Marketing Proposal

Marketing Plan

BY | TAMARA LIN, CATHERINE LIN, ALEXIS GALLEGOS, KATYA ATTAMIMI

Tamara Lin, Marketing Associate

Alexis Gallegos, Marketing Associate

02 executive suMMary

Tower 28 is a makeup and skincare company founded by USC alumna, Amy Liu, in 2019. She struggled with sensitive and eczema-prone skin her whole life and created Tower 28 after seeing a gap in the clean makeup and skincare market. Tower 28 emphasizes the importance of clean ingredients that are effective while also being non-toxic and beneficial for the person using it. In fact, Tower 28 is the only makeup brand to 100% follow the National Eczema Association ingredients guidelines. The effectiveness and overall quality of Tower 28’s products are reaffirmed by high ratings on Sephora and experts at Allure, as their cream blush was awarded the prestigious Best of Beauty award in 2021. Tower 28 manufactures and sells a variety of makeup and skincare products including tinted sunscreen, cream bronzer and blush, lip gloss, and facial serums.

As our primary and secondary reveal, a major problem Tower 28 is facing is they lack brand awareness. Despite having high quality and effective products, Tower 28 is seemingly glossed over by consumers who gravitate towards beauty companies with endorsements by celebrities and with a heavy presence on social media.

Due to Tower 28’s brand values and minimalistic products, our team thought it would be a perfect opportunity for the company to redefine the “clean girl aesthetic” that became popular via Tik Tok. The stereotypical clean girl aesthetic is problematic due to its classist, racist, and fatphobic nature.

To accomplish this, our team devised the following marketing campaign. We created unique messaging, promotional strategies, and a media strategy to drive forward our campaign “Clean is Inclusive”. Our promotional strategy consists of four prongs which we will dive into further later in this report. The first prong is the implementation of three diverse influencers who work to redefine the stereotypical clean girl look. The second prong is implementation of a college ambassador program which will help Tower 28 more effectively reach their target audience. The third prong involves hosting pop-up events at unique locations and a partnership with Lala Land Cafe. The final prong involves teaming up with Kinder Beauty, a clean beauty subscription box, which will allow a very large audience to sample Tower 28’s products.

Both primary and secondary research conducted revealed that the main problem Tower 28 is facing is that customers simply have never heard of them before. This creates a lose-lose situation as makeup lovers are missing out on Tower 28’s high-quality products and Tower 28 is missing out on profits.

To gather our primary data, we created an online survey that consisted of 8 questions to gauge our target audiences’ purchasing behaviors, opinions on clean makeup, and perceptions of the “clean girl aesthetic”. We received a total of 18 responses which were all from USC students. Due to our relatively low response rate, and the lack of representation of our respondents (since they were all USC students), we acknowledge the limitations of our primary research results. Thus, we utilized a plethora of secondary sources to strengthen our rationale and overall campaign.

To create the bar chart below, we asked respondents which clean makeup brands they have heard of before. While most have heard of top competitors such as Glossier, Milk Makeup, and Rare Beauty, fewer have heard of Tower 28. Secondary research from Google Trends further illustrates this problem as Tower 28 does not appear as a related topic or query when someone searches Google for “clean makeup.”

The beauty industry as a whole is extremely saturated with companies. More recently, celebrities and influencers have been creating and bringing their own brands to the market. Much of their consumer base is drawn to their product simply because it is associated with the celebrity or influencer, even if their products are not the most effective (Strugatz). As a result, brands like Tower 28 often get glossed over. Just having amazing products is not enough to gain immense popularity and break through the clutter.

situational analysis

a. cultural context

Our overall campaign stems from the “clean girl aesthetic” trend that first became popular on Tik Tok in early 2022 and has remained a trend ever since. The stereotypical clean girl aesthetic requires one to be at their best from head to toe, without looking like they spent any time or effort to get there. The overall look is “fresh, effortless, and natural – but, in reality, is none of these things” (Resnik).

Our primary research affirms how widespread the knowledge and influence of this aesthetic truly are. 90% of our respondents in our primary research have heard of the clean girl trend before. Our research also revealed that many people tend to have a limited vision of what a clear girl is and should look like. Many respondents echoed similar ways of describing what a clean girl was and said things like “they have no acne, no pores, and absolutely perfectly clear skin”, “they are usually white and female, think Hailey Bieber or Kendall Jenner”, and “they go for the no-makeup makeup look.”

