Power Digital Marketing

Target’s “post-Ulta era” is definitely an interesting development in beauty retail right now. When Target and Ulta announced they were ending their partnership, the obvious question was: What happens to Target’s beauty business? Target is making a pretty significant bet on beauty as a standalone growth driver: expanding its prestige assortment, bringing in dozens of new brands, redesigning the in-store experience, and launching Beauty Studio across 600+ stores with a more elevated, service-led model. And the timing is telling... Beauty is one of the categories currently contributing to Target’s broader growth momentum, while the retailer is simultaneously investing heavily in stores, digital discovery and merchandising. This is bigger than a retail assortment expansion... it's a bet on the future of beauty discovery. Target has an interesting advantage here: scale + accessibility + physical stores + digital reach + an enormous existing customer base. The opportunity is to turn that combination into a differentiated beauty ecosystem rather than simply recreating the specialty beauty retailer model. If Target can successfully become a place where consumers discover emerging beauty brands, not just replenish staples, that creates a very different growth opportunity for CPG and beauty brands!

Brands should be paying close attention to how consumer discovery is evolving. 👀 For years, one of the most valuable moments in the customer journey has been the non-brand Google search: “Best vitamin C serum for sensitive skin” “Clean deodorant that actually works” “How do I layer retinol with niacinamide?” Today, more of those questions are being asked in AI tools like ChatGPT... and the biggest shift isn’t just where consumers are searching. It’s how they’re searching. Instead of scrolling through pages of links, consumers are having conversations, asking follow-up questions, sharing their budget, skin type, concerns, and preferences before receiving tailored recommendations. For many brands, this creates both an opportunity and a challenge. The opportunity: • Reach consumers during high intent research moments. • Become part of personalized product recommendations. • Build trust through education, not just promotion. The challenge: • Discovery is becoming more conversational than keyword driven. • Measurement and attribution are still evolving. • Brands will need to think beyond SEO and optimize for AI discoverability. Google Search isn’t going away anytime soon, but AI-native discovery is quickly becoming another touchpoint in the purchase journey. If you haven't already invested in understanding how consumers research through AI and how your products show up in those conversations... what are you waiting for?

Affiliate isn't going away. It's evolving! Especially in beauty. 💅 Traditional affiliate partnerships still play an important role in driving efficient revenue... but more brands are expanding beyond the legacy model and investing in creator-first platforms like ShopMy and LTK, where product discovery, recommendations, and commerce are becoming increasingly intertwined. Consumers aren't just clicking coupon sites anymore. They're discovering products through trusted creators who are sharing curated routines, favorites, and recommendations in a way that feels authentic. For beauty brands especially, this means affiliate is becoming much more integrated with influencer, creator partnerships, PR, and social commerce. It's no longer just a channel to manage. It requires relationship building, creator recruitment, merchandising, reporting, and an understanding of what actually motivates creators to recommend products. Have you seen this shift within your brand or with your clients? Are ShopMy and LTK becoming a bigger part of your growth strategy, or are you still seeing most affiliate revenue come through more traditional programs?

Beauty brands spent the last decade optimizing for Google... now it's all about optimizing for ChatGPT. Consumer discovery is changing faster than most brands are prepared for: • Gen Z searches TikTok before Google • Reddit threads are influencing purchase decisions more than brand websites • AI tools are summarizing products with purchase recommendations • Consumers are increasingly asking ChatGPT what skincare, makeup, supplements, or wellness products they should buy The question is no longer “How do we rank #1 on Google?”... it’s becoming “How do we become the top recommendation?”. That changes everything for marketers. A strong SEO foundation is still important but alone won’t be enough. Brands now need: • Strong creator ecosystems • Community validation • Retail credibility • Reviews and UGC that AI can reference • Content built for discoverability across AI + social search The brands that win will show up everywhere consumers are learning, searching, and asking questions.

When we run an MMM or an incrementality test, we get an iROAS or CAC. Most people think that number is just about spend efficiency. It’s not. That output is a function of three things: 1. Creative & Messaging Quality You can spend the “perfect” amount but if the creative is bad, it won’t work. I’ve seen brands declare a channel dead when the real issue was terrible creative. 2. Tactical Execution You can have great creative and the right budget, and still ruin performance by optimizing incorrectly. 3. Budget Level Even with great creative and execution, underfunding or overfunding a channel changes the outcome. For example: Your model says Meta top-of-funnel is driving a 5:1 incremental return. In-platform shows 0.5x ROAS. I’ve seen teams respond by raising their in-platform ROAS targets to 3-5x. That chokes delivery, kills impressions and destroys reach. Top-of-funnel isn’t supposed to optimize like brand search. Instead, lean into what was happening when the platform showed 0.5x, because that’s what produced the 5:1 incremental result. Media performance isn’t one lever. It’s creative × tactics × spend. Models surface the signal, but experience determines the action. In 2026, interpretation and execution matter more than the math itself.

Big move in beauty commerce: Ulta Beauty is launching on TikTok Shop. Ulta will soon allow shoppers to purchase products directly within TikTok while engaging with beauty content and creators - making it the first specialty beauty retailer in the U.S. to partner with the platform’s native commerce experience. A few things this unlocks: • Content → Commerce in seconds: Discovery, education, and checkout happen in the same scroll. • Creator-driven retail: Creators increasingly act as the storefront, not just the top of funnel awareness drivers. • Retailers entering the social commerce ecosystem: For years TikTok Shop was dominated by DTC brands. Retailers stepping in changes the game. Beauty has always been one of the most TikTok native categories. The platform drives trends, tutorials, and viral product demand... and now it’s also closing the purchase loop. Curious to see how Ulta activates this with their brand partners and creator ecosystem!