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- [00:01]
Philo Ads
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- [00:27]
Christy Slater
The first and most important thing is you have to know yourself and you have to know your values and you have to know what's important and what's not, because no one else can tell you that. And a lot of people will try.
- [00:39]
Jenny Rooney
Hi, everyone, and welcome to the Marketing Vanguard podcast. I'm Jenny Rooney. I'm here at Adweek and I am thrilled to be joined by Christy Slater. She is the senior vice president of Global marketing at Clinique. Christy, welcome.
- [00:53]
Christy Slater
Hi, Jenny. Thanks for being here.
- [00:55]
Jenny Rooney
Well, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm super excited to have this conversation. I have been a Clinique fan, truly for much of my entire adult life. And I remember, frankly, and I say this with the all best of intention, my mother used it religiously. I do think that's an important point to make because. And we'll get into it, but I think the history, legacy, trust, credibility of the brand at a time when, frankly, it seems like having that is such an air of distinction for you as a marketer to think about and harness, even as you're thinking about moving into a world of new look. I mean, you can tell me, but some of your legendary products have been around for years and years and there's still number one on all this. So amazing brand. Introduce it to us. Yeah.
- [01:40]
Christy Slater
Well, first of all, you're totally right. And I bet your mother has great skin. So that's a wonderful thing that she gave to you as a gift. That's a huge gift. And it's funny that you say the consistency because actually when Clinique, so Clinique was founded in 1968, it was founded by a dermatologist and a beauty editor, which is an unusual combination, but the best combination because it brought together clinical science with sort of a timeless style and elegance, if you will. But it's funny again, on consistency and just using things religiously, that was always part of their vision. And Dr. Oren Trike talked about cleansing, exfoliating and moisturizing being the key. And they had Irving Pen, an amazing photographer, and was the house photographer for Vogue and also then for Clinique. And he actually built A whole series of campaigns that were about how do you take this idea of consistency, pull that into communications and marketing, which anyway I just love. And it's such an interesting point in the world today, like you're saying where people are trying all sorts of things, doing all sorts of things to their skin and really you just gotta, you gotta stick to it. And that at the end of the day is the most important.
- [02:51]
Jenny Rooney
So that's your market opportunity, but it's also your, I would imagine, becoming a bigger marketing challenge. I have a 16 year old daughter by the way, who is on TikTok and all the things. And listen, it's a different world than it was in 68. So how are you thinking about negotiating that again? Massive opportunity, massive noise in the market. Tell me a little bit about that.
- [03:14]
Christy Slater
Yeah, so it's interesting because first of all, people are doing all sorts of things and they're learning all sorts of things and honestly it's cool, great. It is fantastic that people have access to education that they've never had before, that they understand skin, that they understand ingredients. That is wonderful and we're thrilled about it as a brand. Education and the idea of, okay, actually understand what you're doing to your skin has always been part of the DNA and of our founders vision. So that's all great. I think where it becomes challenging is your skin, Jenny, is different from my skin. And what's right for you and what's right for me, it might be different. And so sort of starting at this fundamental skin type idea and skin type is different by person. And also as you go through your life stages, you have different concerns and different things that you need. So I think there is an element of, in a world today, how can someone sift through the noise and find the right routine for them and then commit to that routine to see those results. And I think that's where I mean, again to your point, I think Clinique has a huge opportunity and a challenge in the world and we've been working on that by a few different things. One, when you come to Clinique, whether it's at our counter or online, or how we show up on TikTok or how we show up on Instagram, you're always going to get truth over trend. We're going to give you the education that you need to help you figure out what's right for you. Second, there's this idea which has been built into the brand from the beginning. I can take no credit for it, which is about genuine care. And we talk about human connection in the world today. And that from the very beginning was part of how we thought about skin care and skin education. You have to have sometimes that, that very personal connection to help you really get inspired in some ways to take care of your skin and to do that in a full way. And the third thing, and it's kind of funny, people don't realize that Cliniques actually a makeup warehouse. We're the number one makeup brand in the US and it's also skincare to makeup. So from the beginning, the brand was focused on a total beauty solution. Not just skin care, but you're going to wear makeup. And so that should be part of how we think about caring for skin too. And so I think that's a piece of it as well, is just that holistic idea. And approaching it from the get go of skincare to makeup as a total solution is another important one.
