This Brand of the Year story was originally published in the Fall issue of Strategy Magazine. Check out the winners as they appear online over the course of the week here.

Sephora’s success follows the same paradox that informs great works of art – which is that the more specific a work is, the more universally it resonates. That’s why people connect with the Mona Lisa. For Sephora, the more the retailer explores the highly specific needs of its individual consumers, the more ubiquitous the brand becomes.

The word Sephora would use to describe this strategy is “inclusivity,” which is an almost obvious goal for most retailers. Barring ultra-lux brands that trade off exclusivity, most businesses want to connect with as many potential consumers as possible. But for a beauty brand, inclusivity is deceptively difficult. How does one build a community around something as individual and specific as someone’s signature scent, preferred shade of lipstick or skin tone? Answering that question has been Sephora’s mission since it arrived in Canada twenty years ago. It’s what Sephora’s brand platform, “We Belong to Something Beautiful,” is all about.

“We have been on a mission to expand our reach, presence and widen our community to become the most inclusive beauty retailer in Canada, creating a space that inspires and allows everyone to celebrate their unique beauty and believing that there is beauty in our differences,” says Allison Litzinger, SVP, marketing, Sephora Canada. “Our work over the past couple of years has focused on bridging this mission with the joy, excitement and the beauty wonderland of our experience – and welcoming even more people into our community.

“As an inclusive, culturally relevant and experiential brand, it’s important for us to live and act like one through our go-to market strategy,” Litzinger adds.

Perhaps the best example is Sephora’s “Illumination” campaign that launched last year but will continue through 2025. Working with Zulu Alpha Kilo, the brand transformed its proprietary AI skin-scanning tool into an interactive experiential data visualization, turning all the scanned skin tones of Canadians into a beautiful work of art that “everyone could participate in.” Litzinger says the stunt was so successful it not only drove positive brand metrics, but also inspired a 60% bump in new customers coming into its stores to try the Colour IQ tool.

The “Illumination” campaign worked because it both celebrated and catered to customers’ uniqueness. In other words, it was authentic. Striving to be genuine, as opposed to performative, can be difficult. To help, Sephora leans on the creator community.

“We know how influential creators are, but partnering with them also allows us to live our purpose and have a more authentic community voice,” Litzinger says. “We prioritize representation in our marketing year-round and also partner with creators and artists in key communities to celebrate cultural moments. It’s important to ensure we’re reflecting and acknowledging what matters to them in their lives and how beauty at Sephora plays a role.”

And it isn’t just talk. Sephora was the first retailer to sign the 15% Pledge, which meant it would devote 15% of its shelf space to Black-owned businesses. Then, it raised the bar even further by committing to have 25% of products on its shelves be from BIPOC-founded brands by 2026. The retailer has also invested in Classes for Confidence, a program meant to help marginalized communities explore and define beauty on their own terms. The classes, which are hosted by Sephora Beauty Advisors, have grown from a few virtual sessions in 2021, to over 25 in-person and online classes across Canada in 2024, reaching over 200 participants.

“From our Diverse Beauty classes that help clients with darker skin tones discover brands and products suited to them, to our DiversABILITY online classes that help people with disabilities explore the world of beauty, it’s truly moving participants to [feel] empowered by what they can discover about themselves,” Litzinger says.

However, the brand hasn’t simply planted a flag of inclusivity and waited for the community to arrive and rally around it. As Litzinger says, it’s an experiential brand, and so efforts have been made to take the Sephora experience to consumers, wherever they are. For example, the “Prêt-a-Party” pop-up at Osheaga and a sold-out “Makeup by Mario Master Class” at TD Music Hall in Toronto “helped bring the inclusive excitement and human connection of our brand out of the store and [kept] Sephora top of mind,” Litzinger says.

The makeup master class was taught by international makeup artist and frequent Kim Kardashian collaborator, Mario Dedivanovic, as he took the audience, and their raised smartphones, through the process of creating a glam look. The event generated more than 337 social posts and 92.7 million impressions.

Another example is its “Beauty at the Bentway,” a kind of community oasis the brand built under the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto. The long-term activation had the joint purpose of providing passersby with a place to recharge, sitting among greenery and art by local artist Avril Wu, while promoting the Clean and Planet Aware lines of products that avoid certain harmful ingredients and meet Sephora’s specific criteria for sourcing and formulation.

As far as locations go, the Bentway, a shared space that makes use of the neglected territory under one of Toronto’s main thoroughfares, is very specific. Yet Sephora was able to beautify the blighted space, fill it with art and life, and then open it up for everyone to enjoy.

All of these efforts have been paying off. Over the past two years, the brand has seen a 40% growth in its client base. “Since 2021, we’ve tripled our traffic and achieved a remarkable 13% increase in market share,” Litzinger says. “By the end of 2024, we will [have] 129 locations, expanding our reach and bringing our unique beauty experience to new communities across the country.” It’s telling that Canada is now the third largest market for the global brand.

“There are so many things that make Sephora special – from our sensorial experience, to our unmatched curated assortment driving industry trends, to the emotional connection our customers feel for our brand,” Litzinger says. “Most importantly we are a brand that is built on a foundation of purpose and values that inspires both employees and clients to feel a sense of belonging, and to feel free to be who they really are.”