Innovating Around the Customer with e.l.f. Cosmetics - S1 Ep4 | Simply Put | Salesforce

So I'm going into the Elf app and I'm clicking on virtual try on grapefruit goals. Cheeky cherry. Okay. I think I look best in Tough Cookie, so I think I'm gonna go with that.

I like that. Tough Cookie. Hi, I'm Emmanuel Acho. By now you know the drill. It's simply put, we solve your biggest business headach. And simply put, my job to enforce one rule. Everything has to make sense. If anything gets confusing, one of these will pop up and get us right back on track. Gayathri Bhudrajan, the VP of brand at Elf Beauty, is going to tell us all about her customer first philosophy. Later, my guy Bruce Coutries will join us. Bruce has a crash course for putting Gayatri's customer first advice into action. That sound good? Here's Gayatri again.

Beauty can be so exclusionary and unattainable. We want to make the best of beauty accessible to every eye, whip and face. It is no longer enough to just have a good product or a good service. Consumers expect brands to stand for something. We took a very early stance as a company and put a message out there around solidarity. So we're really able to lean on the commerce cloud at Salesforce and we were able to push out links and education and tools and get that out to our community in a very rapid way so that we could all band together and act. I think what technology does is puts data at the center of absolutely everything. Our consumers are everywhere, and so we absolutely need technology to be able to stitch these disparate sources of data and information around our consumers. Our software Square partners are the biggest unsung heroes. They absolutely sit underneath everything that we do. It allows brands to really be in tune with what the consumer needs, wants and desires are. We've become a global music sensation. We've entered into gaming. We've dominated TikTok. We exist way beyond beauty. And all of this was enabled through the connected ecosystem that Salesforce was able to provide us.

Now that's how you give a brand a personality. Gayathri knows it's all about the customer and she's got some words of wisdom. Salesforce's own Bruce Coutries will walk us through the tactics behind her big ideas.

These are my top three tips for innovating around your consumers. Number one, actively break the mold.

These days, consumers fall in love with experiences before products. Step outside of your industry's norms and get a little weird. Show off your human side because people will notice. Elf is a shining example of this. This Year alone, they partnered with popular influencers in gaming, created a holiday album on Spotify. But most impressively, they launched a viral video challenge on TikTok that got 3 million video submissions and 5 billion views. I'd say that's breaking the mold. The benefits of innovation really start to shine through though, with Gayatri's next tip.

Number two, Activate your community.

Be authentic. You could partner with local nonprofits to do some good or make a pledge like cruelty free ingredients or carbon neutrality. Just make sure it's something you believe in and can stand by that inspires trust. For example, elfcares throws their support behind anti racism movements and gives a platform to the LGBTQ community. This part of their e commerce site isn't for shopping, but for messages of equality and social justice. Knowing the passions of your community and showing action are a great way to stay connected to them. And you don't need to take a stand alone. This next tip will help you boost your branding efforts.

Number three, extend your platform with partners.

Right, Gayatri, you can unleash your brand's full potential with partners. There's a vast partner network out there that companies can tap into to turn their digital dreams into into reality. Check out ELF's partnership with Perfect Corp. After mastering great products and a scale digital presence, ELF wanted to bring an inherently tactile experience like trying on makeup into everyone's homes. With a seamless interface on both desktop and mobile, and the most sophisticated AR and AI technology. Now everyone can try on makeup and skincare anywhere. Just select the virtual try on tab, pick a product in color, upload a picture, or take one on the spot and voila. You can see exactly what each product looks like on your skin.

When I take a step back, I sometimes can't even believe that this is my job. E L F is truly a brand that is of the people, by the people, for the people, and I absolutely want everyone to experience the brand in that way.

All right, that's a wrap on our first season of Simply Put. We want to thank ELF Beauty for playing along with us and all of you for watching. We'll see you soon. Can't wait.