Secondary research echoes the limited and problematic nature of this trend as “these standards seemingly uphold hierarchical beauty norms that are often unattainable, expensive, racist, texturist, or fatphobic” (Randall).

Given the type of minimal makeup products Tower 28 creates, and the company’s values, our team thought this would be a perfect opportunity to tackle the clean girl stereotype and try to expand people’s vision when it comes to what actually defines a “clean girl” and the “clean girl aesthetic.”

b. Industry analysis

Clean beauty is defined as “products that favor natural ingredients yet often incorporate synthetics that have been deemed safe for people and the planet” (ElBoghdady). Today’s current social and cultural wellness movement has further catalyzed consumers’ needs and demand for clean beauty products as more consumers care about what they put into their bodies and what they put onto their skin.

According to a 2022 report by Market Statsville Group, the clean beauty market is expected to experience rampant growth of $11,501.4 million USD, reaching a market size of $18,058.6 million USD by 2030 (Ahirwar, 2022). It has become an extremely lucrative market in which indie and big-name beauty brands have partaken in.

Porter’s Five Forces

To further analyze the competitive intensity and attractiveness of the clean beauty industry profitability-wise as it stands today, we have used Porter’s Five Forces model.

Threat of New Entrants: Medium

• There are low barriers to entry regulationwise as the beauty industry is severely underregulated.

• High capital requirements.

• High economies of scale from major existing players.

• Gaining access to distribution channels and retaliation by incumbents is a moderate barrier to entry.

Industry Rivalry - High

• Large number of competitors & many have established a strong brand presence.

• High exit barriers.

• Low product differentiation.

Buyer Power - Medium / High

• Low switching costs.

• Many buyers.

• Price sensitive.

• Low product differentiation.

Supplier Power - Low / Medium

• Many ingredient manufacturers and raw material suppliers.

• Low differentiation of inputs.

Threat of Substitution - Low / Medium

• The main substitutes for clean beauty products are home remedies & traditional beauty products that do not use completely natural or “clean” ingredients.

• Low switching costs.

• These substitutes usually offer a low performance-price mix. Consumers willingness to pay for high quality, clean, natural beauty products is relatively high.

Based on the analysis of the clean beauty industry along with the forecasted projections of its market size, it is apparent that the clean beauty market is extremely difficult to penetrate. The market is highly saturated and contains many major players thus breeding intense competition in the industry. Therefore, finding ways to break through the clutter of this growing industry is integral to Tower 28’s survival as a brand.

c. coMPetitor analysis

Kosas: Los Angeles-based clean beauty brand that emphasizes the importance of skincare and a no-makeup makeup look for any minimalist or clean-beauty enthusiast.

• Strengths: Has a strong company mission and goes above and beyond pushing clean beauty formulas. Aesthetically pleasing and targeted towards newer generations

• Weaknesses: Lacking brand awareness (nationally & more globally), a smaller cosmetics brand & is not necessarily consumers’ first choice.

Glossier: New York-based skincare and beauty brand designed for the perfect glowy, dewy no-makeup makeup look.

• Strengths: Has a strong brand identity being minimal & simple. Clearly understands millennial/gen-z trends & needs, always has a want and demand from consumers.

• Weaknesses: Only two permanent locations in NY & LA. “Overpricing” between products.

Rare Beauty: A beauty brand made to feel good in without hiding what makes you unique. Rare beauty takes a different approach to makeup and accepts one’s imperfections instead of masking them.

• Strengths: Selena Gomez is the founder of the brand. As a person who once had the most followers on Instagram, she already has a large following. She was quickly able to acquire an immense audience and gain loyal customers.

• Weaknesses: Intense competition with Fenty, Beauty-another celebrityendorsed beauty brand.

Tower 28: Beyond just clean ingredients, Tower 28 is the 1st and ONLY beauty brand to 100% follow the National Eczema Association’s Ingredient Guidelines –making their beauty product available to everyone.

• Strengths: Strong brand identity and mission, very inclusive and has a defined target market.

• Weaknesses: Little brand awareness, fairly new brand in a heavily saturated beauty industry. Not in many locations except select Sephora stores, mainly direct to consumer.

d. consuMer analysis

Based on primary and secondary research, we think Tower 28’s target market is going to be mainly women and some men between the ages of 16-30, who are social media heavy, environmentally conscious, and trendy.

