The one thing beauty brands can learn from the man who made Crocs and Stanley cups viral

Terence Reilly has a consistent theme he credits to his success

You’ve probably never heard of Terence Reilly, but I can guarantee that for a lot of us (myself included), he’s had more of an impact on your wardrobe than any fashion influencer or editor.

You see, Terence isn’t just the man responsible for making the Internet go wild over a water bottle. He’s also the one that got us wearing footwear we previously wouldn’t have been seen dead in.

The current Global President of Stanley and the former Chief Marketing Officer of Crocs, Terence has a unique track record of reviving legacy brands. Not just to their former glory, but to new, viral heights.

His marketing approach was responsible for the resurgence of Crocs and after joining Stanley in 2020, he turned their annual sales from $70 million to $750 million.

Yes, Terence is the reason women are stampeding Target for pink sippy cups and if I lived in the US, I’d be joining them.

As a huge fan and repeat buyer of both brands, I find Terence fascinating.

After reading articles about him, I’ve noticed there is a consistent theme that he credits to his success, one which I feel beauty brands are missing.

That is, brand loyalty.

Celebrity collaborations were a key part of Croc’s rebirth, both in terms of sales and capturing a new market. But rather than finding a new “face”, the idea began organically for Terence.

"Post Malone loved Crocs before he was ever paid to create Crocs," he admitted in an interview with Inc. “That kind of authenticity is key for brand messengers, and is what consumers respond to.”

With Stanley, he found that same organic product placement (with one blog in particular) helped get their cups into the hands of celebrities.

His lesson is, that in order to increase consumer demand, you need to start organically with people who use your product in the first place.

This is where I feel beauty brands have lost it.

Back when I was first getting into makeup, all I wanted to be was a MAC girl, with a makeup bag full of black compacts.

Then came the Glossier girls and again, like many of you, I was collecting the stickers and buying all the merch.

These beauty tribes were huge. But, an overly saturated market and a focus on viral products, rather than brand stories, has resulted in a lack of loyalty.

When once upon a time you might have dreamt of owning an entire dressing table of Benefit, your routine is now a mix and match of various, easily replaceable products.

Even for me, as a beauty editor behind the scenes, I no longer feel I have any brand loyalty.

This thought first came to me on a press trip with Vieve, when Jamie Genevieve (founder) asked me what brands I was loving at the minute.

I struggled to think. I could list brands like elf and NYX for their innovative products and price points, but I couldn’t think of a single brand I felt aligned with. A brand I felt appreciated me, as much as I appreciated them.

In fact, post trip, I realised that actually, Vieve is one of the brands on the way to filling that gap for me.

From my, behind the scenes, vantage. It feels like all brands, regardless of their demographic are obsessed with youth. To the point where, if I see one more campaign image shot with a fish eye lens, I might actually scream.

Now, a huge part of Big T’s success with Stanley, was capturing a new market: Women. However, that was done, whilst still focusing on the brand’s heritage and story.

Stanley are very much still a respected camping brand, they just now come in pink.

Whereas with some beauty brands, they almost seem embarrassed of their core customer.

Tell me why, regardless of whether it’s a French heritage, high street skincare or mass makeup brand. I see the same group of influencers in every campaign and on every press trip.

When I see their content, I simply don’t believe they’d be using the brand if they weren’t flying business on someone else’s dime.

As someone that straddles the press and influencer divide, it feels like press interest has dropped to an all time low.

Unless you work for Vogue or a Sunday supplement, of course. Declining sales don’t apply to them.

It’s not like I think brands should be taking out full page ads in print magazines no one buys anymore, but their underestimation of digital journalism is a little insulting.

Google ‘best foundation’ and you will be met with a host of articles from every publisher, all vowing for that coveted number one spot.

These evergreen articles can get thousands of views every single day, so you’d think brands would be clambering to be featured.

Technically, it’s not that they aren’t. Rather the approach by some PRs is just to blanket email and ask for their product - which you’ve probably never tried before or else it would be in there - gets added.

I couldn’t define the job role of a PR anymore. They have so many added responsibilities, that things like this are probably way down the priority list, but I miss the care that used to be involved.

How differently I would feel, if a brand posted me their foundation with a note, explaining that they’d seen the gallery, and wanted me to try their product, to see if it would be a good fit. That kind of relationship building doesn’t just have to happen at a coffee meeting.

There is also an irony I notice when I watch some influencers (especially the American ones), do their massive PR unboxings. In contrast, I recently emailed one brand asking to try their primer.

I hate calling in products and never want to mislead anyone, so when they replied and asked what feature it was for, I explained there wasn’t one planned, but if I liked it, it would be sure to pop up again.

I didn’t get a reply. To which I thought, fair enough. However, imagine my annoyance when a few weeks later I see a fashion editor post an entire box of samples from the same brand, thanking them for the surprise.

All I can assume is, they don’t align me with their brand. But what about my readers?

Despite being such a saturated market, I don’t think brand loyalty with influencers and editors needs to be bought with lavish trips.

When I posted my empties, some brands would notice and send me a replacement of the product I finished. It was a small gesture, but a kind one. It also kept me loyal to the brand and the product.

It can also be an email to thank you for the coverage. In fact I’m sure a lot of influencers out there starting out, would be buzzing to be acknowledged by their favourite brands in as simple a way as that.

One agency who I do think are killing it right now is Pure. Earlier in the year they asked to meet with me to show me their upcoming launches for elf because they knew I was a fan of the brand.

I was so appreciate for that early access, because it gave me time to properly review the product ahead of launch date. They also - and this is not something I ever expect - sent me a cookie to congratulate me on hitting 100k followers on TikTok.

I realise this must sound privileged to those of you outside of the industry, who spend their hard earned money on these products.

I do still buy a lot of makeup, in fact, one of my favourite brands - Make Up For Ever - I’ve never received a single item of PR. I’ve also just opened my order from SKKN by Kim and before you say it, no, I didn’t need another lip liner.

But, as journalists, we want to give you a thorough review. We don’t want to just tell you something is “amazing” and we can’t do that without sampling.

I totally appreciate why brands want the reach of these larger influencers and why they need to appeal to new audiences, like Terence’s Stanley cups.

But, in a time where anyone can be an influencer (this is a separate Substack in itself) and mistrust is higher than ever. Aligning your brand story with a community that reflect your values, has never been more important.

I’ve said it before, but if you take a look at Glossier’s Sub Reddit, their community, which was so carefully curated, has been neglected to the point that it’s full of fallen fans.

If I worked for Glossier I would be in that forum. I’d explain why we had to reformulate their favourite lip balm and use this invested community as a trialling pool for future launches.

Don’t forget them. These are your people. This is your brand story and these are the customers buying your products.

All I’m asking is that you don’t forget Big T’s advice, when you’re chasing the new, shiny, young things.