The Estée Lauder Companies initiates beauty innovation competition on TikTok

01 Jul 2024 --- The Estée Lauder Companies’ New Incubation Ventures (NIV) partners with TikTok to launch The Catalysts, an initiative to discover emerging beauty talent.

The program aims to find and nurture the next generation of beauty industry stars by providing marketing, financial support, and mentorship. #Beauty and #makeup have over 120 million combined posts on TikTok.

Aspiring beauty innovators
The Catalysts program invites aspiring innovators in the beauty industry to submit their ideas in the following categories — creative storytelling, makeup, skin care, body care, hair care and fragrance for the home. Using the hashtag #JointheCatalysts, participants must post a TikTok video outlining their vision for beauty and why they should win.

A panel of industry professionals, including Grace Choi and Mitchell Halliday, creators of beauty content on TikTok, Shana Randhava, Head of NIV and Vanessa Craft, global head of Content Partnerships for TikTok, will select the winners.

The winners will be revealed at a Parisian event in October and will receive mentorship, US$250,000 and TikTok ad credits.

Masterclass from experts
The program aims to offer participants all-encompassing assistance, including masterclasses on TikTok led by professionals. The sessions seek to guide beauty brand founders on various aspects of launching and scaling a beauty business.

Shana Randhava, SVP of New Incubation Ventures, The Estée Lauder Companies, says: “Today, founding a beauty brand takes more than traditional business acumen; it’s about crafting narratives, building communities and shaping not just trends but also broader conversations and movements.”

“Founders are storytellers, cultural ambassadors, filmmakers, designers, gamers, and artists. Their visions of beauty — expressed via product, retail experiences, films, content — continue to fuel growth in the beauty sector. We set out to create a program to identify and elevate these visionaries as they continue to drive innovation and push the conversation forward.”

Craft, global head of Partnerships at TikTok and The Catalysts judge, adds: “We’ve witnessed the evolution of beauty firsthand on TikTok, not just through how products are shared and discovered, but how they are experienced.”

“We’re proud to have created a space where everyone can explore the diversity and inclusivity of beauty — driven by our incredible community of creators and brands who enable enthusiasts to be a part of something and see how beauty products perform on people that look like them. We are delighted to be joining Estée Lauder on their journey to find and nurture the future pioneers of the beauty industry.”

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