The concept of “clean beauty” has gained popularity since 2018, and the clean beauty market has continuously grown. According to Market Research Report, “clean beauty” and the use of natural ingredients will maintain momentum in 2022 (Top Trends in Health and Beauty Market Overview, Key Trends, News and Deals Analysis and Social Media, 2022). Similar research also shows that “clean beauty” will be one of the top five trends in the beauty industry as consumers nowadays are more aware of the ingredients of beauty products. In addition, as the climate crisis gains more social awareness and attention, consumers have begun to look for skincare and beauty products that are ethically and environmentally conscious. With increasing social awareness and shifts in consumer preferences, “the clean beauty market is estimated to reach $22 billion by 2024, according to Statista Research” (Larson, n.d.).

Although there is an increasing demand for clean beauty and a potentially huge market, consumers face two issues when choosing clean beauty products. The first is affordability. Due to “hardto-source and high-quality ingredients,” clean beauty brands are often pricey (Larson, n.d.). Second, there is no federal regulation of clean beauty standards, and consumers are not sure which brands are safe to choose. Based on our primary research, more than 66% of participants are familiar with the term “clean girl aesthetics,” demonstrating that there is a huge potential for the clean beauty market. In addition, about 27% of participants consider prices when they choose makeup, while the affordability of clean beauty products remains an issue in the market.

We believe this presents an opportunity for Tower 28 to fill this gap in the market. First, Tower 28 100% follows the National Eczema Association ingredients guidelines, making their products trustworthy and clean. Second, Tower 28’s products range from $20 to $70, a price range that most consumers deem acceptable. Our secondary research also highlights that there is much more search interest related to “clean girl” than “Tower 28.” Thus, there are spaces for Tower 28 to expand.

05 target Market

Based on a variety of factors that emerged in our primary and secondary research, our team chose the following target market for our campaign. The group we aim to target is tech-savvy 16 to 30-year-olds who keep current with the latest beauty trends. They are socially conscious and care about both the environmental and personal impacts of the beauty products they use.

We chose to target this age group due to the fact that their most used social media platforms are Tik Tok and Instagram (Howarth). Their preference for these social media platforms was also evident in our primary research in which 94% and 59% of respondents said they learned about new makeup from TikTok and Instagram, respectively. TikTok is also where the “clean girl” aesthetic became wildly popularized among Gen Z and Millenials. Thus, our campaign will be relevant to this age group. Additionally, Tik Tok and Instagram are the social media platforms we plan to use most heavily in our specific promotional and media tactics.

The psychographics and demographics of our target market have a strong alignment with Tower 28’s core values of inclusivity, community, healthy fun, and clean living. Gen Z and Millennials’ purchasing habits are largely

based on their “[commitment] to making choices that align with their values” (Petro), those of which are sustainability, inclusivity, and diversity. Their emphasis on brands’ social responsibility is an indication of their high likelihood to associate themselves with Tower 28 and the messaging of the #CleanIsInclusive campaign. This is further supported by a Statista survey collected in 2021 that reported, “approximately 46 percent of surveyed participants belonging to Generation Z and 45 percent of millennials [are] interested in trying clean beauty and personal care products” (“Interest in Clean Beauty Products”). Gen Z and Millenials compose the large majority of consumers interested in clean beauty, therefore focusing on their age segment will allow us to effectively reach consumers who will be the most receptive to the Tower 28 brand, reaping the highest brand visibility for the company.

a. buyer Personas

Based on our target market, we created three buyer persons to represent the consumers that we want to focus on with our marketing campaign.

First, Chloe is a 19-year-old college student based in LA. She is an activist who keeps up with social issues, especially climate challenges and racial injustice. More recently, Chloe has been reading about how skincare chemicals can kill coral reefs and has been on the hunt for beauty products that have clean and environmental-friendly ingredients. She is heavily active on social media and uses social media to post about her life and chat with friends. She is the type of person who is always the first one to know about new beauty and fashion trends. Moreover, she mainly uses Instagram and Tik Tok but is also active on Youtube and Snapchat.

