Brands are increasingly looking to leverage partnerships with content creators to make an impact—but one that’s significant and lasting, rather than one-off sponsored posts.
Content creator Pierrah Hilaire and Brent Mitchell, vp of social media and influencers at Sephora, joined Danisha Lomax, Digitas’ head of client inclusivity and impact, during Adweek’s Social Media Week to answer that question and provide actionable insights based on their experiences and strategies.
Using influence for positive impact
Sephora’s Accelerate program has a clear mission: to build a community of innovative and inspirational founders in the beauty industry. In line with the beauty giant’s commitment to the 15 Percent Pledge, the program focuses on founders of color.
According to Mitchell, this goal reflects Sephora’s determination to ensure that brands within the beauty industry reflect the diversity in society.
“We launched [Accelerate] in 2015 and were focused on female founders,” he said. “But in 2020, like a lot of brands and individuals, we took a deeper look inward and wanted to know what more we could be doing for the BIPOC community. Now we are 100% focused on this community. Since 2020, we’ve had 23 more brands go through the program, over half of which are now on shelves in Sephora.”
To extend the impact of its commitment, Sephora has collaborated with TikTok in creating the Sephora x TikTok Incubator Program, which aims to empower diverse creators alongside a select Sephora Accelerate brands to grow their businesses on TikTok by providing them with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed.
“At Sephora, our marketing manifesto is, ‘We belong to something beautiful,’ and for us on the social media team that’s really, ‘How do we create the most diverse, equitable and inclusive space in beauty for our community to come together?’ As a big brand on a big platform like TikTok, we wondered how we could use our power for good. We partnered with TikTok and, like a lot of great ideas, it kind of just snowballed,” Mitchell explained.
Money talks
To drive the most impact, the panelists agreed about the importance of brands needing to fully invest—not just in spirit, but in substance.