In November 2021, the iconic cosmetic brand, Lush Cosmetics, announced its controversial decision to leave social media platforms that no longer aligned with its mission and values. Known for their bath bombs and plastic-free packaging, Lush dared to do what many brands couldn’t fathom during a time when social media currently dominates marketing strategies. Let’s review why the UK company logged off social media, how it’s impacted their business, and the marketing lessons we can learn from Lush Cosmetics’ bold pivot.
Why Did Lush Cosmetics Leave Social Media Platforms?
Lush has always had strong opinions and used its resources to support causes aligning with its values, including animal protection, human rights, safe cosmetic ingredients, and environmental protection. Now, the cosmetic company is anti-social and has been for the last three years.
Mark Constantine, Co-Founder, CEO, and Product Inventor of Lush cited the reason for the company’s big decision to log off major social media platforms was largely attributed to the evidence that major platforms are addictive and harmful to mental health. The cosmetic brand officially made its decision after the release of the Facebook Files, which revealed the Meta-owned platforms Facebook and Instagram were aware of their sites' harmful effects on the public but made no effort to remediate these issues.
Constantine explained: “I’ve spent all my life avoiding putting harmful ingredients in my products. There is now overwhelming evidence we are being put at risk when using social media. I’m not willing to expose my customers to this harm, so it’s time to take it out of the mix.” Thus, the cosmetic company announced its decision to leave multiple social media platforms and encouraged its audience to “Be Somewhere Else.”
How Has This Decision Impacted Business?
Lush Cosmetics was estimated to lose $13 million from its decision to exit social media platforms—namely Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X), and TikTok—and yet they did it anyway. At the end of the 2022 financial year, Lush shared its first year as an anti-social media brand in its annual fiscal year report, recording a gross estimate of £29 million ($34.8 million) in profit.
How has the cosmetic company survived and even thrived despite its breakup with social media? When pivoting from social media marketing, Lush identified three ways to evolve its marketing strategy: brand collaborations, wholesale partnerships, and influencer and UGC marketing. After all, Lush promised consumers they wouldn’t become fully anti-social in their press release.
Lush honed in on these digital marketing strategies to reach their consumer base—and it worked. In the following years, the cosmetic company introduced multiple brand collaborations, introducing its products to a wider audience than ever before. Despite its minimal social media presence, this organically prompted more UGC across social media platforms. The brand also continued partnering with brand ambassadors to share its products on social media. These strategies proved successful, but the company didn’t stop there. Lush partnered with major retailer, Ulta Beauty, for wholesale distribution in 2023, expanding global access to its products.
4 Digital Marketing Takeaways From Lush Cosmetics
As a digital marketing agency, social media marketing is what we do. While we commend Lush for taking a stance against the toxic culture these platforms have fostered, we don’t recommend every business make the move, especially smaller businesses. Lush’s anti-social stance only thrives today due to the brand reputation they’ve built. For small businesses, social media marketing is their lifeline and the primary reason some can keep doing what they do.
However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t something all marketers can learn from Lush’s business move. While the company marks its third year of successfully logging off the major social media platforms, let’s take a look at what every marketer can learn from Lush Cosmetics!
- You Can Be Successful and Do Good
Many big businesses are known for cutting corners, with unethical business practices and toxic product ingredients, all for the additional profit—but that doesn’t mean they have to be. Lush has supported a variety of causes over the years, from becoming anti-social media to being dedicated to using safe product ingredients, and advocating for environmental protections, human rights, and animal protections—Lush demonstrates that businesses can do good and support causes that align with company values while still thriving economically.
In 2007, the cosmetic company introduced its Charity Pots, a hand and body lotion with 100% of the retail price dedicated toward their charity fund which supported grassroots efforts of animal protection, human rights, and environmental protection. This program ran for 17 years, raising over £76 million.
Even today, the company continues supporting the causes that matter most to them through its charitable products and only partnering with those that align with its values. Melody Morton, the Concepts Creative Director at Lush explained, “Ultimately collaborating with other brands is a way to introduce Lush to new audiences. That can sometimes mean working with partners who may have historically not aligned with our heritage and ethics.”
“This said, we’re only partnering with brands who have a progressive view of where they would like to go, what they would like to be, and who are open to change. We won’t be partnering with companies that aren’t trying to improve,” Morton said.
- Business Can Thrive Outside Social Media
Social media has become the #1 avenue for marketing, providing businesses with better brand visibility than ever before. Yet, Lush demonstrates that businesses can thrive outside the social media sphere if done creatively. While social media marketing is the fastest and easiest way to advertise your business, the cosmetics brand reminds us there are effective marketing strategies outside social media and that a well-rounded approach should utilize multiple tools to achieve its goals. This includes email marketing, brand partnerships, optimizing user experience, interactive campaigns, blogging, and more—all of which are still within digital marketing!
- Influencer and UGC Dominate Marketing
Partnering with influencers and UGC creators and utilizing organic UGC—user-generated content—currently dominates social media marketing. Lush may not participate on social media as a company, but the cosmetic brand still acknowledges its importance in today’s marketing landscape by continuing to work with online creators. By partnering with social media creators and having brand ambassadors in the online world, the company maintains its social media presence indirectly. In a way, Lush never really left social media—they simply shifted their perspective on digital marketing and crafted a strategy that aligned with them.
- Brand Partnerships are Beneficial for Everyone—and Fun!
Before leaving social media, Lush collaborated with other companies in successful brand partnerships. Once the cosmetic brand entered its anti-social media era, brand partnerships became integral to its marketing strategy. Since 2021, Lush has collaborated with notable brands, including Barbie, Stranger Things, Lazy Oaf, SpongeBob Squarepants, Shrek, and more. Lush was introduced to new audiences by utilizing multiple brand partnerships, ultimately expanding its brand awareness and target audiences. This strategy also prompted social media users to organically post UGC online, despite the company’s lack of social media presence.
Across all industries, digital marketing is essential for any successful business. Digital marketing establishes a strong relationship with your target audience and increases your brand’s awareness, allowing your company to reach a wider audience. To grow your business, start by evaluating your current digital marketing strategy to determine what’s working and what still needs improvement.
If your team needs assistance navigating digital marketing, the first step to your success starts here! Contact us today, and watch your business grow tomorrow!
Go Beyond The Social With BlueTickSocial
BlueTickSocial is a woman-owned and women-led digital marketing agency. We focus on building your digital presence to generate sales, increase engagement, create brand awareness, and take your company goals to the next level.
Sources:
‘I’m happy to lose £10m by quitting Facebook,’ says Lush boss
Life after likes: will more brands follow Lush in going anti-social?
Why Lush Cosmetics Left Social Media—And How Big Tech Needs To Change
Photo by Octavian Grigorescu from Canva
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