to vie for shelf space with well-established brands making beauty products or beach bags or boxes of macaroni and cheese. But these brands quickly amassed cult-like followings by being very intentional with their missions to foster a sense of loyalty with customers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Although her legions of fans might have lined up to try the beauty products in Selena Gomez\u2019s line, Rare Beauty, the company was founded with a bigger mission baked in: To support youth mental health by donating 1% sales to the Rare Impact Fund. While the company has found that customers will come for the products, they stay for the mission, Elyse Cohen, the brand\u2019s chief impact officer, said during a panel discussion at the Fast Company Grill at SXSW.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of starting with a product that we didn\u2019t feel like existed in the marketplace, we started with a mission that we felt like didn\u2019t exist, particularly in the beauty space,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cWe love that young people are turning to brands for not just products, but for the issues that they care about\u2014and also that\u2019s what holds us accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Founders must also hold themselves accountable. About six months ago, Goodles was weighing how to expand beyond its original offering\u2014boxes of macaroni and cheese that are packed with protein, fiber and nutrients\u2014and respond to customer demand for on-the-go microwaveable cups, recalled Jen Zeszut, cofounder and CEO. Though opting for plastic cups would be most cost-effective, doing so goes against what the company stands for, she added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWe want to make, be, and do gooder, so when you put that out there, it\u2019s a high standard that you have to live up to,\u201d Zeszut said. \u201cIf you\u2019re all aligned on the mission and you\u2019re saying that you\u2019re gooder, then you have to launch paper based cups no matter how long it takes and even if it costs more, you just got to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finally, it\u2019s important to understand who your core customers are and what they want as new competitors emerge with copycat products, as has been the case with Bogg<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s been a tough go for us with all of the people trying to nip at our heels, but we have to stay above that\u2014we have to innovate at a lightning-fast level,\u201d said Kim Vaccarella, founder and CEO.<\/p>\n Bogg\u2019s line of beach bags are intended primarily for moms whose needs help dictate the company\u2019s business decisions, Vaccarella said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0\u201cWe just have to keep doing everything and listening to her and coming out with things that are going to help make her life easier,\u201d she said. \u201cIf we fail at that, then we\u2019re failing as a brand, but everything we do is to expand on that original mission.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n