Our second buyer persona is Jasmine. She is a 23-year-old fresh graduate who just started working full-time as a business consultant. Due to her new life changes and anxiety, she is facing several skin problems. She has problems with acne, blackheads, and sensitive skin, but she has to wear makeup to work and meetings with clients. Jasmine’s busy working schedule and salary cannot afford luxurious skincare, so she reached out to a dermatologist. Her dermatologist recommends she keeps her skin products “clean and simple.” Just like Chloe, Jasmine is always on social media to keep herself updated with news, and she also uses social media to find out about new skin products for her skin problems. She is active on Instagram, Linkedin, Youtube, and Twitter.

Our third buyer persona is Oliver, a 23-year-old artist, and Youtuber based in Hawaii. He is passionate

about beauty and fashion and has his own standards and judgment of the beauty and fashion industry. Even before becoming an influencer, Oliver enjoyed trying out new beauty products and writing reviews online. He has a small fan base on social media (specifically on Instagram and TikTok), where he actively interacts with fans. He also has many influencer friends and likes to discuss new makeup and fashion trends with them. Since he is an influencer, he is active on most social media platforms, including Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, Snapchat, and Tiktok.

Along with the current clean beauty market having huge potential for growth, Tower 28 also has many potential customers to reach. The overall objective of our campaign is to increase Tower 28’s brand awareness, thus allowing them to break through the clutter in this saturated clean beauty market and boosting revenue for the company. Our team has used the SMART goal framework to showcase our objectives for the campaign.

Many people are aware of the “clean girl” concept but have never heard of the brand Tower 28. The goal for this campaign is to raise brand awareness through our influencer collaborations, college brand ambassador program, pop-up shops, and subscription box. Through this campaign, we wish to increase Tower 28’s brand awareness and thus generate more sales.

1. We want to increase website traffic by 20% and increase purchases by 10%.

2. Increase attendance at our pop-up shops/events by 15% within our sixmonth campaign.

3. Increase overall sales (stores, online, TikTok, etc.) by 15%.

4. Increase Tower 28’s social media followers by 20%.

To achieve these goals, our campaign includes online and in-person events, as well as involves diverse influencers and college students.

Social media followers, attendance, and sales are all directly influenced by brand awareness.

The campaign itself will last 6 months; the campaign will create a lasting impact and contribute to overall brand awareness in the long term.

Goals and objectives help set the general direction that we hope to achieve through our #CleanIsInclusive campaign, while key performance indicators (KPIs) and benchmarks track specific data to determine the success of the campaign. The following are KPIs that we will be using to evaluate the success of the campaign.

a. kPIs

Website Hits

Tower 28’s website is the main channel where they generate sales, communicate their philosophy, and keep consumers connected. Even after the campaign, website traffic will still be a key indicator of Tower 28’s brand popularity.

• % of new visitors: We want to increase the number of visitors by 20% within one year of launching the campaign.

• Conversion rates: The conversion rate measures how many people made a purchase through each visit to the website. With increasing brand awareness and a college ambassador program which offers a promotion code, we expect our conversation rate to increase by 10%.

Event Attendance

We plan to measure event attendance at our pop-up shops over time at the same locations, as well as for our organized sponsored events at college campuses.

• Attendance: Increase attendance at our pop-up shops & events by 15% within our 6-month campaign.

• This will be measured by the number of QR code scans, sign-ins, and leftover products from our events.

Social Media

Social media is the main channel that Tower 28 can directly communicate with consumers and analyze conversations regarding the #CleanIsInclusive campaign (Social Listening).

• Followers: Through our campaign, we expect to see a 20% increase in Tower 28’s social media followers

• Interaction: We also expect to see an increase in all social media interactions and engagement, including comments, tags, likes, shares, and mentions.

Overall Sales

Other than direct sales made through Tower 28’s website, we also want to increase the number of product purchases and overall revenue by 15% between the start and end of our 6-month campaign.

• # of product purchases: This will be tracked by sales made through affiliate/ promo codes from the college brand ambassadors and pop-up shop QR codes.

07 strategy

Messaging

To encapsulate the idea that the clean girl aesthetic is not just for the skinny, white, acne-free, wealthy girl, we decided to name our overarching campaign, Clean Is Inclusive. Clean Is Inclusive succinctly sums up our campaign’s overarching message that the “clean” aesthetic is and should be for everyone – not exclusive and ignorant of consumers and makeup lovers from diverse backgrounds.

