SheaMoisture is inspiring the next generation of Black leaders
29 October 2021 | By: Matt Miller, Sr. Copywriter
Since their founding in 1991, SheaMoisture has worked to support Black leaders. The brand is, after all, the legacy of Sofi Tucker, a mother of four and entrepreneur who sold homemade hair and skin products in Sierra Leone, which influenced beauty products throughout Africa in the early 1900s. Today, the brand continues with this mission to inspire Black women through product and purpose, led by Cara Sabin, one of few Black CEOs in the beauty industry. Throughout her 25-year career in marketing, Sabin found inspiration from her own grandmother (who put herself through college and became a published writer) and other Black leaders to overcome systemic biases within the industry. Now, Sabin is using her position at SheaMoisture to help inspire future Black leaders.
“Stay true to your vision, be resilient and surround yourself with a strong support network that challenges you to be the best version of yourself,” Sabin said as advice to those future Black leaders.
Amplifying Black voices
Sabin’s journey served as the driving force behind SheaMoisture’s Black History Month campaign. In October 2020, SheaMoisture approached Amazon Ads to help raise awareness for their brand story. Their vision was to connect SheaMoisture with customers and amplify Black voices. Together, they created a brand-specific landing page with a profile of Sabin where audiences could learn more about her, Black leaders and SheaMoisture’s mission.
“For SheaMoisture, serving our community is our primary focus and at the core of everything we do. The brand was built on the core belief that only commerce can bring true economic independence to our communities and empower women to break the cycles of poverty,” said Soumya Donkada, Head of e-commerce at SheaMoisture. “It’s not just a business model for us, but a serious and long-term commitment.”
Today’s consumers expect brands to make a positive impact on society and act on issues in their community. According to a new Environics Research and Amazon Ads report, 80% of consumers in the United States support brands that are good corporate citizens, and 55% are more likely to purchase an item from a brand that is willing to take a stand on social issues.1
“As an established brand in the Black community and personal care space, SheaMoisture is committed to creating opportunities for and providing support to Black entrepreneurs and community leaders through partnership and amplification,” Donkada said. “We have found success by always asking of ourselves ‘does this best serve our community?’ When starting from an authentic place, the community takes notice.”
The campaign was featured on Amazon’s Black History Month event page through February of 2021, which helped introduce SheaMoisture to a wider audience. SheaMoisture also used ad solutions to promote the brand and landing page, while increasing their reach through the Amazon DSP.
– Soumya Donkada, Head of E-commerce, SheaMoistureFor SheaMoisture, serving our community is our primary focus and at the core of everything we do. The brand was built on the core belief that only commerce can bring true economic independence to our communities and empower women to break the cycles of poverty.
Reaching a wider audience
The custom landing page saw more than 60,000 page views and drove nearly 5,000 clicks to the SheaMoisture landing page.2 The campaign also reached more than 18 million unique users through their display media strategy.3 Along with highlighting the brand mission, the campaign helped SheaMoisture new audiences discover their products – 63% of the overall purchases through this initiative were new-to-brand.4
“This campaign was an opportunity to showcase how SheaMoisture serves and inspires our community from a different angle. As a Black- and woman-led company, it was important to us to share Cara’s personal story as well as the brand’s dedication to empowering women,” Donkada said. “Whether it’s campaigns like this which brought visibility to Black-owned brands on Amazon, or investing directly with Black-owned media companies, advocating for and amplifying Black voices is part of SheaMoisture’s DNA. This campaign allowed us to connect with audiences on Amazon in a new way, and we’ll continue to build those connection points to empower, inspire and give back to our community.”
Beyond this campaign, SheaMoisture has worked to support their community through a $1 million COVID Relief Fund, partnering with smaller Black-owned businesses, and speaking out on social injustices.
And through it all, Sabin continues to empower future leaders to keep pushing that mission forward.
Sources
1 Environics, Social Values Global Consumer Themes, 2021
2-4 Advertiser-provided data, SheaMoisture, 2021