Unless you’ve been on some remote vacation - then you’ve heard the news about Hailey Bieber selling her skincare brand Rhode.
e.l.f. announced the acquisition on May 28th, and it’s crazy to imagine that a brand valued at 9 billion, that sells over 300 different products (all mostly under the $9 mark), just bought Rhode who only sells 10 products all above the $27 dollar mark, for 1 billion.
But e.l.f. didn’t buy Rhode for the inventory - they bought Rhode for its audience, the one Hailey only spent 3 years building into an absolute gold mine.
And that’s what we want to unpack - the audience of it all. But first, let’s take a step back and see how Rhode got to this point.
It’s weird to even use the word “history” because there isn’t much - like we said the brand is only three years old.
Rhode was founded in 2022 by Hailey, who partnered with Michael Ratner. Both had previously worked on Justin Bieber's documentary “Seasons” and knew they wanted to work with each other again in the future.
That wish came to fruition in June 2022, when Rhode first launched - selling only three products (Peptide Glazing Fluid, Barrier Restore Cream, and Peptide Lip Treatment). Their mission was simple - offer minimalistic, effective and affordable skincare essentials.
They hit $10 million in sales in the first 11 days.
Since the get go Hailey has always said that Rhode is such a good product that it could stand on its own, even without her - and while we don’t dismiss that, there's no denying that she’s been the force behind the success of the brand and her marketing strategy is one to be studied.
What does Hailey do differently? Well for starters, she built a TikTok audience of over 15.7 million (in comparison the brand e.l.f. only has 3.4 million) and she actually used this audience to her advantage.
If we look at her cross channel impact, it’s not just TikTok - she's also massive on Instagram and YouTube, plus people are searching her on Google and Youtube by the millions - so even if you aren’t a follower, you’ve probably looked her up. This means that she’s able to get products in front of Gen Z, Millennials, and Boomers alike.
Her strategy on social is unique. Unlike a lot of other influencers she didn’t use it for shopping hauls, “what I eat in a day” videos or paid posts. Instead she used it to show people how to use Rhode products, tease what was coming next, and build real anticipation. You might find the odd troll in her comments (usually a Selena fan) but that just helps with her engagement scores.
She doesn’t just ride the current TikTok trends, SHE starts them. The now-iconic “glazed donut skin” look? That was her idea. Same with Latte and Strawberry girl makeup.
And of course these looks could have been created with any other makeup products but people don’t care – they want the product Hailey Bieber used.
Hailey also played it smart by not flooding her social channels. Her posts were rare, but always coveted, and always had a high-engagement because of it. Every teaser and every glimpse of a new product, was treated like an exclusive drop.
And those product drops? Always limited, and always sold out. This was another strategy of Rhode’s: they leaned into scarcity marketing hard. They’ve always believed in tight product lines and minimal launches, and thousands of people signed up on those waitlists because of it.
Now the product line is set to be sold in Sephora, but before the acquisition, Rhode was only available for purchase through the Rhode website - which is a branding work of art.
It's simple, aesthetic, and totally aligned with Hailey’s “clean girl” aesthetic. And the packaging? Understated and extremely photogenic. It truly feels like the “it girl” brand, and that’s what it became.
When it came to brand partnerships, Haliey was picky but when she did collab, it was always the perfect brand fit - like her collabs with Erewhon (when they made a smoothie after her that went viral) or even Krispy Kreme who jumped on the glazed donut trend.
But, as we know in the beauty products realm, no matter how good your marketing, it can only get you so far. If your product sucks people are going to post about it and you won’t get repeat customers. But in Rhode’s case, luckily, the products also delivered.
Rhode invested in quality ingredients but kept prices lower than most luxury skincare competitors. Their balance of elevated but accessible made it irresistible to a Gen Z and millennial audience already obsessed with Hailey Bieber. Her website has the thousands of 4.5 stars reviews to prove it.
So, Hailey can say that Rhodes products are good enough to stand on their own, but there is no denying that she was its best marketing machine. And this is why e.l.f. is keeping Hailey on as Chief Creative Officer and strategic advisor post-acquisition.
Her audience is not going anywhere.
Let’s meet the audience responsible for Rhodes' success. These are Rhodes biggest supporters.
The audience breaks out into five main customer segments:
This segment of women age 24-34 live in London, Chicago, and Paris. They love skincare, but it’s more than that – they love products that are aesthetically aligned with the “clean girl” look they strive for. That’s why they love Rhode’s branding.