- [05:43]
Jenny Rooney
Well, I love that. And you're absolutely right. I mean, what Black Honey is still an iconic lip gloss that it's really a lip tint, is it not?
- [05:51]
Christy Slater
Yeah, gorgeous.
- [05:52]
Jenny Rooney
I mean, you're right. I remember thinking that the product line has always been distinctively different. It does feel like the holistic storytelling is so key. I do love when you mention the makeup counter. That still is at the end of the day, there is still something about that. Even though we're living in a very virtual world, digital world, very transactional world, social media. How are you thinking about your retail? I'm just curious, how do you think about your retail operations? Or at least your point of service, I would call it, because it really is not selling the product. It's actually about working with people who want to sample things they want to try on makeup. They want to have somebody actually makeup artist create something for them. How are you thinking about that in this day and age?
- [06:34]
Christy Slater
Yeah, I think two things. One, we're leveraging both the power of technology and the power of people. So on the technology front, we have something called Clinique Clinical Reality, which is personalized AI based. It's powered by our 55 years of dermatological science and 3 million face scans that analyzes 80 points on skin and gives you a really custom fit set of understanding around what's happening on your skin and what you can do about it. So whether that's online and you can access it from your phone, you can access it anywhere in the world or in store and being able to really pull together the best of technology with the right recommendation for you. But then I think that also Connects really nicely into what only people can do that I can never do, right? And that's look at a person in the eye, make that really personal connection. And we call them our consultants or Clinique Consultants. Those are our beauty advisors in store. And we don't talk about them just as beauty advisors because they're actually go through this amazing wealth of education. So they're educated in partnership with dermatologists, in partnership with ophthalmologists, paramedic makeup artists, a whole range of experts. So that when you come and you talk to someone, you're getting the best of the best advice. And you can feel really confident in that, because in a world of, like we were saying before, so much information out there, who can you trust? And I think that's where one of my goals is. You know, you can always trust Clinique and what you're going to get from Clinique and so you can feel safe.
- [08:05]
Jenny Rooney
So let's talk about you. I mean, tell me about your journey and what got you to this role. I'm so curious. I mean, did you always aspire to work, work in the beauty industry? And tell me a little bit about your educational background as well.
- [08:17]
Christy Slater
So, Jenny, if I tell you the absolute vodka ads and that whole campaign was. That was the beginning of my love affair with marketing and advertising communication. I collected those ads obsessively to the point where me. And I'm like a pretty. I was a good student. I was like straight A's. I got, like, kicked out of class because you cannot wear a vodka T shirt. And I was like, why not? This is a brilliant campaign. What are you talking about?
- [08:44]
Jenny Rooney
Beautiful art?
- [08:45]
Christy Slater
Yeah, it's beautiful art. So I think that's what hooked me to start. And then I think that combined with the fact that I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. My dad's an entrepreneur. My grandpa's an entrepreneur. Now my husband's an entrepreneur. So just this idea of constantly seeing the world not just as it is, but how could it be? How could it look? And what do we dream? And that idea of the dream and then the hard work that goes into making it possible was sort of built into me from the start. And I think then the other piece of my story is my skin has always been a huge part of me. So I have psoriasis, I have rosacea, I have eczema. I grew up with acne. Like, all of the skin problems, I got them different parts of my life. Like, I didn't even want to look at my husband and Someone who loves me so much unconditionally and is the best in the whole world. And I just was like, oh, don't look at me. It's just, I understand at this really deep level, so many people are like me and it makes a huge difference in life. So I didn't aspire to always get into beauty, but I think it was always written into my story. And I was actually at Apple before coming to the Estee Lauder companies and having one of those moments where you kind of sit back and you're like, okay, what's the next chapter for me? And I reflected and I kid you not, the next morning got the phone call to come on over and it was like when you get that feeling of the clouds have just parted and you're like, ah, this is where I'm meant to be and what I'm meant to do. So I'm so glad, grateful to be here, doing what I love in a entrepreneurial, fast paced, great environment to do it all.
- [10:20]
Jenny Rooney
And how long have you been here now?
- [10:21]
Christy Slater
I've been at the companies, the SDL at our companies for just over five years and at Clinique for just over a year. So really came in right as we were building out this new strategy and all of this great work that we were doing and working to really come back to our founder's vision and what that looks like.
