A brand’s “community” has never been more important, but can it exist to serve a larger and more meaningful purpose? According to brands like Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty and newcomer Selfmade, the answer is a resounding yes. These brands (in addition to many, many others, including giants like Maybelline and Biore) are investing heavily in mental health content and programming. This makes sense, in the wake of the isolation that many people – especially the young Gen Zers forced to go to school on Zoom – have felt over the past year.
It’s tempting to look at such efforts cynically or wonder what might be behind a brand’s motivation to act as a mental health resource – not to mention what might encourage someone to embrace it. But, in a world where relevant conversations about mental health remain stigmatized, any effort to expand accessibility to support and open difficult conversations can be a good thing. Gen Z culture is slowly changing the narrative around mental health and helping to de-stigmatize talking about it. Concrete example: posting crying on TikTok is normal. Rare Beauty has the unique ability to access Gomez’s huge fan base (she has 225 million Instagram followers) who see her as a role model, to build a community. The initiatives of the big brands are used more to provide access to the services of non-profit organizations. At worst, the public ignores the offer. At best, brands can meet customers where they are (on Instagram or TikTok) and direct them to resources that could actually be of use to them.
“I 100% believe that by any means you can access information and deepen your understanding and awareness. [about mental health], is important, ”said Dr Sam Boardman, clinical instructor in psychiatry and assistant psychiatrist assistant at Weill-Cornell Medical College, and founder of Positive Prescription. She noted that any division between beauty (and fashion) and sanity so far has been detrimental, as we have separated beauty from wellness: “There has been this wall between them. in a way that wasn’t necessarily natural, ”given the connection between how people look and what they think of themselves. And since things like symptoms of depression and anxiety aren’t something schools teach, Boardman said beauty brands are, in fact, well placed to help fill the void – as long as the message does not coincide with the promotion of the product.
Chez Rare Beauty, launched by Selena Gomez (which was open to its own bipolar diagnosis) Mental health has always been at the heart of the brand’s tenets. According to Katie Welch, CMO of Rare Beauty, the brand does this through three main pillars: content, community and financial giving through the Rare Impact Fund – the brand has pledged to raise $ 100 million for mental health foundations over the course of over the next 10 years. Although, of course, providing mental health resources is not the “responsibility” of a beauty brand, Welch said. Instead, Rare reflects on how this can be a way to put the right resources in the hands of the people who need them – namely its Gen-Z and Millennial audience. When the brand talks about mental health, it resonates with its audience. “What’s exciting,” Welch said, “is that these posts drive just as high an engagement as some of our makeup posts.”
Of course, mental health is a big topic. In his early 40s, Rare looked into how he could help fight loneliness. The few resulting cats started on Zoom soon after. “It’s something a brand can do – not only connect with their community, but also connect the community with each other,” Welch said. “With Covid, there was no playbook. There was no strategy. It was like, ‘How do we bring this community together instead of getting everyone together [in real life]? ‘ The discussions resonated with the participants, bringing them together around a common love of makeup, but other things as well. Topics of conversation range from current Netflix binge eating to things attendees are grateful for.
While mental health isn’t just a Mental Health Awareness Month (May) issue for Rare Beauty, the brand launched a new campaign this month called Mental Health 101. It’s “basically about it. ‘A call to action for the philanthropic community to recognize the need for mental health in schools, ”Welch said. The company has established both a Change.org petition and one GoFundMe, and promised to match $ 200,000 in donations.
For the new skin and body care brand Selfmade, the products provide a gateway for education on mental health and personal care. It’s a concept Stephanie Lee said she was working on before the pandemic. Lee, a former Michelle Obama planner, creates products to encourage self-exploration, including through a brand-built platform called Common Room, to which customers have free access with the purchase of the Mark Secure Attachment Serum, a $ 36 formula designed to hydrate and soothe the skin. The program focuses on attachment and resilience, which Lee says are essential for mental health and the ability to take care of oneself.
“It really is a curriculum. This is not a meditation or talk therapy app. That’s 21 days, which is the minimum number of days required to create a habit. It really is: How do you empower a person to do this work with themselves, and potentially with their girlfriends or friends? It is inspired by forms of therapy such as CBT and DBT [cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy, respectively], and has features like journal prompts and yoga practices that encourage “being in your body and with yourself,” Lee said. The program asks questions about how your skin feels, tracks sleep, and allows users to make connections between these different elements of their well-being.
However, it is not just small brands or new brands that are interested in the subject. In September 2020, Maybelline creates Brave together, a philanthropic platform, through which the brand will invest $ 10 million over the next five years in mental health organizations around the world. It also has a resource site and a text support line, created in partnership with the Crisis Text Line. (Users can text “ENSEMBLE” to 741741 for free, confidential advice.) For May, Maybelline has partnered with Urban Sophistication to launch an iPhone case and makeup set – 100% profits will be donated to The Jed Foundation, which works to prevent adolescent suicide.
Biore The Get That Sh * t Out campaign was created in partnership with Mental Health First Aid (MHFA). MHFA and Biore’s goal is to provide free mental health first aid training to at least 100 colleges in the United States (the training teaches participants how to safely and responsibly identify and resolve potential disease issues. addiction or mental health, and equip them with an action plan.) In keeping with the authenticity needed for a mental health campaign to truly resonate with the brand’s Gen-Z audience, brand employees share their own mental health stories on the brand’s social platforms.
Essentially, brands have the ability to meet people where they are. “What we’ve learned is that families don’t necessarily talk about mental health. Not all schools have a counselor. Not all friends, all families know how to talk about it or feel comfortable talking about it, ”Welch said. “And you think about where someone’s attentions are. And if it’s on Instagram and it’s a healthy way to send a message to someone who can make a difference in their life, then it’s worth it. Whether it’s one person or a million people, why not do it? ”
