Comprehensive Marketing Strategy of Estee Lauder – With a Detailed Overview

Updated on: Jul 30, 2022
Marketing Strategy Of Estee Lauder - Featured Image

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What marketing strategy does Estee Lauder employ? In this blog, we are going to elaborate on the marketing strategy of Estee Lauder.

To achieve their objectives and reach potential customers, all brands today are guided by a marketing strategy. Estee Lauder, an American multinational cosmetics company founded by Estee Lauder in 1906 in Manhattan, New York, is another example.

It’s worth noting that this multinational corporation’s products are constantly updated. Its goals are similar in that they are concerned with distribution, pricing, promotion, and other relevant factors. As a result, it is clear that their strategy is based on mixed marketing.

When we talk about mixed marketing, digital marketing has a crucial role in a brand’s transformational strategy. And by growing technology, everything is being digitized. So if you are interested in learning about Digital Marketing then check this Free Masterclass on Digital Marketing 101 by Karan Shah Founder and CEO of The Indian Institute of Digital Education(IIDE).

To begin, we must state that the marketing strategy of Estee Lauder has aided in the achievement of its founder’s objectives. As a result, we’ll go over each of the company’s actions to see how they’ve utilized their marketing strategy.

We will learn the entire marketing strategy of Estee Lauder by the end of this blog. Before diving deep into it, let’s begin with the company’s story, target audience, and digital presence.

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About Estee Lauder

Marketing Strategy of Estee Lauder - Estée Lauder

Estée Lauder was established in 1946 to sell skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products. The founders of the brand are husband and wife named Estée Lauder and Joseph Lauder who began their business of producing cosmetics in New York City. They both first started by selling cleansing oil, skin lotion, super rich all-purpose creme, and creme pack.  

Slowly within 15 years, they evolved into one of the famous cosmetics brands with enormous stores in the United States. The brand expanded its arms and the lady founder of the brand introduced Clinique in the market which was again operated by the daughter-in-law of Estée Lauder named Evelyn Lauder. 

Estée Lauder companies expanded their business exponentially and are still doing. They are leading the market of cosmetics and skincare industry by introducing organic products for both men and women segments through fast indulgence of newer technologies and working along with evolving consumer trends.

Quick Stats on Estee Lauder
CEO Fabrizio Freda
CMO N/A
Area Served Asia/Pacific; Europe, the Middle East & Africa; and The Americas.
Industry Cosmetics
Market Share/ Revenue $14.294B
Vision “Bringing the best to everyone we touch”
Tagline Let’s preserve the beauty we see.

 

Marketing Strategy Of Estee Lauder

Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning

When conducting a consumer analysis, we can conclude that the central demographic of Estée Lauder’s customer base is women aged 25 to 55 who are looking for trustworthy and high-quality products.

THE ESTEE LAUDER sells its products to customers using segmentation variables such as gender, age, and income, with a focus on females aged 25 to 55 who have a high income. Different age and income groups have different needs and preferences, which can be matched to different brands and products of this company, according to the segmentation variables mentioned. Naturally, the company is aimed at white-collar women who are interested in fashion and skin care.

Estée Lauder is known for introducing high-end merchandise to the market. Hair care, skin care, and a wide range of fragrances and makeup are also among the many products available. As a result, their multi-channel marketing strategy should include all of the company’s products and services.

Estee Lauder promotes itself as a brand that values women’s individuality and celebrates their beauty. As a result, its products are more expensive than those of most of its competitors. Estee Lauder’s pricing strategy in the marketing mix is aimed at the affluent class of women.


Marketing Campaigns

Estée Lauder’s latest campaign is a beauty digital-first

Marketing Strategy of Estee Lauder - Estée Lauder’s latest campaign is a beauty digital-first

DFS—a Hong Kong-based travel retailer of luxury products—and Estée Lauder have just launched an exclusive #BeautyAllNight campaign that allows customers to discover the perfect look before making a purchase, based on the popularity of online beauty tutorials.

The month-long campaign follows three social media-hungry travellers as they apply various beauty products, take selfies, and share their looks on social media platforms in New York, Venice, and Hong Kong. The #BeautyAllNight movement has its heart in the DFS WeChat channel.