- [10:37]
Jenny Rooney
Yeah, I love that you mentioned you had been at Apple. What were you doing? Was it design, marketing work? If so, what products were you working on? What did you port over from that experience?
- [10:47]
Christy Slater
Yeah, no, a lot. I mean, Apple's an amazing brand. My career has not always been linear, but it's always been about great brands and like working for some really great people and at Apple. And I had the great pleasure of working for my dear mentor now of mine, Angela Aarons, as we are reimagining the retail experience and her vision and the way we talked about, okay, it's a town hall, right. And how do you bring people together and what does it look like to think about the Apple store as so much more than a store, but really a place of community. We built this great innovation team and led some really great work in terms of how do we reimagine both for our consumer and for the retail employee? Because Apple has 60,000 retail employees all over the world who really bring the brand to life in the best way. So it was an amazing experience.
- [11:33]
Jenny Rooney
I really am touched by the story that you told about the personal connection you have to the products. Right. And to the reality that your skin is obviously. I mean, it. It feels like it should go without saying, but it's such a poignant thing to point out, which is that, like, how you show up, your face, your physical appearance, it affects relationships, how you feel about yourself, your confidence, your strength, and the fact that you've married your personal priorities and the things that define you as a person with now what you're doing in your job. I mean, I think that's something that people can only hope to achieve. What would you say to folks who might be trying to seek something similar? You know what I mean? Like jobs that align so well to who they are as individuals and enables them to do work that's truly meaningful, not in anybody else's definition of meaningful work, but just in their own individual definition of meaningfulness.
- [12:24]
Christy Slater
It's a great question. I think the first and most important thing is you have to know yourself and you have to know your values, and you have to know what's important and what's not, because no one else can tell you that. And a lot of people will try. So in order to find work that hits that passion. And I actually heard someone say, it's a guy named Andy Stanley. And he said, you have to follow what breaks your heart. I'm like, oh, that's so beautiful. Like, for me, there's both the skin piece of things and also unrealized potential. It bothers me. You see a brand and you're like, oh, it could be so much better like this. Oh, it's just like, there's so much there. Just if you just tapped into it or you even see a person, you're like, do you not realize how talented you are and what gifts you bring to the world? And so I think for me, that's the thing. Like I was saying, I've been in consulting. I did healthcare. It's never about the space. It's more about what it means for being able to bring out that potential. And I think that's the thing for me with Clinique. It's the most gorgeous brand. And like you were saying, right, Your mother. I hear this all over the world. My mom, my sister, my friend. Clinique is this family affair. An influencer told me. I can't take credit for that phrase. An influencer used that phrase. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, that's the best. It's a family affair. It brings so much together. And I think that speaks to me. And I think a person who's trying to find their thing and Their passion point, what speaks to you. And you just have to be honest and authentic and true to that. And no matter what, just hold strong.
- [13:58]
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- [14:24]
Jenny Rooney
I love that. So well said. You mentioned influencers, right? There's no category besides beauty that probably uses influencers as much as the beauty category, Perhaps fashion. What is your influencer strategy? I mean, look, there's so much conversation around influencers, creators, thinking about how you're using them. And I don't even know if the term using is even the right terminology anymore, but working with them, how they work with you. Any insight and maybe your, your one or two best practices that you've come upon in that realm?
- [14:59]
Christy Slater
Yeah, first and foremost, authenticity. I mean, we all talk about it, right? But authenticity is the most important thing because no one's going believe you, especially in the world today if that's not a true authentic love and usage. So for us, as the sort of brand that we are, I mean, look, in the US we have 85% aided awareness. So people know the brand and have likely used the brand at some point. So it's just about reminding them. And even from an influencer standpoint, just getting people product and oh, like falling back in love again, then you inherently want to talk about it. So that's maybe one piece, the second piece. Like I said, dermatological education is at the core of the brand. And so we've made that the core of our strategy too. And so we work with a group of dermatologists on social, we call them our dermatologist creator council. And they're there not just to talk product, but also to bring education to consumers. And so when we talk about our influencer strategy, it's not just on, oh, look at this product, or it's trying to stay really true to who we are as a brand with education at the core and making that the core of our strategy too. So look, it's about a conversation and you just want to make sure that you're in the conversation and inspiring a conversation and then I think the rest follows.