Potential taglines and messaging that will accompany our overall campaign #CleanIsInclusive include:

Formulated With Clean Ingredients, Made for All Clean and Universal – That’s Our Type Clean Girl Tower 28 Aesthetic

You CAN Sit With Us – Clean is for Everyone

All of these taglines were created with the intention of illustrating that Tower 28 is expanding and redefining the “clean” aesthetic to be inclusive of people with all kinds of skin types, body types, and different races, gender, and sexualities.

ProMotional strategy

Our four-fold promotional strategy includes the following integrated brand promotion tools: influencer marketing, a college brand ambassador program, experiential marketing through pop-up shops and brand partnerships, and sampling distribution via subscription boxes.

a. Influencer PartnershiPs

Overview

Due to impressive results from our primary research, our first campaign tactic is to utilize influencer partnerships. We found that about 55% of respondents learn about makeup via Instagram and YouTube. Furthermore, we discovered that all of our respondents know about cosmetics through the social media platform, Tiktok. This information was very useful for us as it demonstrated that most of our target market heavily tunes into influencers on social media to learn about new products, instead of researching and going into stores themselves.

To progress with this idea of influencer partnerships, we carefully selected every influencer that not only reflected our goals but also had a connection to each of our buyer personas. We want our audience to be inspired by these chosen influencers and relate to them.

Our Chosen Influencers

Our potential macro influencer has a large audience and following. They are the ideal option for achieving Tower 28 awareness by reaching many people simultaneously, sometimes by just using a single post.

The macro influencer we chose is Mai Pham. She perfectly embodies our buyer persona one and being someone who suffers from acne, Pham brings inclusivity by redefining the “clean girl aesthetic” for our audience. She has over 5 million followers across all her social media platforms, such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Despite her large following base, we also chose Pham as our influencer, as most of her followers love her because she is relatable and down to earth. As Pham already likes Tower 28, this partnership would be genuine to all her followers.

Our next candidate would be our microi nfluencer. This person has a smaller following base and uses their social media presence to promote products relevant to their interests or expertise. Some advantages to partnering with a micro-influencer are higher audience engagement, accessibility, and more inclusivity as they work at a peer level.

The micro-influencer we chose is Rachael Fuss. She is our buyer persona two – someone who likes to keep it clean and simple. She loves expressing her passion for skincare through Instagram and podcasting with other brands. With a following of about 50k, she engages with her audience and connects with people individually. She is a great candidate for our #CleanIsInclusive campaign as she makes skincare readily available to anyone, sharing her favorite routines, customized tips, and affordable product links on her skincare standard blog.

Last but not least, we have our male influencer. This person has the same qualities as the others but brings more diversity with gender. We want our campaign tactics to reflect our campaign itself. Therefore, this would highlight our line that clean IS inclusive and IS for anyone and everyone.

Our chosen male influencer is Theo Turner. He is a celebrity makeup artist and skincare enthusiast. He embodies our buyer persona three, as he is into beauty and skincare and is passionate about sharing his interests with the world. While being a makeup artist and skinfluencer, he is also a very empowering digital creator. He constantly emphasizes the importance of inclusivity and diversity across all his content.

All three of these influencers don’t necessarily fit the stereotype of what most think of as a “clean girl.” They redefine the term and make it more inclusive, showing how some characteristics emulate a clean girl look; no matter if one has acne, is not white, or is not even female, they all share a love for beauty and skincare.

Measurement of Effectiveness

The effectiveness of the influencer marketing will be evaluated by the following metrics: Track sales through affiliate links, Track social media engagement from collaborative sponsorship posts (social shares, likes, comments, mentions, view-through & click-through rates), & Track website traffic from swipe-up links (link clicks).

c. college brand aMbassadors

Overview

While the primary goal of our influencer marketing is to partner with notable individuals who have the credibility and capability to drive positive word-of-mouth and sales for Tower 28, we also want to interact directly with our target market and be more accessible to them. Forging authentic, genuine relationships with our customers will be integral to this campaign, considering that we found in our primary research that 72% of respondents learn about new makeup from their friends and general word-of-mouth. Therefore, to further catalyze word-of-mouth and achieve the overarching goal of increased brand awareness, our second tactic involves introducing a Tower 28 college brand ambassador program in universities across the United States.

