Brand Damage: Who's crushing it. Who's not. And a thought on brand.

Who's crushing it: Huda Beauty

Huda Kattan, 37, started the company 10 years ago with a $6,000 loan from her sister and has built the company into a influencer empire of over 600+ team members, revenue marks at over $250MM, and a social media following of over 70 million people in total.

The company's 140+ products are sold in 1500 stores globally, and 80,000 customers are visiting their website every month. On instagram they are tagged in over 30 million posts and the company's own posts regularly see 12x the engagement rate of competitors and similar content creators.

What's behind this sustained brand success?

Kattan sums it up in saying...

“When you find a way to make people feel like they are comfortable it’s inspiring—we celebrate the differences in people and we think about how we feel as a brand and how we want other people to feel.”
- Huda Kattan, Founder, Huda Beauty

Who's not: Xponential Fitness(XPOF)

The largest franchisor of boutique fitness brands, most notably Cyclebar, Club Pilates, and Rumble Boxing, is in mirky waters this after a report by Fuzzy Panda Research gained widespread attention.

These are just some of the claims in the report titled XPOF - "Abusive Franchisor That Is A House Of Cards,":

• More than 50% of XPOF studios never make a positive financial return, and 80% of franchises are losing money each month while XPOF has increased the fees the company receives.
• Anthony Geisler, XPOF CEO, and other insiders are consistently selling their XPOF shares with more than $167.5 million worth of shares sold by insiders in 2023.(Whoa!)
• Geisler's character and professional resume includes past fraudulent business activity, criminal arrest record and a culture of sexual harassment.

The company's board of directors released statements Tuesday denouncing the report stressing the health of the organization but company shares still took a hit, falling 40%.

If the company is in fact a house of cards, this amplified attention will soon be a part of bringing it down.

A thought on brand:

Your character as the CEO, Founder, or face of the brand will come to the light for employees and customers.

You can be Anthony Geisler or Huda Kattan, brand status and reputation doesn't discriminate on the basis of gender or industry of choice.

The internet is a built-in microscope upon brands by way of consumers being able to control the conversation brands like never before.

Everything we do eventually comes to the light in this attention driven world.

If you don't want attention, you will likely struggle to build a brand.

That's ok too.

However, if you're going to play the game, remember people are watching and paying attention so be sure your inner person is ready for the pursuit of building a brand that crushes or you may be...crushed.

(DB)

Friend Don't Let Friends Ruin Their Brand.

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