FENTY BEAUTY PR RESEARCH 1

Fenty Beauty PR Research

Paige Henderson, Trinity Corbett and Taylor McNeal

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

JOMC 303-001

Dr. Maria Zhang

February 7, 2020
FENTY BEAUTY PR RESEARCH 2

In September of 2017, celebrity music artist Robyn Rihanna Fenty released her own

cosmetics line, in which she coined, Fenty Beauty. Her brand took the beauty world by storm, as

her release showed consumers just how much the beauty industry lacked diversity. The creation

of a brand that catered to all skin tones pushed other brands to try to do the same to keep up. In

other words, Rihanna started a wave of inclusive branding and advertising; a wave many may

consider titling “The Fenty Effect” (Saputo, 2019). This new era of beauty has the potential to

have a positive impact on those misrepresented.

Over the years, in the beauty industry, there has been a lack of diversity. The cosmetic

industry has the reputation of setting the standards of beauty in society. It is not uncommon for

the industry to have an absence of representation of ethnic minorities. The lack of diversity

potentially has an impact on consumers psychologically and minors negatively, which makes it

easier for those consumers perception of beauty to not include themselves or individuals who

may look like them. It is hard for consumers to visualize themselves as a part of the standards of

beauty when they do not see others that look like them in advertisements or significant product

releases (Nittle 2018). In return, the consumers self-perception, self-esteem, and self-confidence

can be negatively impacted. Women of ethnic minorities have been influenced to believe that

they too could meet the standards of beauty, but only if they could mold themselves into

society’s validated norms. Beauty is known to be an essential and a trait of the female identity

(G.P. and Unnithan 2017). The beauty industry has avoided adding diversity instead of

influencing minority consumers. Major beauty brands push their ideas and products on the

consumers making them think if they buy the product, then they could gain validation.
FENTY BEAUTY PR RESEARCH 3

Despite the norms of the beauty industry, well-known singer Rihanna has been able to

change the standards with the cosmetic brand she launched in September 2017 named Fenty

Beauty. The brand has focused on providing shades that are hard to match in society. Rihanna

has successfully made a cosmetic brand that caters to all skin types and skin tones from all over

the world. Her foundation ranges in forty different shades, and thirteen of the shades are of the

dark skin tones. Many other cosmetic brands previously denied those thirteen shades. Fenty

Beauty is even offered in seventeen different countries and sold in 1,600 stores (​LEVERET AF

2017)​. The foundation offered by Fenty is just one way she brings diversity to the beauty

industry. Fenty Beauty also regularly uses women of different ethnicities as models instead of

the standard Western model (McLougghlin 2019). Rihanna has played a vital re-educational role

by featuring models to present a broader range of skin types resulting in developing a definite

sense of racial diversity. Fenty Beauty continues to push boundaries within the cosmetic industry

and has even influenced other brands to add diversity.

In the age of social media, brands may find advertising to teens and young adults slightly

tricky, considering they must find more creative ways to connect to their target audiences. Fenty

Beauty’s slogan is “Beauty for All,” something founder, Rihanna made sure was the foundation

of the brand (Saputo, 2019). Being that the brand’s theme is inclusion, this led to makeup users

of all shades, people of color, in particular, to jump at the chance to use Fenty Beauty’s products.

Consumers were so anxious to receive the initial product release, which consisted of 40 shades in

the Pro Filt’r foundation ranging from light to deep, that the darkest shade was the first to sell out

(Cho, 2018).
FENTY BEAUTY PR RESEARCH 4

Despite the diversity within the brand, one cannot deny the fact that the creator of the

brand, entrepreneur, and singer/songwriter Robyn Rihanna Fenty influences the buyers.

Although her name is directly connected to the brand, and she often advertises it on her main

social media accounts, she is not the face of the brand (Ismail, 2018). According to Fenty

Beauty’s Instagram, the brand focuses on the inclusion of all skin tones, religions, and genders

(Fenty Beauty, 2017). In addition to Rihanna’s impact, the brand also gets exposure from the

multiple models they use for promotional purposes (Ismail, 2018). Models of color from Halima

Aden to Duckie Thot are advertising influencers for Fenty Beauty products.

In addition to celebrity influence, Fenty Beauty also reaches its audience through social media

influencers. When YouTubers of color like Jackie Aina review Fenty Beauty products and have

positive remarks, her three million-plus subscribers are likely to go out and buy those same

products. As a result, this brings in more revenue for Fenty Beauty and encourages them to send

out public relations (PR) packages for other famous YouTubers to review (Cho, 2018).

In an interview, Rihanna told Refinery 29, “There needs to be something for a

dark-skinned girl; there needs to be something for a really pale girl; there needs to be something

in-between.”.That is why Fenty is important. Fenty Beauty is needed because it has disrupted

the status quo of the current beauty industry trends by having inclusivity and diversity be their

top priorities. The beauty industry is known for ignoring the needs of various skin complexions.

