Gen Z and sexual wellness marketing—4 lessons for legacy brands

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To win Gen Z consumers’ hearts this Valentine’s Day, legacy beauty companies must care about more than what’s in their carts.
Many of Gen Z’s beauty users are gravitating to founder-led, independent or “vision-led” brands. “Vision led” means brands that were founded in and stand for a meticulously crafted passion.
A great example of this is Gen Z favorite Rare Beauty, which is not only pioneered by celebrity founder Selena Gomez, but is rooted in supporting mental health, donating donates 1% of every purchase toward<a class="omnitrack inline-paragraph-link" title="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rarebeauty.com%2Fblogs%2Frare-impact%2Frare-impact-fund&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cjames.flachsenhaar%40adage.com%7Cec1dd36654724b59c15b08dc241c82c5%7C2c6dce2dd43a4e78905e80e15b0a4b44%7C0%7C0%7C638" href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rarebeauty.com%2Fblogs%2Frare-impact%2Frare-impact-fund&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cjames.flachsenhaar%40adage.com%7Cec1dd36654724b59c15b08dc241c82c5%7C2c6dce2dd43a4e78905e80e15b0a4b44%7C0%7C0%7C638424952121681859%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=xNj%2F76THYdYUCTUUV36Av0gJISJV1c1XS6JY49Z2PwQ%3D&amp;reserved=0" data-omnilocation="articlebody" data-omnilink="editorial-link"> its mission</a>.
And let’s not overlook Gen Alpha, whose fascination with beauty is growing by the day.
But all hope is not lost for legacy brands. Smart marketing strategies could benefit the older and more established brands that are struggling to connect with younger generations.
Before legacy brands are broken up with, here are some tips to win younger consumer loyalty:
<h3 style="font-size:1.7rem;color:#000;margin-bottom:1em;">Unite for social good</h3>
Shift your focus from competition to collaborative campaigns and endeavors that elevate a collective industry or social narrative.
For instance, Saie Beauty, Youth to the People and SisterSong—a women of color reproductive justice group—discussed women’s rights via Instagram Live. And in other categories such as period care, brands including August and Lola teamed up to fight the tampon tax.
These kinds of actions are an important acknowledgment that you take a stand on issues that resonate with your audience.
<h3 style="font-size:1.7rem;color:#000;margin-bottom:1em;">Connect with community engagement</h3>
Social media comment sections can be a vital avenue for instantaneous reviews and product feedback. It’s not necessarily always fun for a community manager, but these comments are crucial for a company&#8217;s health as you compete against the consumer&#8217;s most recent customer experience.
Legacy beauty brands can leverage their comment sections as a rich source of data to understand what resonates with Gen Z, using it like a focus group.
<h3 style="font-size:1.7rem;color:#000;margin-bottom:1em;">Take insider knowledge to TikTok</h3>
Legacy beauty brand leaders need to put less stock in platforms such as LinkedIn and instead leverage platforms where Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers spend most of their time: TikTok. Younger generations will appreciate seeing you face-to-face showing personal love and passion for your brand.
Katie Welch, chief marketing officer of Rare Beauty, is a great example of this. Her TikTok content consists of a day in the life at the office, what the Rare Beauty marketing team is working on, career advice and more. So not only do potential consumers feel more connected to her and the brand, but they’re also inspired by her relatable posts.
<h3 style="font-size:1.7rem;color:#000;margin-bottom:1em;">Give meaningful and sustainable PR gifts</h3>
Your PR gifts should resemble the quality and compassion of fresh roses, sincere handwritten notes and chocolates.
While PR gifting remains an important tool for building awareness around a new product, Gen Z sees a saturated landscape. Instead, brands should redirect their efforts toward PR gifting that is entertaining, authentic and valuable for all consumers—not just influencers or celebrities.
Take Hailey Bieber&#8217;s Rhode Beauty, which set a new standard with its Pineapple Refresh Cleanser launch. The product was encased in a bath bomb, which not only champions sustainability but also creates a TikTok-worthy experience.
It also may be worth sharing your mailers with true loyal consumers and brand lovers, not just influencers. Legacy beauty brands can take an approach that caters to loyal fans, such as sending a birthday note or small gift, remembering that sometimes word of mouth and uniquely rewarding loyal customers can be just as influential as collaborating with someone with a high follower count.
<h3 style="font-size:1.7rem;color:#000;margin-bottom:1em;">Bond through open castings</h3>
Brands such as Glow Recipe are championing success through <a class="omnitrack inline-paragraph-link" href="https://www.glowrecipe.com/pages/glow-recipe-anonymous-open-casting-call" data-omnilocation="articlebody" data-omnilink="editorial-link">anonymous castings</a>, open to all members of their community, not just models. More than 2,500 community members applied, with the brand removing information such as names, locations and ages to reduce implicit bias.
Gen Z would greatly appreciate this level of admiration for community from legacy brands, as it demonstrates a new level of fostering community and embracing individual uniqueness. Plus, casting days can be an incredible brand awareness moment as attendees take their experiences to TikTok and Instagram.
So, legacy beauty brands—and not to break your hearts on Valentine’s Day—but you often carry the stigma of being seen as less-than-authentic players.
Consumers are stuck in a dance of skepticism, unwilling to break up with brands they’ve known longer while committing to new brands they trust more. Act fast, or risk losing younger generations’ hearts forever.

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