- [16:24]
Jenny Rooney
Who are some of the A listers and celebrities that you have worked with, thinking about working with now?
- [16:29]
Christy Slater
Yeah, well, we just did Cynthia Rivo's makeup for the Oscars and she looks so beautiful. So, so Beautiful. But again, she's an authent user, so it makes so much sense to be able to work with someone like that. And she's amazing. Clinique and Celebrities is funny because, as you may know, we were the brand that led this idea of product is hero. And we really do try to stay true to this idea that product is hero because that then enables the consumer to connect with it in their own way and build their own authentic and meaningful connection. So it's a little bit less about a big celebrity face up front and more around. Hey, all of these people around the world are using Clinique and look what they could do. And look at that makeup. Look and look at their skin and wow, it's amazing to see. And so that's what we try to do. We try to bring the brand into culture, connect it with whether it's a celebrity or just someone like your mom, who's been using Clinique for a long time, and highlight the way that Clinique fits into their life and what they've been able to achieve because of it.
- [17:38]
Jenny Rooney
Love that you mentioned AI before. Obviously trying to be relevant and on point and making sure you're up to date with all the technological innovation that's happening. It is still such a human thing.
- [17:48]
Christy Slater
Right?
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Jenny Rooney
I was just in a call before talking about AI and basically autonomous AI that's making selection for you in a store or online, et cetera. I'm sure that balance between human and machine is something that you're spending a lot of time making sure you're getting right, because there's so much human aspect to the products that you're selling. Are you working with your CTO on that? Are you spending a lot of time with your developers? Because I mean, that to me feels like internally, there has to be sort of like a big collaborative effort around how you're sort of specifically harnessing new technology.
- [18:20]
Christy Slater
Yeah, there is. And I think, like everyone, we're doing lots of experimentation. What does this do? Do we like this? Do we not like this? I think for my team, we've been trying out some different tools and we've been feeding it with our. Our points of view and the way that we think. Because also we don't want the generic output to then pass along a generic out it back to the consumer. And so we're trying a lot of different things and also making sure that as we test, we're really clear with ourselves. Okay, this is something where we got assistance from AI and this is something we did on our own. So Even just as we go through then we can pressure test and say, okay, which output was better, which felt easier, which felt. So I think we're kind of in this stage right now where boundless potential. Right. And also we're trying to figure out, just like everyone, where is it best served and where is it most helpful and how do we learn along the way? And so we kind of almost do live post mortems as we go and sort of iterate really rapidly. But yeah, look, whether it's from skin diagnostics where we've applied a lot of technology all the way to. My team of marketers aren't scientists or dermatologists, but of course we work with dermatologists and scientists day in and day out. So how can we use the power of AI AI at ChatGPT to be able to say, okay, what's the latest happening in the dermatological science world and can you digest these papers and help us understand and what's this medical procedure and what's this medication? And that's been amazingly helpful.
- [19:53]
Jenny Rooney
Yeah, that's super fascinating. I'm also curious about how you're regarding your media strategy right now. We mentioned some obviously TikTok, obviously Instagram. What's the latest and greatest in terms of how you're internally with your teams thinking about, well, we need to be on these platforms, we need to do more here. How are you slicing and dicing, especially putting budget behind the various platforms and why?
- [20:14]
Christy Slater
Yeah, I think this is one area where I don't want to say what's old is new again, but we maybe had shifted so much to sort of the digital advertising and this and that and well, turns out there's a lot of different ways that people take in information and they still like to watch TV and wow, they still like to pick up a magazine.
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Jenny Rooney
They see a billboard outside and they see a billboard.
- [20:39]
Christy Slater
And you know what, they also love a billboard. So I think it's more around being a little bit less prescriptive, being true to some of the themes we've been talking about, willing to try different things. Also, every market is so different. There are markets in the world which are really print heavy. There are markets in the world where like don't put anything in print. What are you doing? So maybe the best way to say is we are constantly optimizing. We've been back on TV for the first time in a long time and that's been super exciting. I think one thing that maybe is unique about what we're doing is true to sort of coming Back to our founders vision is also starting with the doctors. So whenever we come with a new campaign and whatever we're bringing to consumers, in whatever way, social, digital, whatever form of media, we're always starting with the doctors because that's true to our brand. And we're just at the American Academy of Dermatology and really spending time with the medical community and also just bringing the brand to them just as much as we're bringing the brand to our consumers. So that's a big piece of the strategy and something that we've changed in the last year really going back to that part of our brand.