Fenty beauty has stepped up to ensure people of all shades can enjoy their line to the fullest. The

slogan for Fenty Beauty’s PROFILTR foundation is “Foundation for all.” Since so many people

lacked access to a foundation shade that worked for their complexion. The motto was considered
FENTY BEAUTY PR RESEARCH 5

revolutionary. Fenty Beauty not only used this motto for their foundation release, but they also

showcase it in their advertisements.

A known fact is that we are more likely to identify with someone who looks like us, and

in turn, are more attracted to things we relate to. Fenty beauty focuses on women of all

complexions in advertising (Ismail 2018). One way Fenty Beauty advertises to all appearances is

through social media. Fenty’s social media platforms predominantly feature models of all

complexions (Werle 2019). Many brands launch extended shade ranges but then fail to showcase

it on social media and their advertising. Fenty Beauty advertisement videos captured women

with different skin tones, hair, body size, ethnicity, and religion. There is no concrete standard

for beauty relative to skin tone (Rahmawati 2019), and Fenty Beauty made everyone feel

included with their campaign.

A possible theory in deciding how influential Fenty Beauty’s advertising is, is by

measuring how Fenty Beauty has affected the beauty community in terms of diversity in its

buyers. In other words, how successful has the makeup company been at bringing in consumers

who have not felt appropriately represented in the beauty community, i.e., people of color. Fenty

Beauty has displayed numerous times that their brand caters to all and that includes all skin

tones, all religions, all genders and sexualities. Their use of diverse models, influencers, and

products show that Fenty Beauty knows who their audience is, and how to get them to buy their

products. Once people feel included and presented with quality merchandise, consumers will

continue to buy more and encourage others to do the same.

In closing, Rihanna’s brand Fenty Beauty has changed the makeup brand as the world has

previously known it. Times where people of darker skin complexions had trouble finding the
FENTY BEAUTY PR RESEARCH 6

perfect foundation for their skin tones, are now a thing of the past. Not to mention, people with

albinism are also able to find foundations that work for them through Fenty Beauty. There has

never been a time where cosmetic companies have been more inclusive than now. The brand

utilized social media marketing to reach all demographics. Fenty Beauty’s use of memes,

YouTube makeup "gurus,” and other celebrities to advertise to all crowds displays the strength in

their marketing. The beauty industry is known for ignoring the needs of various skin

complexions. Fenty beauty has stepped up to ensure people of all shades do not feel left out. This

new era of beauty has the potential to have a positive impact on misrepresented individuals.
FENTY BEAUTY PR RESEARCH 7

References

Cho, H. (2018). Advertising in the beauty industry: digital media and conceptions of beauty.

Fenty Beauty (2017). Instagram. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/fentybeauty/?hl=en

G.p., R., & Unnithan, A. B. (2017). Self and Identity of Being an Ideal Woman: An Exploratory

Qualitative Study. ​IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review​, ​7​(1), 33–44. Doi:

10.1177/2277975217733883

Ismail, A. (2018). International Marketing Strategies in the Celebrity Cosmetics Industry: A

Dual Case Study: Huda Beauty and Fenty Beauty.=

Jha, M. R. (2016). ​The global beauty industry: colorism, racism, and the national body.​ New

York, NY: Routledge.

LaBouvier, C. (2017, October 13). Why Fenty Beauty Isn't Just Another Celebrity Beauty Brand

- It's a Revolution. Retrieved from

https://www.allure.com/story/how-rihanna-fenty-beauty-has-changed-the-beauty-industry

Nittle, N. (2018, December 7). Brands once used elitism to market themselves. Now inclusion

sells. Retrieved from

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/12/7/18129445/brands-inclusion-fenty-third-love-victorias

-secret

Rahmawati, D. (2019). Beauty Concept Represented On Cosmetic Advertisement. ​Jurnal

JOEPALLT (Journal of English Pedagogy, Linguistics, Literature, and Teaching)​, ​7​(1).

doi: 10.35194/jj.v7i1.414
FENTY BEAUTY PR RESEARCH 8

Saputo, S. (2019, June). How Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty delivered ‘Beauty for All’ — and a wake-

up call to the industry. Retrieved from https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-

resources/-fenty-beauty-inclusive-advertising/

Werle, A. (2019). Beyond Light, Medium, and Dark: Diversity and Inclusivity in the Makeup

and Beauty Industries. ​Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR®.​ Retrieved from

digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1838&context=stu_hon_theses

Zelealem, M. (n.d.). Diversity in the Beauty Industry. Retrieved from

https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/honors-research-and-exhibition/2017/section-02/12/