Whether or not you’re a Hailey fan, you have to admit the girl has her brand strategy on lock. Hailey Bieber’s Rhode was strategically built for virality.
From the jump, their moves have been calculated, cohesive, & character-driven. Rhode isn’t just selling skincare—they’re selling an entire vibe. The clean girl aesthetic. The minimalist glam. The dewy no-makeup makeup moment that Gen Z eats tf up. Last month, I made this post talking all about how Rhode’s branding taps directly into The Maiden archetype: fresh, feminine, softly aspirational, untouched but trending.
Rhode understood the assignment:
- Limited SKUs: Fewer products = more focus. Each launch gets its own spotlight, its own moment.
- Culturally relevant ad campaigns: From their oversized product shoots, Vogue-inspired 90s shoot featuring it girl Tate McRae, & leading the charge in the food-forward visuals trend, Rhode has mastered the art of making their products feel craveable.
- Viral product utility: Let’s talk about the Rhode lip phone case. This wasn’t just a cute product—it was a genius distribution hack. It turned their best-selling lip treatment into a lifestyle accessory. Now it’s not just in your purse—it’s in your hand, in every mirror selfie, in every “get ready with me” video. A walking ad.
- Pop-ups and brand activations: Limited global pop-ups in major cities + strategic brand activations at major events such as Coachella & Revolve. A Rhode pop-up is an aesthetic goldmine, perfectly tailored for TikTok coverage.
- Social media synergy: From their aesthetic reels, variety of influencer partnerships, & Hailey’s strategic GRWM videos—Rhode excels at making sure their content doesn’t feel like ads but a lifestyle you want to be apart of.
The brand didn’t grow simply by relying on Hailey’s name. It grew by building a magnetic world people wanted to live in.
Now let’s talk about Lori Harvey.
I saw some discourse online, in regards to Hailey’s success, of people saying “This should’ve been Lori Harvey”—and I get it. Lori has cultural capital. At one point, Lori was everywhere. She’s beautiful, she’s admired, & she does have influence. But respectfully… it was never going to be Lori. Because influence without strategy won’t build a billion-dollar brand.
Here’s where Lori dropped the ball:
- She entered the wrong category: Lori’s core influence came from her dating life, her figure, & her fitness content—particularly her love of Pilates. I’d even go out on a limb to say she’s the reason a whole wave of Black women started doing Pilates in the first place. But when it came time to launch a brand, she didn’t lean into that at all. Instead, she launched skincare—into an oversaturated market, without an obvious differentiator, & with no storytelling behind it.
- No real marketing strategy: I mean, all I really have to say to make my point here is that the last post on the SKN by LH Instagram was in December (oh, and the same can be said for her swimwear line Yevrah as well). That’s nearly half a year of silence in a market where visibility matters. Before that the latest post for SKN was in September, & before that June so… it’s giving ghost brand.
- No strategic partnerships: Unlike Rhode, which smartly partnered with chemists, popular creators, viral events, & other celebrities, SKN didn’t leverage collaborations or co-signs to scale reach or credibility.
- Boring, unoriginal marketing: The visuals for SKN felt like a carbon copy of every other clean skincare line—flat & forgettable. There was no hook, no narrative, no virality, & no personality in the marketing.
Lori had a real lane but she just didn’t drive in it.
She could’ve cornered the luxury wellness category—Pilates classes, athleisure, supplements, romanticized routines, soft life energy etc. Instead, she launched a skincare line that felt disconnected from what her audience admired her for & didn’t give them an opportunity to feel closer to her either.
So what’s the real lesson here?
+ Know your audience better & give them what they need before they even have to ask.
+ Build a brand world, not just a product.
+ And magnetic brands aren’t built on names alone—they’re built on strategy.
This blog post was pulled from Issue 03 of my newsletter, Page Six-Figure.
Subscribe to the newsletter, for free, to gain exclusive access to my brand strategy breakdowns, branding gems & hot takes, hot topics, and special deals & pricing on my offers.
leave a comment