BetterHelp loses customer trust while e.l.f. builds it

Welcome to Wednesday. Halfway to the weekend and we have two tales for you: one cautionary, one celebratory. Let’s get into it.

BetterHelp Illegally Shares Consumer Data for Marketing Purposes

Although first-party data is the new wave, marketers need to be careful about how they obtain it—and what they do with it. Currently, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has accused BetterHelp of illegally sharing consumer data. According to the FTC, BetterHelp “used and revealed consumers’ email addresses, IP addresses, and health questionnaire information to Facebook, Snapchat, Criteo, and Pinterest for advertising purposes.”

Specifically, the FTC alleges BetterHelp shared this information with “certain third parties for re-targeting—the targeting of advertisements to consumers who previously had visited BetterHelp’s website or used its app, including those who had not signed up for the company’s counseling service.” Compare this to Sam’s Club's retargeting using their own 1st-party data, legally.

Sharing sensitive information is always a no-no. Misleading consumers about which information you plan to use is also a no-no. In this brave new world of first-party data, marketers must respect privacy and consent—the whole reason third-party cookies are being abandoned.

E.l.f. Knows its Audience—and is Reaping the Rewards

Gen Z’s favorite beauty brand, e.l.f. cosmetics, is marketing its new O Face Satin Lipstick with music. The brand shared with Marketing Dive that this product is “its biggest bet yet on the lipstick category,” meaning they needed a marketing initiative to match.

Enter: this social media, music-fueled campaign. The O Face Satin Lipstick initiative includes an original song “Lip Positions,” an encouragement to e.l.f. customers to use the song as a sound on TikTok, and a partnership with beauty influencer Meredith Duxbury (featured in the original “Lip Positions” video).

And in a comment for one of Duxbury’s e.l.f. videos, user UwU notes, “and elf is CRUELTY FREE so it’s a YEEEEESSS,” reminding marketers Gen Z cares about quality and their brands’ values—of which, e.l.f. is serving both.

e.l.f. knows its ideal customer and is catering, almost exclusively, to them. By combining a well-liked influencer, a catchy, social-media-optimized song, and cruelty-free cosmetics, e.l.f. has pinned down the Gen Z trifecta. And e.l.f.’s stock is outperforming peers because of it.

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Taking care of the environment. It’s more important now than ever (since, y’know, we weren’t taking care of it before, and it’s developed into a dire situation).

Thanks for joining us, and we’ll see you Friday!