Analyzing Ulta Beauty's Inclusive "Beauty&" Campaign

1 Deconstructing a Public Relations Case (Part 1) Student’s Name Institution Affiliation Course Instructor’s Name Due Date

2 Deconstructing a Public Relations Case (Part 1) I. Organization Background The campaign selected for the assignment is “Beauty&” by Ulta Beauty. Ulta Beauty, Inc., is an American beauty specialty retailer operating a chain of stores, and it is headquartered in Bolingbrook, Illinois . The company was founded in 1989 by Richard E. George, and its initial establishment had 5 stores in Chicago suburbs operating under the name Ulta3 (Gninyomo, 2023). George, a former President of Osco Drug Inc, initially planned to create a retailer that could offer various products at varied price levels. Other Osco Drug Inc executives joined George in this business idea and raised the capital for the Ulta3 beauty retailer. Today, Ulta is a renowned beauty brand offering a wide range of products, including cosmetics, fragrances, and skincare. In addition to its brand products, it also offers products from other high-end beauty brands such as Kylie, MAC, and Color Pop cosmetics (GlobalData, 2023). It has stores in 48 states, most located in California and the East Coast region. Ulta's other services include e-retail, beauty and salon services, and gift card services. Ulta also managed to enhance its recognition by operating a ton of distribution centers in the United States that helps in meeting delivery deadlines and widely availing their products to the consumers. The chain stores reflect the historical success attained by Ulta Beauty Inc. and the brand presence and positioning that they have managed to build over time. II. Business Goal/Mission Statement  Ulta Beauty's ultimate goal is to become the most recognized and valued beauty products destination admired by the communities, associates, investors, and partners (Ulta Beauty. 2023).

3  The company also seeks to inspire people to leverage their beauty to bring to life the possibilities that lie within. In other words, it hopes to motivate people to use beauty's power to recognize their internal strengths. III. Statement of the Problem The beauty industry has historically been criticized for underrepresentation and lack of inclusivity, especially when showcasing beauty ideals. The industry has predominately upheld narrow beauty ideals, which mostly end up excluding people with certain skin tones, physical features, gender expressions, and body types. These actions have received backlash from the public in the media and through activism because it is perceived as a form of marginalization and discrimination. Also, showcasing the narrow beauty notions of the beauty industry has been seen to encourage idolization of certain standards leading to self-esteem issues for underrepresented populations and communities. Therefore, Ulta’s campaign, "Beauty&," seeks to address this problem by going beyond the traditionally presented beauty standards and capturing a wide range of people, all with all beautiful in their way. The beauty brand recognized this underlying problem of inclusivity and took the opportunity to brand itself as a company that values diversity and is operative on inclusive measures. Through the “Beauty&” campaign, Ulta sought to redefine existing concepts of beauty by featuring a diverse group of people to show beauty without limits. The campaign involved partnering with designers and launching a podcast that sparked conversations that opened dialogues challenging the traditional beauty standards and expanding the lens of beauty to individual levels. By addressing this issue in the beauty industry, Ulta Beauty Inc. also aimed to promote a positive brand image by positioning itself as a brand that embraces diversity.

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4 Ulta Beauty's campaign message communicated that can be defined through individuality and be found in limitless possibilities. By showcasing this campaign, Ulta inspired its diverse consumer population to feel confident and empowered in their skin and features. According to (Bertone, 2022). this campaign was a way for the company to uphold inclusivity by amplifying self-esteem and self-expression which all contributes to a general well-being especially among young adults. In general, the campaign was designed to address the prevalent issue of lack of inclusivity in beauty industries, especially during showcasing events where a pattern including certain beauty ideals has been identified. IV. Research Goals and Methodology For "Beauty&," campaign, Ultra Beauty had to conduct research that captures the target audience's preferences, attitudes, and expectations in regard to beauty. The brand needs research for the effective execution of the campaign and response from the target audience. Based on the campaign's intention, the research goal probably revolved around understanding the target audience's perception of inclusivity in the beauty industry and what reflects a diverse and inclusive beauty brand. Therefore, some of the questions would have had to be about the target audience's perception of beauty industry inclusive measures, Ulta Beauty Inc. perceived inclusivity and diversity level, and target audience expectations of beauty brands on matters of inclusivity and diversity. The research could have involved a combination of research methods. Primarily, Ulta Beauty's research and campaign team could have collected essential information through surveys distributed to the target audience in various geographic regions, contacting interviews and focus groups with a sample size that reflects the target group. The Ulta campaign addressed a widely experienced problem in the beauty industry, and this would require that the research, including

