Sephora Black beauty is beauty campaign

 

SEPHORA BLACK BEAUTY IS BEAUTY CAMPAIGN CASE STUDY

Complete the following questions/tasks:

1) What was Sephora trying to achieve with the campaign?

Sephora is trying to draw attention to the racial bias which excludes positive representations of Black beauty from the mainstream narrative.

2) What scenes from the advert are highlighted as particularly significant in the articles?

The scene where the little girl is getting her hair braided by her mother creates a sense of personal identity and nostalgia as many black women who the ad is mainly targeted towards have had similar experiences in their childhood. It creates a bittersweet moment with the audience as though we cherish those moments, it also reminds us of the pain of getting your hair braided while sitting in between your mother's legs as a child. However, it is still a positive core memory.

3) As well as YouTube, what TV channels and networks did the advert appear on?

The advertisement was created by the marketing company R/GA Media and broadcast on two major networks with a primary audience of African Americans: Black Entertainment Television (BET) and Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). It was also streamed on networks such as Hulu and HBO max.

4) Why does the Refinery29 article suggest the advert 'doesn't feel performative'? 

No one feels left out. The film has more inclusion in its under-a-minute runtime than two hour features have in their whole film. Rather than dipping a toe in “diversity,” Bradley and Sephora fully submerged us and created a beautiful film that sees us. And we didn’t even have to wait until Black History Month to be acknowledged. 

5) What is the 15 per cent pledge and why is it significant?

Retailers pledge 15% of shelf space for Black owned businesses in order to promote diversity and equity in the industry and to support underrepresented Black business owners. The pledge is significant because it aims to address the systematic inequality and discrimination faced by Black entrepreneurs in the retail industry. Their work and innovations are usually discredited by the media.

Advertising agency feature

The Black Beauty Is Beauty advertising spot was created by global creative agency R/GA. Look at their website feature on the project and answer the following questions:

1) Why did Sephora approach R/GA to develop the advert?

Sephora came to R/GA ready to do something about racial equity in the beauty industry, doing the work above and beyond posting a “black square,” but needed our help to talk about its commitment.

2) What was the truth that R/GA helped Sephora to share?

The truth was that the ingenuity and influence of Black people have led to many of the beauty trends, ingredients, tools, and language we all enjoy.

3) How did the advert 'rewrite the narrative'?

The ad rewrote the narrative by making it equal parts thesis and campaign spelling out the influence of Black beauty culture on mainstream beauty. The launch film credited Black beauty for the cut crease, the hairbrush, and many more beauty staples we all enjoy. An editorial partnership with The Cut and an SEM takeover allowed us to continue sharing that history and giving Black beauty culture the credit it deserves.

Sephora website: Black Beauty Is Beauty

Visit the Sephora website page on Black Beauty Is Beauty. Answer the following questions:

1) How does Sephora introduce the campaign?

Sephora introduces the campaign by creating a web page that describes the meaning of their campaign and why it is so crucial to recognise and uplift Black pioneers.

2) What statistics are highlighted on the website? 

3% of brands at major beauty retailers are Black owned.

1% of venture capital funding goes to Black-owned businesses.

78% of shoppers across the retail industry don’t see enough brands owned by or made for people of color.

2 in 5 shoppers across the retail industry have personally experienced unfair treatment on the basis of their race or skin color.

3) What do we learn about Garrett Bradley - the director of the advert? 

He's an American artist and film maker who's work focuses on themes including race,class and the history of film in the US. In 2021, she was the first Black woman to win best director of a documentary  at sundance for her film 'time'.

Media language: textual analysis

Watch the advert again and answer the following questions that focus on technical and verbal codes. Use your notes from the lesson to help you here.  

1) How does the advert use camerawork to communicate key messages about the brand?

There are many close up on things like the cut crease. It hones into the deep history of Black innovations.

The advert also uses warm lighting when the mother was doing her childs hair an attempt for Sephora to trigger a sense of nostalgia and personal identity.

Flashing images of historical pioneers that paved the way.

2) How is mise-en-scene used to create meanings about black beauty and culture?

There are props such as hair and makeup brushes to further emphasise the ingenuity of black creators.

3) How is editing used to create juxtapositions and meanings in the advert?

Through the editing,we can see the contrast between old inventions and newer more advanced ones that are used today.

4) How are verbal codes used to create meanings in the advert - the voiceover and text on screen? 

The narrator refers to the significant contribution of Black beauty pioneers have on mainstream trends and products. For example, Lyda Newman was a black female inventor who patented the first hairbrush with synthetic bristles to make styling more hygienic and efficient. Her invention completely changed the hair-care industry.

5) What is the overall message of the advert? 

 The overall message  of the advert is to embrace your culture and heritage even in a society that marginalizes Black people and is inherently built by and for the 'white man'. Sephora is highlighting the fact that If you do not see yourself reflected in the identities constructed by the promotional materials for a shop, you might feel the need to justify why you want to enter that space as it wasn't necessarily built for Black people. Therefore,Their “Black beauty is beauty” advertisement draws attention to the impact Black culture has on mainstream beauty trends and products.And by offering more positive representations of Black beauty and innovation, the brand’s online advert could reassure someone who is questioning their identity and worried about how they will be received by others for being who they truly are.

A/A* extension tasks

Read this Marketing Dive feature on how Sephora is trying to alter Google search trends and highlight racial bias in algorithms and machine learning. You may then want to think about the following questions: 

How is the Sephora advert an example of recent changes in media representations of ethnicity?

The Sephora advert "Black Beauty is Beauty" exemplifies the evolving media landscape by showcasing the beauty of Black women, promoting inclusivity and challenging traditional beauty standards. It signifies a shift towards more diverse and authentic representations of ethnicity. 

What does the advert tell us about the way new technology is changing the way adverts are constructed?

The advert "Black Beauty is Beauty" by Sephora highlights how new technology is transforming the construction of advertisements. It leverages digital platforms to reach a wider audience, engage with consumers, and promote inclusivity through diverse representations. 

Why have brands moved towards online and social media platforms in their advertising?

Due to the rise of the 'digital age' and everyone being chronically online,The viral diffusion of information through social media has a far greater capacity to reach the public than “short tail” - media such as TV, radio, and print advertisements. Consumers are turning away from these traditional forms of media and are increasingly using social media to search for information. 

How does the idea of ingrained racial bias in algorithms link to some of the postcolonial ideas we have studied recently? 

The idea of an ingrained racial bias is a result of pre-existing cultural, social, or institutional expectations such as systemic racism which forces the media to view anyone other than the conventional white man and woman as the "other". This leads to a huge lack of representation especially for Black women as they are the most underrepresented. Due to this, when searching "Black beauty", a novel about a black horse appears. Unsurprisingly written by a white women. This emphasizes the ways in which positive representations of Black women are often disregarded in the media.