Cosnova Beauty sets its sights on growth in 2024
Cosnova Beauty, a German-based beauty conglomerate that is parent of viral brands essence Makeup and Catrice Cosmetics, has seen its sales double in three years.
In 2023, Cosnova reported net sales of 817 million Euros, and with its continued growth across beauty and personal care, the company is setting its sights on joining the top 5 global industry leaders.
DSN spoke to Cosnova founder Christina Oster-Daum and Jill Krakowski, chief marketing officer, USA, about the company’s growth over the last year, what's ahead and how social media has played a key role in the popularity of its brands.
“Cosnova has been on an exciting trajectory. We’ve not only increased our market share across all global regions, including both brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce platforms, but we’ve also broadened our retail presence,” noted founder Christina Oster-Daum. “Essence, one of our flagship brands, expanded its partnership with Ulta Beauty, gaining access to a wider audience. We successfully entered more than 300 Target stores. Additionally, Amazon remained our most important e-commerce channel.”
Over the past year, the company completed one of the largest sales years in its 23-year history—reaching $894 million and globally its net sales increased by 32%.
[Read more: Target, locked]
“We experienced significant organic growth in North America, where our sales surged by 23%,” said Krakowski. “In the U.S., we significantly expanded our market position. Our organic growth was an impressive 29%, demonstrating the strong demand for our brands.”
One big reason for the significant growth could be attributed to its willingness to listen to consumer feedback and also ensure that products within the core brands—essence and Catrice—are affordable.
“We regularly seek contact with our consumers to ensure that we develop products or solutions that they need or wish for. At Cosnova, staying in tune with our consumers' voices e.g. through social listening is at the heart of our operation,” said Oster-Daum. “We're not just talking to them; we're an active part of their communities, from gaming to cosplay, ensuring we hear and understand their true desires.”
Listening and connecting to consumers led Cosnova to take a different marketing approach that has not included large-scale advertising. Instead, turning to social media and content creators to help put products in front of Gen-Z and millennial shoppers.
“Our users are keen to discover which brands and products resonate with their favorite influencers and why. They increasingly rely on influencers to navigate the ever-evolving ‘beauty world’. When it comes to boosting visibility and sales, we’ve had great success with influencer campaigns and creating viral moment,” said Krakowksi.
Essence more specifically has become a social media darling of sorts. The brand is popular among influencers across TikTok and part of the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt trend across the platform.
“TikTok, with its short-form videos, has allowed us to showcase our products in fun and relatable ways, while YouTube has provided a platform for in-depth tutorials and reviews,” said Krakowski. “In the U.S., we’re adopting a multi-pronged approach. Firstly, we’ll focus on Snapchat to engage with Gen Alpha. Secondly, we recognize the immense influence of TikTok among Gen Z, so we’ll continue to invest in that space.”
Included in this ever-evolving social media strategy is the company continuing to help strengthen Catrice’s popularity across social media platforms by working with influencers and such social commerce channels as Flip and TikTok Shop. In addition, cosnova also working in the gaming space—specifically with Roblox where the company debuted the “Fun Park” game with essence.
“Through interactive gameplay, we engage with Gen Z, showcasing our brand's personality and expanding our customer base. It's not just about cosmetics; it's about fostering a lifestyle,” said Krakowski. “In 2022, we made waves with essence's first Twitch campaign, featuring the renowned gamer Emiru. Twitch provided an immersive platform, allowing us to connect beyond traditional marketing.”
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Given its willingness and success to reach consumers diversely, it should come as no surprise for plans to continue to broaden its reach to an even larger global market as the year progresses.
“We’re committed to further developing markets in Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. We see substantial potential for our brands in these diverse and vibrant markets,” said Krakowski.
Expanding its reach and current product family is also in the works for 2024, seeing as the company recently launched essence’s popular Lash Princess mascara in a viral brown shade alongside a Mascara Primer.
There are also plans for a global campaign around the brand’s Call Me Queen Mascara, a lip oil collection and Catrice also will be debuting a limited-edition collection of cosmetics inspired by DC Comic characters the Joker and Harley Quinn in anticipation of the release of the film, “Joker: Folie á Deux.”
“We’re passionate about our communities. Whether it’s gaming, street culture, cosplay or music, we’re actively advancing our presence. These spaces resonate with our audience, fostering authentic connections,” said Oster-Daum.
