Katie Welch

She’s Turning Rare Beauty Into a Rare Hit With Hard-to-Please Teens

In a sea of award-winning celebrity beauty brands, from Rihanna’s Fenty to Lady Gaga’s Haus Labs, it’s hard to rise to the top — but Selena Gomez is making it look easy. She launched Rare Beauty in late 2020, and the brand has already become a cult favorite with Gen Z shoppers. (Teen girls ranked Rare Beauty as their second favorite beauty brand last year, topped only by e.l.f. Beauty and ahead of legacy lines like Maybelline.) That’s thanks in part to CMO Katie Welch, who has crafted a community-oriented marketing approach that she compares to developing a lasting friendship, with consistent care, trust, transparency, and two-way communication at its core. Beyond connecting with customers on TikTok, where the brand has 4.6 million followers, the company builds loyalty by hosting chats and events and invites its fans to come to the office and participate in hands-on makeup demonstrations. The efforts have catapulted Rare Beauty into rare territory: It’s now valued at $1.3 billion.

By Audrey Goodson Kingo