Tapping Into the Gen Z Psyche With Bubble’s Shai Eisenman
Bubble Skincare is among the buzziest brands in the mass market and on social media alike.
Its secret sauce, according to Shai Eisenman, the brand’s founder and chief executive officer, is its community-geared approach to growing the brand.
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“Six years ago, when everybody was focused on DTC and Millennials, we realized there was a big gap when it came to the younger generation,” she said. “We decided to research, and we conducted focus groups with 200 Gen Zers, and then we created a community with 4,600 Gen Zers a year before we launched, who were a part of every decision we made.”
The group allowed Eisenman to understand the cohort who “is the most advanced generation that’s ever existed when it comes to skin care, though they still use exactly the same stuff as when I was a teen and we realized we had to change that,” she said. Thus, Bubble was born.
Brand ambassadors Kyla Davis, 20; Morgan Kennedy, 19; and Lorenzo Wong, 21; joined Eisenman onstage to share what’s resonating with them and why.
As it turns out, social media savvy isn’t enough anymore to make or break a brand. “I discover brands 50/50 through social media and personal connections,” Davis said. “As a smaller creator, I’m largely on social media, and a lot of the products I use I’ve seen other creators use. The other 50 percent are products that people I know personally and trust who introduce me to a product.”
Keeping customers, though, is a bit more nuanced. Each of the panelists look for different attributes of the brands they shop for.
“The initial thing of what brings me into a brand is that they are marketing a certain product to fix an issue I have. That’s the only thing that’s going to get me to buy that product,” Davis said.
Kennedy looks for “that expertise and really knowing what a product is for,” she said. “I need to know it is reliable, and that I can trust the brand, and it also comes down to affordability. If it’s not within my price range, I won’t even look at it.”
For Wong, education is key. “Skin care gets pretty complicated quickly. Many of us are not that educated on what certain ingredients do, and so we appreciate something that says, ‘this is for dry skin.’’”
They unanimously agreed that they are weary of brands that churn out products quickly to jump on TikTok trends. “Efforts should be prioritized to deliver a product that stands the test of time. We’re coming to the skin care space to solve a problem and we’re looking for something that delivers results,” Wong said.
Community is also key — but isn’t as hard to create as one might think. “Those small interactions in particular are what connects me to a brand, even if I’m not the one they’re personally interacting with,” Kennedy said. “Seeing brands make those small connections in comment sections and such, this is what helps remind me that there are people behind all of this. And that’s what keeps me coming back.”
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