The campaign began with a launch party at T Galleria Beauty by DFS in Hong Kong, which featured an interactive photo booth, a “Wall of Kisses,” and a skincare animation featuring the Advanced Night Repair Collection. Various DFS stores in Hong Kong, Macau, Hawaii, and Los Angeles are participating in the #BeautyAllNight campaign until May 31.

How The Estée Lauder Companies gained +130% new customers with a touching festive campaign

Marketing Strategy of Estee Lauder - Campaign 2

The Estée Lauder Companies collaborated with ZMS on an exclusive beauty gifting collection as part of a 360°emotionally-driven campaign designed to raise brand awareness and excitement ahead of key commercial moments such as Cyber Week and the holidays in 2020.

With their campaign “Good Times Unwrapped,” the Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (ELC) was recently nominated for the ZMS Partner Award 2021 in the Creative Category. “Marketing Excellence 2021” is the Partner Award.

A unique creative concept with a cinematic look and feel was developed in collaboration with ZMS Creative. To evoke the magic of gifting experiences, data-infused creatives were created, and over 2,000 image and video assets were created for the campaign. In the video campaign, six different protagonists recounted the positive effects that beauty products can have on our lives, and two exclusive products were created by ELC and Zalando.

Through their campaign, Estée Lauder evoked emotional storytelling with unexpected real-life moments. This was backed up by a full-funnel strategy to increase awareness, conversion, sales, and excitement before and during key shopping moments. From concept and creatives to media strategy, Estée Lauder’s collaboration with ZMS resulted in outstanding commercial success.

The Estée Lauder Companies pulled off an incredible campaign. Social formats performed 62% above the benchmark, Gen Z buyers’ share increased by +26%, PDP views increased by +119% and GMV grew by +130%.

Estée Lauder launches a festive AR campaign with Snapchat

Marketing Strategy of Estee Lauder - Estée Lauder launches a festive AR campaign with Snapchat

Estée Lauder has teamed up with Snapchat to release two festive versions of its Snapchat virtual try-on AR campaigns from earlier this year.

The Double Wear Stay-In-Place foundation and Advanced Night Repair serum are featured in the AR campaigns.

For the first time, Snapchat’s Scan’ feature will be used in Estée Lauder’s ANR campaign, allowing users to activate the AR lens experience by scanning the actual bottle on the app.

Users can access the experience by opening the platform and selecting the campaign icon from the lens carousel. Alternatively, the dedicated snapcode can be scanned.

Once activated, users can choose from the entire Estée Lauder Double Wear or Futuristrist Hydra foundation range at the bottom of the screen. They can also complete the look with a lipstick shade.

The product can then be purchased online by swiping up.


Social Media Marketing

Estée Lauder is active on Social Media like Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Snapchat. It has more followers on  Facebook than on  Instagram and at last LinkedIn. The  Facebook and  Instagram handle has followers in the range of around  40-60K. Since the majority of young teenagers don’t have accounts on LinkedIn, it is more of a professional social media platform that excludes them. Along with a few posts about the launch of their new product, the posts primarily contain promotional and educational content.


SEO Strategies

Marketing Strategy of Estee Lauder - SEO

According to SEO rankings, having fewer than 500 keywords is bad, having more than 1000 is good, and having more than 10,000 is amazing. As you can see, Estée Lauder uses organic keywords, which is a good thing. This indicates that Estee Lauder’s digital marketing is gaining a significant amount of insights.

Now brands have kick-started their SEO Strategies and it is working wonders for them as we can see in the above-attached image.

If you wish to learn and master the art of SEO, IIDE is here to help you out. With IIDE’s Online SEO Course or IIDE’s Online Digital Marketing Course, you can become an SEO expert and implement it for your brands or help other brands stand out.


Influencer Marketing

About 30 cosmetics companies, including Aveda, Bobbi Brown, Bumble and bumble, Clinique, La Mer, and MAC, are owned by Estée Lauder. The company also taps high-profile spokesmodels like Karlie Kloss, Kendall Jenner, Elizabeth Hurley, and Joan Smalls to market its products.

The campaign’s goal was to use social influencers to raise brand awareness on Instagram and to use an influencer survey to gain insight into current feelings toward the beauty industry on social media – making Estée Lauder the first of Vamp’s clients to use influencers for market research.

