MoekoURAWA

This blog post is the continuation of the Sauder Alumni post (Class18). Just like the three Sauder alumnus; Michelle Phan, the internet’s biggest make-up demonstrator and an entrepreneur transformed her hobby of video sharing into a successful job.

YouTube was the biggest thing in the college community, and it just made so much sense for me to have a platform. Instead of feeling down about it, I opened another door, and that door happened to be a laptop.

Source: http://recode.net/2014/10/27/michelle-phan-youtube-star-to-startup-founder/ ||Michelle Phan, a 27-year-old makeup artist and an internet entrepreneur. She has re released a book; Make Up: Your Life Guide to Beauty, Style, and Success||

As an avid fan of Michelle Phan‘s makeup tutorials, I was thrilled to read about her $84M revenue milestone on re<code>. At the same time, this news got me thinking about Michelle’s strategic use of social media (a.k.a. the YouTube power) and e-commerce in establishing her empire of seven million followers. Today, I will take a look at Michelle’s marketing strategies, in particular the mechanism of branding behind her charming and sweet smiles.

Successful beauty gurus are top marketing gurus in this digital social world.

There is no doubt that Michelle’s compelling value proposition was a critical stepping stone to developing her strong brand. She promotes “empowerment” and establishes herself as a beauty “mentor” for a large market segment of women in order to build a loyal customer base, have a higher market share and differentiate herself amongst the other women in the “beauty-guru community”,

She also engages the concept of “empowerment” through her signature outro; “Good Luck” (in a soft yet firm voice). This message reinforces Michelle’s brand in the viewer’s mind. Ultimately, the benefits of branding amount to one reason: improve profitability (thus, justifying her $84 million annual revenue). I think it is the power of branding that enabled Michelle to extend her merchandising in the global market.

Moreover, Michelle employs the branding strategy of family branding, whereby all of her products are under the a single brand, Michelle Phan. I imagine her family branding strategy allowed her to benefit from economies of scope because all of her product ranges can be promoted using a single advertisement. Similarly, this strategy increases the chance of success for her new products to survive in the market due to the already existing customer trust and loyalty. This explains why Michelle’s diversification from her makeup tutorials to cosmetic line to subscription service and to her book was a success (brand extension strategy).

Michelle started her Youtube channel in 2006. Likewise, developing a brand is time-consuming, however, I strongly believe that Michelle is a perfect example of how brand is far more important than the product itself. “Michelle Phan” brand represents the intangible value that viewers place in the actual products, and that it is the brand that sells her product, not her product selling her. Also, her brand is unique, whereas the videos and cosmetics she produces can be easily copied. Finally, successful brands like Michelle’s are timeless, whereas her products and videos can become obsolete rather quickly.

To end the blog on a good note, please enjoy my shameless Michelle Phan fandom from back in 2011!

SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzGIQqWscZk |Screen shot from Michelle Phan’s “Meet and Greet Hong Kong” video

Work Cited
Bowles, Nellie. “Michelle Phan: From YouTube Star to $84 Million Startup Founder.”Recode. Revere Digital LLC, 27 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.