What Lush learned from three years of being mostly offline

The beauty brand known for bath bombs and body scrubs has scrubbed itself from the internet…for the most part.

It’s been more than three years since Lush announced it would no longer post to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Snapchat from its brand accounts as part of its “anti-social” policy, which it said was created in response to concerns over content moderation, addictive algorithms, and platforms’ data collection policies. In that time, the brand—which previously left social in 2019 before returning during the early days of the pandemic—has also ceased posting on X and has previously shared plans to cut spending on Google, Apple, and Microsoft. Its previously used accounts still stand as reminders of the brand’s anti-social stance.

Jack Constantine, chief digital officer of Lush, told us that “things have gotten worse” with social media platforms since Lush logged off. Case in point: Meta’s new content moderation policies, pro-Nazi hate speech proliferating on X, and continued concerns about third-party data usage.

“It’s more and more evident that the tech billionaires in charge don’t really care,” Constantine told Marketing Brew. “They just want to make sure that the platforms are making money.”

Still, Lush is not entirely offline—and its anti-social stance has a little wiggle room. As of now, the brand is still active on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, and it operates an affiliate marketing program, which Constantine said is part of the brand’s larger word-of-mouth marketing strategy. With that said, the focus has largely been on building up the brand’s owned channels, including its newsletter and shopping app.

With concerns about the future of social platforms at a fever pitch, Lush’s social media hiatus feels more prescient than ever. We spoke with Constantine about what the brand has learned from its time offline and what it takes to embrace anti-social marketing.

Signing out

Lush’s pullback from social in 2021 was met with some eyebrow-raising and eye-rolling, but in recent months, Constantine said he’s seen opinions around the brand’s stance on social media shift from confusion to understanding.

“It’s very clear now to people why we’re doing this, and I think that’s been such an interesting transition,” he said. “We were very early adopters in something that felt crazy [at the time], and now, social media feels crazy.”

There were real internal concerns about losing reach and access to social audiences, Constantine said, so Lush has invested in its own platforms. Its email newsletter has more than 500,000 subscribers, and its app has 1.75 million users, with around 60% of them opting to receive push notifications, Constantine said. To encourage customers to log in on the app, the brand offers a rewards membership with early access to products and points on purchases.

There are some challenges to leaving the biggest social platforms. At Lush, many of the brand’s 900 shops used to post content to unique, location-specific Instagram accounts and “really create their own personality,” he said.

Without the platform, Constantine said the brand is focused on finding ways for those shops to engage with customers on a local level. Lush is working to create a similar experience in the brand’s app, he said, and right now, users can build a profile, connect with the shop closest to them, and receive push notifications about what’s happening there. The brand is also trying to build out event schedules at its locations for more IRL engagement opportunities, he said.

Extremely offline?

Some observers have pushed back on Lush’s labeling its moves as “anti-social,” with some noting its continued presence on certain platforms and its Friends of Lush affiliate marketing program. Constantine said Lush remains on YouTube because it feels less like a social media platform and more like a TV channel. Similarly, he views LinkedIn (which is owned by Microsoft) differently than other platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Those assessments aren’t set in stone, however, and Constantine said Lush conducts regular reviews to assess whether to remain on certain platforms; YouTube, he said, is currently up for review.

Constantine also defended the brand’s affiliate marketing program, describing it as a modern-day version of word-of-mouth marketing, which he said has been central to Lush’s marketing since its early days in the ’90s when customers posted to online forums. He noted that Lush’s affiliate program also allows the brand to reward people who contribute to sales—even if it’s happening on platforms that the brand no longer has a presence on. Ultimately, he said, consumers can decide which channels they want to use.

“People will go and share a product on TikTok or on a channel,” he said. “We’re never going to stop them from doing that.”

While the brand has worked on paid posts with influencers in the past, Constantine said he doesn’t see the brand reviving that strategy, but would consider product collaborations or community engagement efforts involving creators in the future.

Any takers?

Three years ago, Constantine said the goal of leaving some of the big social platforms was to encourage other brands to follow suit. “What brands don’t understand is they are giving the platforms power by being on them,” he said. “If all the big players stop spending on ads and detach from social, you’d have a massively different environment.”

Despite sensing a shift in social media sentiment (including among the general public), and being hopeful that brands will think beyond existing platforms in the coming year, Constantine said he’s yet to receive inquiries from fellow brand marketers about how to log off for good.

“I think they’re still figuring out what the hell is going on,” he said.

While it may seem tempting to stay the course, Constantine said brands risk forfeiting control, and perhaps are only delaying the inevitable, by not investing in their own platforms.

“Ultimately, you’re on borrowed platforms—you don’t own them. They can change,” he said. “Never rely on anything you don’t own.”