Another successful tactic used by the Estee Lauder companies has been to use fresh celebrity faces as brand ambassadors for their products. According to a recent survey, their profits increased by 84 percent, largely due to the company’s digital transformation. There will always be room for a large online market as long as there is a direct relationship with the customer and you can draw them in with quality and creativity.


Ecommerce Strategies

Clinique and Bobbi Brown, both under the leadership of William P. Lauder, launched their first e-commerce sites in 1996, well ahead of the curve. The introduction of the High-Touch service to the online world would mark the start of a revolution within the company.

In the United States and the United Kingdom, they are the number one prestige beauty company on major retailer websites. In both established and emerging markets, where mobile is the dominant platform for online shopping, digital commerce continues to drive double-digit sales growth.


Mobile Apps

The best way to stay informed and connected to The Estée Lauder Companies community while on the go is through MyELC@ELC Mobile.


Content Marketing Strategies

Luxury brands are not known for allowing consumers to dictate trends and brand initiatives. They’ve had long-standing policies of disseminating their editorial point of view through traditional channels and using aspirational imagery to create irrational demand.

Estee Lauder does not want to give its customers that untouchable impression. Instead, it has adopted a strategy of an honest and open two-way conversation. The meaning and commitment behind Estee Lauder’s tagline, “Let’s beauty together,” permeates across its marketing and pays off big in customer loyalty.

Estee Lauder believes each social media serves a different communal purpose. On Instagram, they use live stories and posts, focusing on the quick eye candy. On Youtube, they post long-form educational content. Facebook and Snapchat are used for event coverage.

They never tried to sell their brand directly, but rather they followed the path of indirectly promoting it through engaging and informative content. 

The users on social media platforms and visitors on the website enjoy the content related to the industry and associate Estee Lauder with the content that they love to consume. This is also the reason why Estee Lauder is successful in obtaining relevant traffic on its website.

We know you also want to attract and engage your desired target audience without forcing them to make purchases. Well, for that, you’ll need to muster a basic understanding of how to create a holistic content marketing strategy to ultimately convert them into paying customers without insisting they pay.

This ends the elaborative marketing strategy of Estee Lauder. Let us conclude our learning below from the marketing strategy of Estee Lauder.

Digital Marketing Academic Challenge 2024 - DMAC

Conclusion – What’s Unique in Estee Lauder’s Marketing?

In the marketing strategy of Estee Lauder, we saw that Estee Lauder is gaining love and support from all the places in the world. The Estée Lauder Companies has a history of experimenting with cutting-edge technology to engage with fans.

In comparison to revenue in 2021, Estée Lauder’s profits have increased significantly. As a result, we can conclude that Estée Lauder’s marketing strategy has yielded positive results. These are sales generated by potential customers and new customers who have responded to the brand’s marketing campaigns.

With digital marketing it is far easier for brands of all shapes and sizes to reach people, building a loyal customer base is critical for business success these days. There’s no denying that there’s a lot of competition!

Digital marketing is crucial since it links a company with its clients when they are online and is effective across all sectors. It links businesses with ideal consumers through SEO and PPC on Google, social media marketing, and email marketing. If you would like to learn more and develop skills, check out IIDE’s 4-Month Digital Marketing Course to learn more.

Alternatively, you can enrol in one of our free online masterclasses led by IIDE’s CEO, Karan Shah, to gain insight into the field of digital marketing. 

We hope this blog on the marketing strategy of Estee Lauder has given you a good insight into the company’s marketing strategies.

If you like such in-depth analysis of companies just like the marketing strategy of Estee Lauder check out our IIDE Knowledge portal for more fascinating case studies.

Thank you for taking the time to read the marketing strategy of Estee Lauder, and do share your thoughts on this case study marketing strategy of Estee Lauder in the comments section below.

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Aditya Shastri

Lead Trainer & Head of Learning & Development at IIDE

Leads the Learning & Development segment at IIDE. He is a Content Marketing Expert and has trained 6000+ students and working professionals on various topics of Digital Marketing. He has been a guest speaker at prominent colleges in India including IIMs......[Read full bio]

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