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From MAC leaking its own nudes to Hiyo fixing ops before the customer notices — the smartest plays from The Lead Summit are in. This weekend wrap-up is for anyone who wants the signal without the noise.

 💬 A Few More Things from the Stage

💄 MAC Cosmetics: Reposition your Brand at the Center of the Social Conversation (Case Study)

MAC restructured its entire social approach to move “more like an indie brand than a 48-year-old legacy brand.” The result? Major growth, deeper Gen Z engagement, and a return to cultural relevance.

Key Takeaways:

1. They threw out the product-first calendar.
MAC shifted from launch-focused content to a culture-first model. Their new calendar makes space for pop culture, niche internet moments, and last-minute pivots.

2. Speed beats polish — and trust is the enabler.
MAC built internal processes that let the team move fast — with aligned guardrails, not top-down approvals.

3. Social content must be reactive — and provocative.
When their nude collection was leaked online, the team quickly responded by leaking it themselves.

4. Target the audience you want, not just the one you have.
The team openly embraced bold, sometimes divisive campaigns — like positioning a new lip gloss as the "Nepo Baby" of an iconic 1997 product — to grow their Gen Z base.

5. Influence is choreographed, not accidental.
Virality was engineered through coordinated pushes across PR, creators, and internal teams.

6. The most viral content came from their values.
A Viva Glam campaign featuring trans voices generated 23 million views — without a new product launch.

🧠 And when your social strategy spans platforms, campaigns, and cultural waves — you need tools that tell you what’s actually working.
That’s where Fospha comes in. By connecting top-of-funnel brand-building moments to real revenue outcomes across DTC, retail, and marketplaces, Fospha helps marketing teams double down on what’s resonating — not just what’s trending.

🚚 How Hiyo Cut Fulfilment Costs by 25% and Scaled Nationwide Without Losing Control

Selling beverage DTC is notoriously difficult — it’s expensive, damage-prone, and operationally messy. But functional tonic brand Hiyo didn’t just make it work. They scaled it.

Here’s how.

1. Simplify at the SKU level

Hiyo started by addressing a surprisingly costly issue: box complexity.

• Previously, a 12-pack order meant shipping 3x 4-packs, requiring extra picks and leading to poor dimensional pricing.

• By designing a single, optimized 12-pack shipper box, they reduced pick time and improved carton integrity — drastically lowering damages.

2. Get closer to the customer

With support from Kase, Hiyo transitioned from a single warehouse to a multi-node fulfilment network. That had two major effects:

• Transit time dropped from 4–5 days to just 2

• They now reach 90% of U.S. households within two days

This wasn’t just about speed. It brought over 25% cost reduction in fulfilment and freight — a game changer for a low-margin CPG brand.

3. One backend to rule them all

DTC, Amazon, wholesale, EDI partners — orders now flow into a single platform.

→ Fospha helps brands go even further — measuring performance across channels to ensure marketing spend aligns with true revenue drivers.

This unified view enabled faster decision-making, reduced manual ops, and smarter inventory distribution.

5. Fix the problem before the customer notices

Proactive exception reporting gives the Hiyo team early warnings when shipments go off track. That lets them reach out with a fix — before the support ticket lands.

🧬 Dr. Brandt Skincare: How to Build Brand Resilience That Actually Lasts

This was about staying power — and what it really takes to grow a beauty brand through grief, transformation, and shifting consumer expectations. CEO Stéphane Colleu shared the story of how Dr. Brandt Skincare rebuilt from personal tragedy and emerged as a modern, science-first skincare brand built for the next decade.

1. Legacy doesn’t survive without structure

After the passing of founder Dr. Fredric Brandt in 2015, Stéphane made two critical decisions:

• He bought the business to preserve jobs and the brand’s soul

• He created the Dr. Brandt Foundation, focusing on mental health — a bold move at the time in the beauty industry

2. Soul = Strategy

The company aligned around one key idea: don’t just protect the brand story — operationalize it.

That meant building systems to ensure every new hire understands the founder’s values: science-led, bold, curious, and human.

3. Innovation under pressure

Retail-driven growth (especially with Sephora) demanded constant reinvention.
Market Weeks every quarter forced the team to present innovation — or lose shelf space. This pressure helped forge a culture of creative urgency and long-term product discipline.

4. Rebrand during a crisis

While others paused, Stéphane led a full rebrand during COVID — new packaging, new product design, and a clear positioning: Integrative Dermatology.

The idea? Skincare that blends clinical science with mental and physical wellbeing — developed in collaboration with the University of Miami.

5. Distribution is shifting — and digital is non-negotiable

Dr. Brandt Skincare doubled its digital business in the past three years by prioritizing owned channels and Amazon. Retail still matters (Ulta, Neiman Marcus), but:

They’re also expanding into med spas for loyalty and visibility, and maintaining a US-based supply chain to ensure traceability across 1,700+ vetted ingredients.

6. The next 3 years?

Hyper-personalization is on the roadmap. The brand is investing in tech to help dermatologists understand patients not just by skin condition — but by stress, sleep, and lifestyle factors — with the goal of enabling smarter, more effective product prescriptions.

👀 What Others Are Saying

Missed a recap or just catching up? More takeaways are coming your way — and who knows, maybe we’ll see you at the next big one!

The Unofficially Lead Summit Team

ClickZ is a ClickZ Media publication in the Events division