By all accounts, German beauty conglomerate Cosnova, which owns affordable mass color cosmetics lines Essence and Catrice, is in its largest season of growth since it launched in 2001.
According to the brand, it just completed its 11th quarter of net sales growth and its second year of year-over-year growth exceeding 30%. Much of this was driven by international sales: Cosnova’s global net sales increased 32% in 2023 with 26% growth in North America, according to the brand. Cosnova told Glossy it just completed the largest sales year in its 23-year history with €816 million ($894 million) in 2023 net sales.
In the U.S., Catrice and Essence are both available direct-to-consumer and on Amazon. Essence Cosmetics also entered Ulta Beauty’s stores and e-commerce site in 2009 and doubled its product assortment in 2018, before entering more than 300 Target doors in 2022. Further brick-and-mortar expansion is planned for 2024.
Essence and Catrice are made up of affordable color cosmetics priced as low, or lower, than top sellers in the U.S. mass category. For example, Essence’s best-selling Lash Princess Mascara, Banana Powder and Pure Nude Highlighter, as well as its forthcoming 2024 lip oil and mascara launches, are each priced at $4.99.
Meanwhile, E.l.f’s best-selling Tinted Lip Oil rings in at $8 and its Tubing Mascara is priced at $7, and ColourPop’s Super Shock Highlighter and Act Natural Mascara both go for $9.
“More than ever, people are looking for a bargain, and Essence has the highest quality makeup at the best prices that you can’t get [anywhere else],” Cosnova USA CMO Jill Krakowski told Glossy. To keep its edge on low pricing, the brand hasn’t traditionally advertised, she said.
The low-price strategy has made Essence a household name in Europe. According to a 2022 Statista report that surveyed 898 German consumers ages 18-64, 73% were aware of Essence, 47% liked the brand, and 32% of those who used makeup used Essence.
According to Cosnova, Essence is currently Europe’s top-selling mass color cosmetics brand, based on units sold.
“Taking that success and bringing it over to the United States is a core strategic imperative for the company to continue their growth [in 2024],” said Krakowski. “We’re about 10-15 years behind the [top mass beauty brands in the U.S. now], but with so much more potential.”
Cosnova is privately held by its founders, a married team named Christina Oster-Daum and Javier González. They launched Essence in 2002 and Catrice in 2004. According to the company, it broke €200 million in yearly sales in 2012 and €400 million in 2017. Its brands are currently available omnichannel in 80 countries, and Cosnova employs 870 people globally.
Brand marketing is at the heart of Cosnova’s 2024 growth initiative. “In the U.S., the key has been leveraging the momentum that we had with key product lines and transitioning that into storytelling,” said Krakowski. The genesis of this includes gradually transitioning the brands away from “fast beauty,” where 50% of the line was historically turned over each year to satiate changing trends. “Essence was kind of a treasure hunt — you’d never know if you would find the same product you just used a few weeks ago. [But now] there’s a little bit more stabilization in the assortment,” she told Glossy. Today, the brand’s yearly product turnover is closer to 25%.
Investing in social media ads is another large change. In the past, the team has seeded products to influencers and editors, but rarely paid for content, the brand reported. But that’s changing now.
Cosnova began testing out ad buys in the fourth quarter of 2023 across Snapchat and YouTube, in an effort to meet customers where they are. “It was very efficient for us, and we were reaching new audiences,” Krakowski said. ‘We’re going to be diving deeper into Snapchat this year.”
The social ad buys included original content featuring best-selling products. For example, there was a “man on the street” video series with internet personality Davis Burleson, who quizzed people on NYC streets about the cost of a makeup look. “People would guess the look was made with $450 of makeup, when it was really $45,” said Krakowski. Cosnova has worked with Movers+Shakers advertising agency in the past, but Krakowski told Glossy that the company does not currently have an agency of record.
In 2024, Krakowski plans to focus on Snapchat to reach Gen Alpha, TikTok to reach Gen Z, and Instagram and Facebook for overall broad brand awareness. She told Glossy that Cosnova thinks of DTC as an educational necessity, but her team primarily drives to Amazon on social media to improve conversion. To further reduce friction to Amazon, and better increase tracking, Krakowski implemented a “deep link” system in 2023 through a company called URLGenius. Its social media links now automatically kick potential shoppers to the Amazon app where they’re likely to be signed in, instead of a browser, where shoppers may bounce instead of signing in.
To further maximize U.S. growth this year, Cosnova is also investing in gaming, which it began to experiment with in 2022 with Essence’s first Twitch campaign with gamer Emiru. “We will be partnering with Emiru again in 2024 for two more cosplay contests,” said Krakowski. Essence also expanded its presence on Roblox in 2023 with a game for Pride Month.
In addition, for the first time, Cosnova will be routinely investing in sponsored content. “We have been an influencer favorite from the very beginning, but [2023] was really the first year that we started to collaborate in earnest with key influencers,” said Krakowski. On the top of her collaborator wishlist for 2024 is YouTuber Tati Westbrook, who has organically spoken about the line through the years.
Cosnova is also keen to expand into sponsorships of non-traditional women’s sports this year. “We’re trying to figure out if there’s any connection that we can make with the Olympics, [as well],” said Krakowski. “We’re in progress.”