Implementing the college ambassador program as part of the #CleanIsInclusive campaign will be a low-cost way for Tower 28 to acquire new consumers, generate buzz, and kick start the network effects that will lead to massive growth and adoption of their products. College campuses are also natural environments for developing, testing, and growing consumer products. Therefore, this will be a great opportunity for Tower 28 to gain feedback from its target market in real time.

As defined in “Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion”, brand ambassadors are essentially consumers “who will become apostles for the brand” and “[spread] the brand gospel” (O’Guinn et al., 2019). Tower 28 will be enlisting a diverse group of students on college campuses who embody the #CleanIsInclusive campaign and reflect the Tower 28 core values of inclusivity, community, healthy fun, and clean living to promote Tower 28 and its products to their peers. The college ambassadors will further demonstrate that Tower 28 and “clean girl” makeup is not only attainable and limited to influencers or those who fit the typical aesthetic, but also for your everyday college student. The “clean” aesthetic includes and is ultimately for everyone.

Recruitment Process

The Tower 28 college ambassador program will first begin in college campuses within Tower 28’s hometown, the Los Angeles area (i.e. USC, UCLA, LMU, Occidental College, etc.), before expanding to other key cities. This strategy of first infiltrating schools in one major city with multiple college campuses will serve as a beta test or trial run of the program to observe what does and does not work on these campuses before implementing it in other key college cities.

The first step of the recruiting process will be to promote the ambassador program to gain a large pool of applicants. This will be done through the utilization of campus job boards, reaching out to the university career centers and major student clubs and organizations, as well as leveraging any alumni connections that current Tower 28 employees may have. Interested students will need to submit a written application where they will have to answer questions related to their passions for clean beauty and Tower 28, prior leadership experiences, and why they would be the best fit for the ambassador position. Based on the written application, applicants will be narrowed down and those who make it past this first stage will advance to the Zoom interview stage. Doing so will allow us to assess both verbal and non-verbal communication, as well as personorganization fit. Tower 28 will essentially be seeking 15-20 students per university from diverse backgrounds, who are outgoing, charismatic, seeking to be involved or well-connected on campus, want to redefine “clean beauty”, and demonstrate Tower 28’s core values.

Ambassador Tasks & Incentives

Tower 28’s college ambassadors will distribute affiliate and promo codes to their peers. These affiliate and promo codes will allow us to easily track how many sales each ambassador makes. With each sale, they will receive a 5% commission.

They will also be assigned weekly tasks that will essentially help spur wordof-mouth around campus and spread the #CleanIsInclusive campaign. Tasks include: Getting “X” amount of people to follow Tower 28’s Instagram, Creating TikToks that illustrate how they have used Tower 28’s products to redefine the “clean” aesthetic, Wearing and handing out Tower 28 swag, & Organizing sponsored social gatherings (i.e. Tower 28’s pop-ups).

Additionally, to further incentivize the ambassadors and make them feel more connected through exclusive access, we will be giving them free and discounted products and access to early versions of products.

Measurement of Effectiveness

The effectiveness of the college brand ambassador program will be evaluated by the following metrics:

• Number of Tower 28’s followers across social media platforms from the launch of the college brand ambassador program

• Attendance rates at organized sponsored events

• Number of sales generated by affiliate and promo codes

d. exPeriential PoP-uPs & PartnershiPs

Overview

When it comes to experimenting with new makeup, our primary research indicated that most of our respondents preferred in-person try-on experiences (66%). Experiential marketing is a great way for brands “to connect with consumers where they are” (O’Guinn et al., 2019). Hence, to create more opportunities for consumers to experience the Tower 28 brand in real life and celebrate #CleanIsInclusive, the third campaign tactic involves the integration of experiential marketing via pop-up shops.

As an e-commerce makeup brand, popup shops are a great way for Tower 28 to expand and gain exposure to new markets and new customers. It will allow Tower 28 to improve brand loyalty and communication with existing customers and attract potential customers to the brand by “[facilitating] face-to-face contact” (O’Guinn et al., 2019) and educating them about new products and Tower 28’s brand philosophy of redefining what the “clean girl” looks like and creating an inclusive, safe environment in the beauty space. Moreover, with the success of the pop-up shops, we also see this as an opportunity for Tower 28 to gain leverage when it comes to forming partnerships with major retailers such as Ulta and Sephora to get more of their products in stores. Similar to the college brand ambassador program, pop-up shops are also a great market research tool. It provides Tower 28 the opportunity to distribute product samples, engage with customers, and collect their feedback on their products.

