Sephora Black Beauty is Beauty Campaign

Introduction

Sephora claims to be the largest beauty community globally, with over 250 brands in its range.
Committed to social impact, focusing on women empowerment, workforce inclusivity, and retail experience improvement.
The 'Black beauty is beauty' campaign highlights Black culture's influence on beauty trends.
The lecture will explore how brands express values to appeal to audiences and how media representations shape identities based on race, ethnicity, and gender.

Created by R/GA Media, aired on BET, OWN, and streamed digitally.
Directed by Garrett Bradley; the 60-second film showcases people in beauty rituals.
Highlights contributions of Black beauty pioneers like Lyda Newman, an inventor of the synthetic bristle hairbrush.
Aims to enhance Sephora's brand integrity by recognizing Black beauty culture.

Social media amplifies social movements like Black Lives Matter, normalizing discussions on climate change, misogyny, poverty, and racial inequality.
Digital activism influences consumer behavior; belief-driven buyers care about brand principles.
Examples of brands responding to social issues include Nike's Colin Kaepernick campaign and Starbucks' anti-bias training.

Edelman survey: Majority are belief-driven buyers interested in products and principles.
Businesses aligning with audience ideologies can boost sales (e.g., Nike, Starbucks).

Faced loss of trust after racial profiling incident with singer SZA.
Apologized and closed stores for diversity training.
Commissioned a study on racial bias in retail; found coping mechanisms used by BIPOC shoppers.
Committed to the 15% Pledge to increase Black-owned brands.

Marketing often lacks diverse representation, leading to exclusion feelings.
Positive representation in the campaign reassures those questioning their identity.
Aligns with David Gauntlett's view on media reflecting changing attitudes and values.

The ad features diverse cast in beauty rituals, emphasizing Black beauty's mainstream influence.
Contrasts with historic negative stereotypes in media.
Sephora's ad encourages supporting Black beauty.

Du Bois's concept of double-consciousness: internal conflict in identity within racist society.
Sephora's ad avoids store imagery, focusing on familiar, comforting spaces.

Judith Butler's gender performativity theory: gender as constructed and performative.
The ad features drag queens, celebrating drag culture's beauty influence and non-binary identities.

Discuss cultural significance, advertising conventions, audience appeal, brand positioning, marketing principles (AIDA), brand values, stereotypes, representation construction, media context influence, and media's societal impact.

By understanding these elements, students can analyze how Sephora's campaign reflects and influences social values and identity perceptions.