Last year, Ulta Beauty became one of 28 brands to formally take the Fifteen Percent Pledge, vowing to dedicate at least 15% of shelf space to Black-owned brands. It did so just months after investing $25 million in DE&I efforts in February of last year, with $4 million earmarked for marketing Black-owned brands.
“It was the first time that we really said, ‘Let us now be that much more intentional about galvanizing all of our work,’ and putting it, to be honest, out in front so that we can also hold ourselves—and others can hold us—accountable,” Karla Davis, Ulta’s VP of marketing, told Marketing Brew.
According to new data from Morning Consult, more than half of Black adults surveyed said they would be more interested in a company if it took the Fifteen Percent Pledge. Even more—72%—said they believe it’s important for brands they support to sell products created by Black- and minority-owned businesses.
Ulta must have heard them, because this year, the company is doubling its DE&I commitment to $50 million, with more than half going to marketing and media, and the rest going to charitable donations, employee training programs, internal programming, and more.
See and be seen
According to Davis, one of the key goals of this year’s initiative is to amplify underrepresented voices. “This was really about how we’re putting investment dollars into both the media and who we’re putting the media behind,” she said.
- This includes about $25 million of media spend toward multicultural platforms, 10% of which will go toward Black- and Latinx-owned media outlets, like xoNecole.
- The company is also putting $8.5 million towards marketing Black-owned, Black-founded, and Black-led brands. Davis said the money will be spread across channels, from programmatic ads to media partnerships to content marketing.
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One brand that Ulta customers are excited about? Fenty Beauty, which is coming to Ulta stores next week and will also receive marketing support from Ulta. “We’re trying to make sure that we balance across both up-and-coming and established brands across the portfolio,” Davis said, adding that brands like Pattern by Tracee Ellis Ross, Flora & Curl, and Melanin Haircare will be featured as part of Ulta’s marketing push.
A new undertaking Davis is particularly excited about is its brand-partner accelerator program, which will provide resources and mentorship to BIPOC brand owners. She also highlighted a $5 million commitment to New Voices, a VC firm, which will go toward founders of color. “I feel like it’s putting the dollars really at the base of the community in a way that will absolutely propel their businesses in meaningful ways,” she said.
All in all, she said, the goal of the $50 million commitment is as much about generational wealth-building for BlPOC business owners as it is for customers seeking a more representative selection and products made for them. “As the largest beauty retailer, we do believe that we have a responsibility to lead the way for others and for them to see that if we can figure it out, being big and complex and all the other things, ideally it gives them inspiration to figure it out for themselves as well.”