- [21:49]
Jenny Rooney
I love that. A couple questions about you as a leader. I don't know what size team you have, what size of your marketing organization, but I always ask the question, I use the analogy of being a soccer player on a field to ask you, what kind of a leader are you? Are you a defensive player trying to make sure you don't have the competition beat you? Are you at the front line as a striker trying to score goals every day and get wins on the board? Or are you at the midfield line trying to be that connective tissue between the offense and defense and sort of command the center point of the game?
- [22:19]
Christy Slater
Cool question, but I'm the coach, right? Like, I'm not the striker, I'm not the goalie. I'm there to build and grow a team that does amazing things, that delivers remarkable results. So it doesn't matter what I'm doing. I'm there to help bring this great group of people and I have an amazing team to really get to where we're trying to go.
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Jenny Rooney
And where are you trying to go? What is next? What's on the horizon?
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Christy Slater
Yeah, no, I mean, look, like I was saying about a year ago, we made this pivot, if you want to call it that, back to who we are. And since then, we've had 10 consecutive months of market share gains in the US which we're really proud of, and seeing some really great results all around the world. There's a whole level to the brand, from dermatological education to delivering total beauty solutions, skincare to makeup, to really being able to provide simple routines for remarkable results. Right. You don't need all of these complicated products. You need to find what's right for you and stick to it. And I just want, I want to take that and put the megaphone on. Loud, big. I think there's a, a huge need for brands that consumers can trust where you can come and again know your skin is safely Clinique. But you can also get all of the results that you're looking for, all of the efficacy with all of the safety. And that's really. Clinique sweet spot is the powerful efficacy and the rigorous safety. And I think that's important. Both sort of on the straight level and on sort of the, I don't know, metaphysical level. I don't know. But the philosophical level. But that's what we're trying to do. And we're trying to provide the best care outside of a dermatologist's office. Right. And that's the mission. It's always been the mission. And we just need to keep turning up the heat, doing even more all around the world.
- [24:08]
Jenny Rooney
Well, I'm excited to see you move forward on all of that. Last quick question is, who's next? Who's somebody that you admire? Can be somebody who's doing some extraordinary things with a brand out there in the world that you just think is incredible. You may not know that person, but you admire them from afar. Or it might be a close peer who you know well and a CM role or brand leadership position who you think that our listeners need to hear from and that I should invite onto the podcast.
- [24:34]
Christy Slater
Whitney Miller. She just started a job at Sotheby's and she's going to be redefining experiences for them. She was at Chanel doing some amazing work. We worked together at Apple, so she would be amazing.
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Jenny Rooney
I will reach out to her.
- [24:48]
Christy Slater
Okay, well, I'm also happy to help. Whitney's great.
- [24:51]
Jenny Rooney
That's awesome. All right, Very cool. Well, I will do that. And in the meantime, Christy, it's been a pleasure.
- [24:57]
Christy Slater
So nice, Jenny.
- [24:58]
Jenny Rooney
I'm so glad we were able to connect and I look forward to meeting you in person and having more conversations because I just think it's a fascinating story and I also think your personal background is super fascinating. So everything you're trying to do there while being true to what Clinique is, is just a great story and what works and what all marketers need to be paying attention to. So thank you so much.
- [25:18]
Christy Slater
Well, thank you. Thanks for having me. Thanks for the great questions and. And let's connect soon.
- [25:23]
Jenny Rooney
Sounds good.
- [25:23]
Christy Slater
Okay, thanks.
- [25:25]
Jenny Rooney
Thank you for listening to Marketing Vanguard, part of the Ad Week Podcast Network and Acast Creator Network. You can listen and subscribe to all of Adweek's podcasts by visiting adweek.com podcasts. Stay updated on all things Adweek Podcast Network by following us on Twitter @AdWeekpodcast. And if you have a question or suggestion for the show. Send us an email@podcastdweek.com thanks for listening.
- [25:53]
Philo Ads
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