Estée Lauder Companies, a powerhouse with Clinique, MAC Cosmetics, and La Mer under its umbrella, proves you can excel in both brand building and performance marketing. At eTail Palm Springs, Doug Jensen, Senior Vice President of Go-to-Market Analytics and Activation, presented a groundbreaking approach that achieves this perfect balance.
The Challenge: Balancing Brand and Performance
CMOs everywhere struggle to allocate budgets between brand-building activities and immediate performance marketing. Estée Lauder tackled this head-on by developing a multi-stage system that measures brand equity efforts (the upper and middle funnel) alongside performance marketing (the bottom funnel) – all within a unified ecosystem.
Building Brand Desire Through Data
Understanding the impact across the entire sales funnel is paramount. Estée Lauder prioritizes pinpointing which efforts drive desirability, how upper-funnel tactics cascade down, and the influence of digital marketing on both online and physical stores.
A Shift to Digital Dominance
A decade ago, traditional channels like paid media ruled Estée Lauder’s marketing spend. Today, it’s a digital world, with 90% focused on owned brand assets, retail partnerships, and creators. From influencer collaborations to product ideation, Estée Lauder leverages the power of digital communities.
Leveraging Viral Content for Maximum Impact
A creator’s organic video showcasing Dr. Jart’s Cicapair product went viral, generating 40 million views and skyrocketing sales. Estée Lauder capitalized on this by licensing the content and amplifying it with paid media and a “back-in-stock” campaign featuring another creator.
Marketing Mix Modeling Makes a Resurgence
With limitations on user-level data due to privacy changes, Estée Lauder champions the return of marketing mix modeling (MMM). This statistical analysis approach analyzes various marketing factors (media, CRM, promotions) using KPIs specific to each stage of the funnel.
Building a Scalable Ecosystem
Estée Lauder’s MMM goes beyond individual channel impact. Their interconnected models reveal the cascading effects of each tactic throughout the funnel. This “nested ecosystem” empowers them to simulate budgets with varying priorities, allowing for flexible resource allocation. Marketers can strategically shift funds across the funnel based on desired outcomes, leading to an optimized return on investment.
A Call to Action for the Industry
Jensen urged retailers and marketers to collaborate with agencies to develop MMMs and revitalize this powerful technique. At Estée Lauder, C-suite endorsement has propelled the model’s success, and its effectiveness is driving brand-wide adoption.
“We’re scaling this from my budget to all brands,” says Jensen. “When they see the power, they all want in.”
Estée Lauder stands as a testament to the power of balancing brand building and performance marketing. By embracing data-driven insights and a commitment to innovation, they continue to lead the way in the ever-evolving beauty landscape.