Beekman 1802 has debuted a new ambassador program centered on a mission of kindness.
Called the “Kindness Krew,” the program, which launched in mid-February, is based on the Beekman 1802 team’s desires to drive sales to its DTC e-commerce channel, focus on brand awareness and earned media value with an always-on approach, and connect the values of the brand — namely, kindness — to a broader movement. DTC e-commerce accounts for approximately 30% of Beekman 1802 sales. Beekman 1802 is also sold via QVC, Target and Ulta Beauty and surpassed $150 million in retail sales in 2020.
“Kindness has been the cornerstone of Beekman 1802’s DNA since day one, and we’re thrilled to introduce a tangible and actionable way to spread kindness at a time in the world when I believe we need it most,” said Jill Scalamandre, CEO of Beekman 1802.
Kindness Krew has an inaugural group is 250 people, with plans to grow that to 1,000 by the end of the year. Members include the TikToker known as JolaniBeauty (157,800 TikTok followers) and beauty influencer Melodie Perez (205,000 Instagram followers). The program is organized into four tiers, with ambassadors earning points for completing various kindness tasks like volunteering and then posting to social media. Points allow them to move up the ranks. The tier names are the entry-level “Kindness Ambassador,” the mid-tier “Kindness Insider,” “Kindness Expert” and the top-tier “Kindness Champion.” Alongside the tiers are various sales commission levels ranging from 8-12%. Ambassadors are required to post about Beekman 1802 to Instagram, YouTube or TikTok at least once a month and post a monthly Instagram Story that includes an affiliate link or code. The more people they drive to the Beekman 1802 website, the faster they can move up the tiers.
Beekman 1802 has emphasized kindness in its social and influencer marketing since at least 2021, with the introduction of TikToker Kat Stickler as the brand’s first-ever ambassador. At the time, Brad Farrell, Beekman 1802 CMO, stated that Stickler exemplified the brand’s focus on kindness, making her an appropriate partner. Furthermore, Beekman 1802 began an ongoing partnership with global non-profit Kindness.org in 2022, which includes funding research on kindness and its health implications, celebrating World Kindness Day and hosting events nationwide to celebrate acts of kindness. Beekman 1802 also celebrated the Random Acts of Kindness Day on Feb. 17, which is when it formally debuted the Kindness Krew.
“Kindness is becoming more important in a few different ways. We can all agree the world could use a little bit more kindness right now. Spreading kindness is something that people are responding to. … But also, this is about the science behind kindness,” said Farrell. “There is proven science that if you are kinder, you’re happier and healthier. As a skin health brand, we want to make sure that people are happier and healthier and want to be the leaders in the science of kindness.”
In February, Beekman 1802 began a monthly digital newsletter called “The Kindness Chronicles” to send to people in the Kindness Krew. Its content includes spotlighting individual Kindness Krew members and their kindness work. There is also a dedicated group chat for the Krew on the chat platform Geneva. In the chat, Beekman 1802 posts kindness challenges, celebrates acts of kindness and solicits feedback on new products launched. Farrell said he would like to use the Geneva platform and Kindness Krew to inform product innovation in the future and help name products, for example, to make it more interactive. Ambassadors are also randomly gifted special treats from the brand, including bracelets from the Little Words Project, and credit to purchase kindness merchandise from Beekman 1802’s website. Every three months, they receive a free product voucher to purchase whatever Beekman 1802 products they’d like.
For now, Kindness Krew is invitation-only and invitees are required to submit an application. The only prerequisites are having a social media profile on Instagram or TikTok with at least 1,000 followers, being over 18 years old and being based in the U.S. However, an extensive vetting process ensures ambassadors uphold and align with the kindness mission. In addition to the application, which consists of basic personal and social media questions, Beekman 1802 dives into a potential ambassador’s social profiles and audience to flag any negative comments or interactions. Lastly, a kindness survey is given to accepted ambassadors so the team can learn about them and their approach to kindness. Farrell said that, because of the unique nature of the program, traditional metrics of engagement do not necessarily apply as ways to evaluate the program’s success. Success is instead focused on relationship management and community building.
“It’s about building the relationships and looking holistically, over the course of an [undetermined] time, if we are getting out of these creators and partners [what we want] versus looking at a singular paid post and the number of views or cost per views,” he said.
