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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.
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.
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.
“We also try to make room for things that we can plan, but we also make room and space for things that we can't plan.”
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.
“We developed a process internally that works for us… We aligned on it with our leadership team.”
“Too many [guardrails] and you miss the trend.”
3. Social content must be reactive — and provocative.
When their nude collection was leaked online, the team quickly responded by leaking it themselves.
“We decided to actually move up the tease of our launch, and we leaked our own nudes.”
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.
“Some people do not get it, but the people who do get it really, really do.”
5. Influence is choreographed, not accidental.
Virality was engineered through coordinated pushes across PR, creators, and internal teams.
“Once you post, there's a whole part after you post… We kind of clear [the team’s] schedule after launch, so that that is their job.”
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.
“It just goes to show you, you don't always have to have a new, shiny product to create something viral.”
🧠 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.
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.
“No matter where the order is coming from… it all seamlessly flows into Kase.”
→ 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.
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
“People told me I was crazy to talk about mental health in beauty. But it was part of our story, and Dr. Brandt was bold. So we had to be bold too.”
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.
“If you don’t teach the soul of the brand to new people, you lose yourself.”
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.
“Dr. Brandt always wanted to treat from the inside and the outside.”
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:
“Retailers don’t give you the data. Digital lets us understand who our customer is.”
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.
👉 Retail media is only half the story.
That’s where Fospha’s Halo comes in. As beauty brands like Dr. Brandt scale on Amazon and DTC, understanding how upper-funnel campaigns — on TikTok, Meta, and Snap — impact marketplace sales is critical. Halo quantifies the full-funnel effect of paid social, showing how what’s typically labelled ‘brand awareness’ is actually driving real conversions on Amazon.
Fospha’s data shows that 42% of Amazon sales are influenced by non-Amazon media — a wake-up call for brands still measuring in silos. With unified ROAS across DTC and marketplaces, Halo helps marketers reallocate budget with confidence — and finally prove the value of the platforms shaping consumer behaviour.
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.
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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
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