How Milani Cosmetics Scores Big with Sports Partnerships | CO

Why
it matters:

• Disruptor brand Milani Cosmetics is beating the odds and continues to grow despite a stagnant mass market beauty landscape, thanks to an optimized mix of core merchandise, innovation, and strong social
  buzz.
• Affordable luxury is Milani’s sweet spot, a market positioning that’s paid off with 12 consecutive quarters of growth.
• Its growth strategy also signals that even independent brands can participate in sports sponsorships and reap a return: Female athletes helped Milani promote its Make It Last setting spray via a campaign that generated more than four billion unique views across all social platform, in addition to garnering editorial coverage.

Powerhouse
brands like Nike,
Pepsi,
and Procter & Gamble
are known for partnerships with star athletes. Now, Milani Cosmetics,
a disruptor brand amid the titans of the cosmetics industry, proved
it can play on the same field with an innovative strategy.

In
June 2024 ahead of the Paris Olympics,
Milani inked its first-ever collaboration with female athletes
including Jordan Chiles,
a
member of the gold-winning USA gymnastics team, and
Sabrina Ionescu, a gold-medal winner on USA
Olympic women’s basketball team.

The
campaign, called “Face Set. Mind Set,”
lives
across all of Milani’s channels and the athletes’ social media
platforms with the hashtag #SetWithMilani. It spotlights one of the
brand’s biggest selling items, the Make It Last setting spray,
a waterproof and sweatproof
multitasking skin spray that’s designed to withstand even the
toughest workout.

The
campaign helped Milani remain at the top of the setting spray market.
“Milani’s overall setting spray business continues to
show strength, and
it grew at a rate of 9% in the 24 weeks ending December 28, 2024,”
Lowenstein said, citing NielsenIQ
figures. Milani’s Make It Last Original Setting Spray has
maintained its position as the number one setting spray on the
market.

For
the “masstige”
brand with a $10 average price point, Milani’s
sports collaboration served as a case study on differentiating in a
saturated industry—in
this case, beauty.

Athletes,
according to Leslie Ann Hall, Founder of Iced Media,
provide a unique, innovative way to stand out in a crowded influencer
market. “They are authentic, and people admire them,” she told
CO—.

Jeremy
Lowenstein, Milani’s Chief Marketing Officer, said athletes proved
to be a perfect match for its hero products.

“There
is a connection between preparing physically and mentally and the
idea that when our face is set, our mind follows,” he explained.

Leaning
into the cultural zeitgeist

The
Face Set. Mind Set campaign
reflects the growing cultural importance of women’s sports to
Milani’s consumer base. And the product’s endurance aims to
mirror the athletes featured in its campaign.

For
example, while Chiles and Ionescu competed in the 2024 Olympics, an
injury sidelined weightlifting
champion Mattie Rogers.
So
her social posts for Milani centered on the importance of staying
strong while recovering and dealing with her mental health.

Meanwhile,
Chiles, who gained heightened attention during the Olympics, says
Milani was the first makeup she ever used, and she’s often spotted
applying the items in her posts. The brand is known for its wide
array of shades to suit all skin tones.

Sports
collab boosts Milani’s beauty biz standing

The
buzz created by the collaboration further elevated Milani’s
presence in the beauty industry, Lowenstein said.The
brand also benefitted from a wave of media attention. “There was a
tremendous amount of editorial coverage,” he said. “We had over
80 articles written with a reach of over four billion people. Our
athlete partners have gone above and beyond in terms of sharing their
love of the brand.”

Although
Milani was founded in 2001, it has recently pumped out big sales
gains thanks to product innovations, a reboot of core products,
influencer support, and an executive team of beauty veterans
installed in recent years including Lowenstein and CEO Mary van
Praag, who helped build traction for companies including Coty Inc.
and Perricone MD.

Today,
the brand is sold at major retailers, including Ulta Beauty,
Walmart,
Target,
Walgreens,
and CVS,
as well as on Amazon
and MilaniCosmetics.com.

Milani
Cosmetics, which has exceeded category growth for more than three
years, clocked $200 million in retail sales and is the number seven
mass makeup brand in eyes, face, and lips, according to NIQ data for
the 52 weeks through September 7, 2024.

In
comparison, overall mass makeup was down 4% for the first half of
2024, according to Circana.

Tapping
partnerships to make products go viral

Although
Face Set. Mind Set marked Milani’s first collaboration on a
campaign with sports stars, the company has a cadre of other athletes
and social media influencers who help its products go viral,
especially when compared to pricier options.

Its
Color Fetish Matte Lipsticks
are a prime example. When launched, the line resulted in a
4,000-person waitlist at Ulta Beauty.
Several content creators pegged the lipstick as an affordable
alternative to prestige products that were three times the price.
Milani counts several other products that social media, especially
TikTok, has turned into must-haves.

“We’re
confident we’re positioned for continued success given the
innovation in our pipeline and the strength in our core products,”
Lowenstein said. “Milani offers inclusive, prestige-quality
products at accessible price points, and those are key factors
consumers consider when deciding what brands and products to
purchase.”

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Published February 12, 2025