5 the interviews, be conducted with diversity in mind to capture views from a wide range of populations that could help to address the intended issue effectively. Also, the campaign could have learned a lot from secondary sources such as media coverage, blogs, market analysis studies, and research papers. This secondary source can offer information on the necessary market trends that encompass the issue of inclusivity in the beauty industry. Therefore, the main goal of the research process would be to understand the existing perception of the beauty industry and inclusivity and how Ulta Beauty can better break down these barriers and incorporate the target consumer perceptions in the campaign drafting and execution. All this information will help ensure that a variety of perceptions are captured, and the research process also demonstrates efforts to eliminate exclusivity. V. Situation Analysis  The Ulta Beauty Company has various key strengths, including a wide range of products, a store presence across the United States, and brand loyalty. The extensive product line has made Ulta a to-go beauty brand for consumers where they can find products that align with their preferences and diverse skin type, income lifestyles, and other features. Through this strength, the brand has positioned itself as one that values diversity. "Beauty&” provides the brand with an opportunity to engage with its loyal consumers and understand the perception of its consumer on their diversity and ways that they can better be inclusive.  A major challenge that Ulta Beauty is likely to uncover in their research about their business operations is consumers' negative attitudes and perceptions towards the beauty industry regarding lack of inclusivity. The beauty industry has historically supported stigmatization of certain beauty norms for glorifying certain beauty standards over others,

6 and since Ulta Beauty is a beauty brand, they are likely to be faced with the challenge of changing consumers' perceptions to see the positive intentions in their campaigns.  “Beauty&” campaign offers Ulta Beauty the opportunity to differentiate itself from the rest of Beauty brands by showing interest in diversity and addressing the issue of inclusivity that the industry lacks. By doing so, the campaign is likely to promote its brand value and perception.  The research will also help the company understand the changing consumer preferences as a possible threat to its interest in addressing inclusivity. Issues such as gender identity are becoming complex each day, and what is perceived as inclusive today may be received negatively the next day. Therefore, the company should pay attention to these changing circumstances to stay on top of its vision and mission. VI. Strategic Insights Following the information highlighted in the situational analysis, the following insights can be incorporated into the brand campaign;  Leveraging social media platforms- Since the majority of the target audience already has an established perception of Beauty brands, Ulta will require strong media engagement to connect with a wide range of the target audience to ensure that the message is conveyed to the intended audience to achieve the needed perception change. This can be achieved by collaborating with media influencers and other figures with a strong media presence and use of all medial social platforms to help convince the audience that Ulta Beauty cares about inclusivity and give hope for change in the Beauty industry.  The campaign should also be designed to amplify the inclusive brand values that support diversity in the audience. Since Ulta seeks to differentiate itself and demonstrate how

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7 they embrace diverse and limitless possibilities of beauty, it can do so by showing the target audience how its business operations ' core values are aligned with its intentions and how they plan to improve in the future. Since the audience already taints the negative perception, more effort should be put into changing this outlook.

8 References GlobalData(2023). ShieldSquare Captcha. Www.globaldata.com. https://www.globaldata.com/company-profile/ulta-beauty-inc/ Gninyomo, L. (2023, April 20). An In-Depth Look into Ulta Beauty’s History and Operations in the Beauty Industry. Sheen Magazine. http://www.sheenmagazine.com/an-in-depth-look- into-ulta-beautys-history-and-operations-in-the-beauty-industry/ Bertone, V. (2022, August 30). Ulta Beauty Launches Beauty& Celebrating Beauty as a Force for Good. The Jed Foundation. https://jedfoundation.org/ulta-beauty-launches-beauty- celebrating-beauty-as-a-force-for-good/ Ulta Beauty. (2023). About Us | Company | Ulta Beauty. Www.ulta.com. https://www.ulta.com/company/aboutus#:~:text=To%20be%20the%20most%20loved

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