Tip of the Hat: Benefit Cosmetics

by Susan Gertman and Eli Altman

Today, our Tip of the Hat goes to Benefit Cosmetics–They broke the mold in the beauty business. Way before MAC and Sephora arrived on the scene, Jean and Jane Ford created a fresh alternative to the intimidating experience of buying beauty products in big department stores.

Here are some things that Benefit did that flew in the face of everything that typified the beauty business:

1. They tapped into the feeling of millions of American women that they were never going to look like Lauren Hutton or Scarlett Johansson or any of the other flawless models that dominated the beauty mags. Instead, they created a candy store environment filled with retro photos of pin-ups presented with a splash of humor that stood in stark contrast to the perfect images of the bigger brands. It wasn’t about perfection, it was about having fun and doing the best you can with what you’ve got.

2.  The women of Benefit have a knack for coming up with names that fit the brand. There’s a tongue in cheek sexiness that reinforces the idea that the woman is in control and that she’s enjoying herself. Names like Dr. Feelgood, Dear John, You’re Bluff-ing, Get Even, F.Y… Eye!, Woman Seeking Toner and Maybe Baby are quirky, irreverent and human.

3. Benefit has succeeded in creating an in-store environment that makes you feel like you’re at a girlfriend’s house playing with makeup instead of at a sterile beauty counter. You get a lot of help when you go into a Benefit store. They have taken something fairly cold, hard and shiny and made it into a warm, inviting and intimate experience–it’s the anti-Clinique. Instead of being at the Swiss Beauty Institute, you’re at home with the girls.

Benefit didn’t go up against the big girls by going to business school, writing a business plan and getting venture capital. They built their business the old-fashioned way. It’s not about fire power, it’s about having an idea that is genuinely different and connects with people on a human level. They know who they are, they know who they’re after and they’ve had the tiger by the tail since 1976.