They are the type to build mood boards and curate their life to match. They are also big into archival-style fashion accounts like @hadidfiles and @archivekend that feature looks from the 2000s, that’s what inspires their day-to-day fashion choices.
This group is skincare-obsessed and beauty-loyal. They are in that 25-34 range, living in London, Boston, and NYC. The Glow-Getters are first to try new products, post about their experience, and drive product virality. They’re Rhode’s ideal audience for tutorials, and GRWM (get ready with me) content. They already have a high affinity for e.l.f. (showing there is so much brand synergy between the two brands already), and you will find them vising Sephora, and Ulta Beauty on the regular, purchasing Rare Beauty, Fenty, and of course Rhode.
This is Bieber’s OG fanbase. This segment is made up of women between the ages of 25-34 who grew up listening to Justin – they were his early fans. They are emotionally invested in the brand, follow all of Justin and Hailey’s accounts including their fan accounts, and are hyper-engaged.
Although their connection is more artist-driven than product-driven, they show up for anything Justin touches (including Rhode by extension) and are loyal customers. Even if the product had terrible reviews, they would still buy – this is why it is so important that e.l.f. is keeping Hailey on as Chief Creative Officer, because if she left, they would too.
This group is deeply embedded in online fandom. This audience skews heavily 18-34, and this is the Gen Z engine of Rhode’s brand hype. They are the ones who turn product drops into viral moments and memes.
They're not tied to one celebrity though, they’re fluent in the full digital ecosystem of pop culture, K-pop, TikTok creators, and buzz worthy moments.
They follow everyone from Hailey Bieber and Kylie Jenner to Demi Lovato, and Joe Jonas.
This group is Rhodes goldmine. They nearly all follow @SkinByRhode, and heavily engage with Hailey’s update pages. They’re not just fans of Hailey though, they fully identify with Rhode’s values and aesthetic.
They’re fans first and customers second.
e.l.f.’s main audience demographic is women aged 25-34, who are young married mothers. They shop for things on the cheaper, more discounted scale, but they do have an affinity towards luxury watches and clothing. This acquisition of Rhode’s audience brings an even younger, “cooler” demographic (specifically a new Gen Z segment aka “The Multi-Fandom Lifers”) that spend way more time online and spend way more money on their beauty & skin products.
What’s interesting is that e.l.f’s audience has a high affinity for Skincare, which was barely a part of e.l.f.s product line, until now.
The challenge e.l.f. Will face is that they can’t e.l.f.-ify Rhode. Meaning Rhode isn’t mass product lines - it’s minimal, curated, and intimate. To win they’ve got to keep the tight product line, and let Hailey lead with storytelling, not scale.
e.l.f. didn’t just acquire Rhode, they acquired a fan club, an aesthetic, and a Gen Z brand-building machine. If they protect its cultural equity and use it to learn, Rhode could be e.l.f.'s gateway into becoming a multi-brand beauty powerhouse.
So why did e.l.f. buy Rhode now (apart from the obvious fact that it’s an incredible brand)?
It actually was a tariff play.
e.l.f.’s whole strategy is its price point, the majority of their products are $9 or less and their customers expect that. To be able to maintain this price point their products need to be manufactured in China, but the tariffs counteract this pricing strategy.
So e.l.f. needed to be able to diversity & acquiring Rhode allowed them to do this.
So what’s next for Hailey? Hopefully no more weird Instagram posts by her husband Justin (please!).
In fact, Hailey is already onto building her next billion dollar brand - SKYLRK, in partnership with Justin - so really NO MORE WEIRD INSTAGRAM POSTS, at least until Hailey gets this one to one billion too.
SKYLRK is a streetwear and footwear brand that aims to combine fashion and comfort, and puts an emphasis on futuristic pieces.
They’ve already amassed a huge audience, and this is what their audience looks like:
Not so different than Rhode, it is filled with Bieber fans that likely would buy from the brand regardless of what it sold, so we expect to see some overlap between the Rhode and SKYLRK audiences.
And we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves but if SKYLRK can show the same revenue growth that Rhode did in its first three years then they will be headed for an acquisition too. Based on their audience synergies – Nike, Addidas, Puma, and Kith should all keep an eye on this up and coming brand.
The sale of Rhode has taught us three things:
So to the CPGbrands looking to diversify their portfolio, look no further than creator led brands like this one. And to the general public - Hailey is a force to be reckoned with and a far cry from the gold digger wife the tabloids like to portray her as.
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