Sephora connects TikTok creators to beauty brands

Sephora is launching a new partnership designed to boost awareness of its brand partners on the popular TikTok short video platform.

The beauty giant, a subsidiary of global retail conglomerate LVMH, is teaming up with TikTok and digital marketing agency Digitas to roll out the Sephora x TikTok Incubator Program. This initiative will connect TikTok creators to select beauty brands with the goal of helping them learn social content strategies through a series of educational training modules.

TikTok beauty influencers including Amy Chang, Rocio Lopez-Jimenez and Nyma will provide instruction. The first three brands to participate will be Topicals, Eadem, and Hyper Skin. Three additional groups of three beauty brands each will follow, giving a total of 12 brands the opportunity to partner with beauty influencers on TikTok, which has over one billion monthly active users.

"The future of brand storytelling lies in the hands of multicultural creators, and by championing diverse creators, brands can unlock their full potential on TikTok," said Soniya Monga, head of U.S. agency partnerships, TikTok. "Our partnership with Sephora and Digitas aims to educate brands on the importance of a DEI-first approach to creator partnerships. Together, we are building a framework that celebrates diversity and intersectionality, ensuring that every brand can accelerate their growth and success on TikTok through inclusive and impactful storytelling."

"Brands that have a savvy understanding of creator-led social media and creator relations have a clear advantage in not only conceptualizing beauty content that resonates with their audience, but also in building genuine connections,” said Brent Mitchell, VP of marketing, social and influencer at Sephora. "At Sephora, we have long been known as a brand builder in the prestige beauty landscape, and we are thrilled to partner with TikTok to share this unique creator-driven perspective with our brands and build a more inclusive beauty community."

Congress introduces bipartisan legislation to ban TikTok in U.S.

Even as retailers like Sephora continue partnering with TikTok, governmental efforts to halt the use of TikTok in the U.S. are gaining serious momentum. The bipartisan “Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act (ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act)” would block and prohibit all transactions from any social media company in, or under the influence of, China, Russia, and several other foreign countries of concern.

However, the legislation’s sponsors have publicly stated that its main target is TikTok, which is owned by a China-based company, Byte Dance, whose critics accuse it of having ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Read more about the act here.

Sephora operates more than 600 stores across the Americas, and also offers 600 Sephora at Kohl’s store-within-a-store locations nationwide, with 850 locations planned by 2023.