Partnership with La La Land Kind Cafe

In conjunction with the pop-up shops, we also plan on forming a partnership with La La Land Kind Cafe. La La Land Kind Cafe is a local Santa Monica cafe whose mission is to promote and normalize kindness, while also giving back to foster

youth. Tower 28 and La La Land Kind Cafe’s shared values of putting people before profits presented a strong brandbrand alignment. Furthermore, La La Land Kind Cafe’s aesthetic drinks coupled with its Instagrammable setup have led to an abundance of user-generated content on all kinds of social media platforms from Gen Z and Millennials across the United States. This along with their mission has gained them a huge social media following on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. Considering their close similarity in terms of the target market, Tower 28 can extensively benefit from La La Land Kind Cafe’s wide audience reach.

At the pop-up shops, customers will be able to get a free La La Land Kind Cafe specialty latte of their choice with their purchase. Also, to further reinvent the clean aesthetic and create a more inclusive beauty space that defies classist notions about the “clean girl” aesthetic, Tower 28 will donate 15% of its profits from the pop-up shops to provide funding for resources for La La Land Kind Cafe’s We Are One program.

Pop-Up Locations

Pop-up shops will be located where our target market is most accessible. Additionally, we will first be launching the pop-up shops in the Los Angeles region as part of the trial period to assess areas of success and opportunities for improvement. The pop-up shop locations are as follows: College campuses (facilitated and organized by Tower 28’s college ambassadors), Malls, Flea markets (i.e. Melrose Trading Post, Silverlake Flea Market, Rose Bowl Flea Market, etc.), & Tower 28 in Santa Monica.

Activations & Incentives

At the pop-up shops, we will host meet-and-greets for our #CleanIsInclusive influencers to drive foot traffic and give them the opportunity to directly connect with their audiences and demonstrate how they have redefined and expanded on the “clean” aesthetic with the help of Tower 28. Additionally, the first 100 customers each day will be able to get free Tower 28 swag.

QR codes will also be distributed to customers. These QR codes will directly send customers to a Tower 28 website page that further explains the #CleanIsInclusive campaign and provide them with exclusive offers and incentives. To unlock these exclusive offers, customers can post a selfie at the pop-up shop on their Instagram story with the hashtag #CleanIsInclusive. Their selfies will then be reposted on Tower 28’s Instagram to show that truly everyone embodies the “clean” aesthetic, no matter your sex, race, body type, and skin type. These incentives will also allow Tower 28 to track their follower growth and mentions across their social media channels and see if it spurs an increase in the social share of voice among various platforms.

Measurement of Effectiveness

The effectiveness of the pop-up shops will be evaluated by the following metrics: Attendance and frequency of visitors, Number of sales / revenue-generate from product purchases & promo codes, Analysis of #CleanIsInclusive mentions & tags on social media platforms (social shares), Website traffic, conversion rate, & bounce rate.

e. kinder beauty subscriPtion Packages Overview

For our fourth campaign tactic, we plan on forming a partnership with Kinder Beauty Box, a certified vegan, cruelty-free, and clean beauty monthly subscription box, where Tower 28 products could effectively reach a wider audience of Kinder Beauty customers. We want to establish a partnership with Kinder Beauty as Tower 28 and Kinder Beauty have a strong brand-brand alignment, with a shared commitment to curating the best ethical beauty products for everyone. Based on our secondary research on Google Trends, Kinder Beauty also shares a similar target market to Tower 28. They share identical demographics of 25-44-year-old women, similar geographics in large urban states such as California, Texas, Florida, and New York, and even identical psychographic characteristics with affordable price ranges and product effectiveness.

This ideal partnership would help bring earned media and brand awareness to Tower 28, with word-of-mouth and features on Kinder Beauty’s Clean Beauty Blog. Ultimately, partnering with Kinder Beauty reflects the goals of our campaign by making Tower 28 more available to people, allowing them to try Tower 28’s products at a cheaper rate, and demonstrating that anyone could use Tower 28’s clean beauty products.

Measurement of Effectiveness

The effectiveness of the subscription boxes will be evaluated by the following metrics: Track word-of-mouth on social media platforms & reviews (customer feedback / satisfaction – social listening) & track product sales from Kinder Beauty’s marketplace.

