rand messaging and product development.  Retail veterans like Madisen Theobald, the global director of social creative for Mac Cosmetics and Tracy Knauer, the VP of marketing and direct-to-consumer for New Balance’s North American division, collectively agreed that authenticity is key in connecting with the consumer.  Reposition your brand at the centre of the social conversation One brand that has exemplified a winning strategy in repositioning itself is Mac Cosmetics.  The Canadian-born makeup label launched in 1984 as a brand created for and marketed to makeup artists and professional creatives. However, not too long after that, Mac Cosmetics began steadily building a cult following with hero products like the Lipglass lip gloss and bullet lipsticks, such as the best-selling Russian Red shade.  However, in the mid-2010s, the once best-selling beauty brand’s profits began to fall off, thanks to shifting beauty trends, an increasing number of competitors on the scene and outdated brand messaging.  Over the past few years, Mac executives like Madisen Theobald and Cat Quinn, the brand’s executive director of social and trend, have been leading the OG beauty company into a new era, with the help of a Gen Z-heavy social team.  Theobald and Quinn explained that the brand had started leaning into on-the-nose social trends and quirky and creative marketing campaigns to better connect with a new generation of consumers.  The beauty executives referenced the company’s more recent campaign, which presented a modified, more wearable version of the brand’s Lipglass, called Lipglass Air.  The campaign, cheekily dubbed “Born Famous”, featured a cast of so-called “nepo babies” including model Amelia Gray alongside her mother, television personality Lisa Rinna.  Quinn noted that the campaign helped double the brand’s Gen Z audience base and showcased Mac’s ability to tap into modern conversation moments. She also stated that brands trying to reposition themselves to be at the centre of social conversation shouldn’t be afraid to be creative and take risks with their marketing. While some consumers won’t get the joke or may be a bit turned off by it, “the people who do get it” understand the inside joke thoroughly and will feel more authentically connected to a brand.  Evolve your brand without losing your core customers In addition to Mac Cosmetics, a few other companies hard at work evolving their brand to suit the needs of their long-time and new consumers alike are the apparel label French Connection and the intimates and loungewear brand Wacoal. Miryha Fantegrossi, senior VP of merchandising and design for Wacoal America, emphasised the importance of keeping up with modern consumer trends when developing products, while staying true to a brand’s essence.   Fantegrossi pointed to trends such as the opposing preference of different consumer groups for wired versus non-wired lingerie options. She also noted that the evolving trend of body positivity, shifting in the current era of retail, is once again changing the way consumers approach themselves and the undergarments they wear under these ensembles.  To deal with these shifts, Fantegrossi stressed it is vital that brands continue to focus on research and development to provide the ultimate product possible. “Many people in the room are probably thinking, ‘Well, what can you do with a bra and a panty?’,” Fantegrossi commented. While the design of these products may look similar from one year to the next, the materials used help the team “deliver a product [to the consumer] in a new way”… “Most of the time it might hang there [on the rack] and look sort of similar, but when you put it on, the wearing experience is very different,” the Wacoal executive explained.  Carolyn Glynos, president of French Connection’s US operations, noted the importance of making sure to distinguish a brand’s collection and messaging for its audience.  Glynos admitted that the brand, initially based in the US, had relied for too long on serving similar products to both its UK and US consumer bases, which eventually stopped working.  While there were enough products “to work with over the last decade,” Glynos acknowledged that “the age gap between our customers increasingly widened, and we found ourselves about a year ago with a collection that was not at all usable for the American market.” Over the past year, the brand has established a design team in New York to specifically focus on serving the American customer and has taken steps to differentiate between its core audience bases in the US and UK, while updating brand messaging and products to fit the interests of consumers across several generations. Redefine brand partnerships with modern, strategic approaches Last, but certainly not least, Julee Wilson, the beauty editor-at-large for Cosmopolitan, spoke with Lori Singer, president of Parlux.  Singer explained that Parlux, a legacy perfume producer and distributor known for creating perfumes with fashion brands like Steve Madden and Jason Wu and with celebrities like Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton, Drake, and, more recently, Billie Eilish, is very strategic in its approach to partnerships.  “We really are very selective of who we choose to partner with,” Singer emphasised. “We say no more than we say yes.” The Parlux president added that it is important for the company and the celebrity partnering with them to be on the same page with mutual business goals and to understand one another creatively.  “We take our job as brand stewards very seriously as it is our job to create, build and protect this brand and its image,” Singer added.  She pointed to one of the brand’s ongoing partnerships with the singer Billie Eilish, who has successfully launched three brands with Parlux since first partnering with it in 2021.  She explained that Eilish was a true connoisseur of fragrance, having seen the singer’s collection of over 100 perfume bottles on her vanity and how closely she tied her memories in with specific scents.  In addition to Eilish’s celebrity status, Singer explained that the brand was able to successfully establish a partnership thanks to a genuine, shared appreciation of the product and Eilish’s commitment to showcasing the brand with her community.  For brands wanting to build a successful partnership, Singer stated that “it all starts with alignment”. “You really have to think about who the partner is and what both of your goals are, and make sure that you’re really on the same page… For us, it’s about a long-term mindset.” While some brands can establish a profitable partnership that lasts a few years, the truly great retail relationships are built on in-depth conversations between a brand and its partner, which in turn makes the product feel more genuine to the consumer.