For Denée Pearson, global brand president of NYX Professional Makeup, endeavoring toward virality is the fastest way to fall short.
“If you’re trying to go viral, you will not go viral,” said Pearson. “There are things that are proper and well done, and then there are things that make you feel something.”
Pearson said there isn’t a secret sauce, but there is a checklist to ensure that NYX is covering all its value boxes, including inclusivity, community, artistry, creativity and authenticity. Partnerships and collaborations, for which NYX is well known, all rely upon these tenets, Pearson said.
“We love our collaborations. It’s one of the things that is very near and dear to us, and so the way that we select them and the way that we think of it is, ‘How do we continue to tell our story?’” she said. “[We target] the right partners who share our values.”
NYX’s collaboration standouts over the past year include a Cardi B Superbowl commercial to promote Duck Plump Gloss; products created for blockbuster films “Barbie” and “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice;” and a partnership with Gordan Ramsey and his daughter Holly to promote Buttermelt Blush.
When reviewing partnership opportunities, Pearson expects her team to avoid predictable collaborations for unexpected ones that make the consumer stop and think. “When Gen Z feels nothing, they do nothing,” she said.
Pearson joined the Glossy stage on Monday during the Glossy Beauty & Wellness Summit to share this and more around virality. Some of her comments, below, have been lightly edited for clarity.
On endeavoring to go viral
“If you’re trying to go viral, you will not go viral because you are trying too hard. For us, it’s about understanding your community — and not just knowing that it’s about being a part of it. Our teams are very much mixed consumers through and through, and it’s about being fully immersed. It’s watching the shows that they’re watching. It’s listening to the music that they’re listening to. It’s like the constant night scrolling through TikTok [so you know] what’s trending. … And then, how can we answer it? How can we authentically fit ourselves in there in a way that resonates? That’s where we spend a lot of our time: Just being in the community.”
On building a team that represents your customer
“I would say that the team is the most important piece. And I would say that [the secret is] shifting a bit outside of our comfort zone of what we consider to be business people or to be marketers. Surround yourself with different profiles that push you into different lanes. That is very much who your brand is — they may not fit the build of how we’ve come up in marketing or in business. …
“There are so many brands [that wonder] how you differentiate yourself from other brands. That’s the magic of profiles who hadn’t been in beauty for so long, or who loved beauty but who haven’t done the traditional side of beauty. They can come in and say, ‘Have you ever thought of this? This is crazy!’ This is how great it is.”
On leaning into your community for authentic marketing
“Community is so important for us. [For example], the models who are in our campaign, they’re our NYX fam. There’s one creator, we started working with when she was just starting out in her career and now it’s been over 10 years! She’s been with us along the way – so it’s a relationship with your faces as well.”