Media strategy

Since our target market is composed of Gen Z and Millenials, our campaign’s media strategy consists primarily of new media. According to a Sprout Social article, Gen Z and Millenials are referred to as the “digital native” generations –extremely tech-savvy, brought up in the information age, and under the influence of the internet (Kim, 2021). As a result, to take advantage of these groups’ large spending power, Tower 28 must find ways to connect with them where they are largely present: social media.

Paid Media

As part of our media strategy, we will be using paid media for our influencer collaborations. This includes sponsored posts across our chosen influencers’ social media platforms (i.e. YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok). Examples of potential paid media posts are:

• An Instagram story and post promoting the #CleanIsInclusive pop-up shops and their meet-and-greet sessions at the pop-up shops.

• A TikTok video from Theo Turner showing how he achieved a glowy, beach look with Tower 28 products while discussing how he has redefined the “clean” aesthetic as a Black, gay makeup artist and SKINfluencer.

• A parody of Vogue’s Beauty Secrets videos titled “Pretending I’m in a Vogue Beauty Secrets Video – Mai Pham’s Guide to Sensitive Skincare & Makeup”, where Mai Pham will demonstrate how Tower 28 products and its ingredients have helped soothe her acne-prone skin and prevent it from irritation while trying to achieve the “clean” aesthetic.

• A sponsored blog post on Rachael Fuss’ Skincare Standard blog where she does a “Clean Beauty Picks | Spring ‘22” which will showcase many Tower 28 products, highlighting their benefits for all kinds of skin types and how it has helped her in her personal skincare journey.

Owned Media

We will also be implementing an owned media strategy as part of our

#CleanIsInclusive campaign. This will be seen through the promotion of our pop-up shops and college brand ambassador program on Tower 28’s social media channels and website. Additionally, TikTok posts created by the college brand ambassadors demonstrating how they have used Tower 28’s products to redefine the “clean” aesthetic, will also be posted on Tower 28’s official TikTok page and the company’s Instagram as a reel. A TikTok series in collaboration with La La Land Kind Cafe will also be featured as part of our owned media strategy. In this series titled, Drive-by Kindness, La La Land Kind Cafe employees and Tower 28’s college brand ambassadors will come together to compliment strangers, spread kindness, and ask them to talk about their favorite features about themselves. After, these strangers will be given Tower 28 swag and a Tower 28 product of their choice.

Earned Media

Last but not least, we hope that the campaign’s promotional tactics and messaging will spur an organic, positive movement on social platforms. One of the ways we plan on generating earned media is through the #CleanIsInclusive Selfie Challenge mentioned in our experiential pop-up shop tactic. We hope that by incentivizing customers to take part in this challenge, the #CleanIsInclusive hashtag will begin trending on all kinds of social platforms, piquing the interest of and reaching more consumers. Additionally, wordof-mouth facilitated and catalyzed by our college brand ambassadors and customer reviews from the Kinder Beauty Box subscription packages will hopefully foster overall brand loyalty and incite the creation of user-generated content (UGC). UGC will help further promote Tower 28’s #CleanIsInclusive campaign in which consumers can discuss how Tower 28’s philosophy and its products have redefined and expanded the way they view the “clean” aesthetic.

Works cited

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ElBoghdady, Dina. ‘Clean’ Beauty Has Taken Over the Cosmetics Industry, But That’s About All Anyone Agrees On. The Washington Post, WP Company, 2020.

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Kim, Katherine. How to Make Sure You’re Marketing to Gen Z the Right Way. Sprout Social, 2022.

Larson, Kristin. Shopper Demand For Clean Beauty And Increased Transparency Continues. Forbes, 2021.

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Petro, Greg. Gen Z and Sustainability: The Disruption Has Only Just Begun. Forbes, 2022.

Top Trends in Health and Beauty Market Overview, Key Trends, News and Deals Analysis and Social Media. Research and Markets, 2022.

Randall, Tiana. The Problem with TikTok’s ‘Clean Girl’ Aesthetic. i-D, 2022.

Resnick, Ariane. The Clean Girl Aesthetic Is All over Social Media-but It’s Not Exactly Harmless. Byrdie, 2022.

Strugatz, Rachel. Dear Celebrities: Please Stop Churning out Beauty Brands. The New York Times, 2021.