The anti-aging and dermatologist-founded skincare brand Dr. Loretta hits the refresh button.
On Monday, the 4-year-old brand launched revamped packaging and an updated website, and archived its existing Instagram feed to restart with a more consumer-centric strategy. Both Liza Ciraldo, sales and marketing director for dr. Loretta, and Dr. Loretta Ciraldo declined to share the company’s revenue or sales growth figures, saying only that it continued to grow year over year. The private brand has no external financing. Dr. Loretta will further expand its retail distribution in the fourth quarter with Saks.com and Shopbop, which launched a beauty category on Monday. Currently, the brand is sold through Dermstore, QVC, Anthropologie and Nordstrom.
Dr. Loretta Ciraldo, founder of the eponymous brand, said the company’s first website didn’t dive deep enough into the brand’s proposition about combating photoaging through preventative skin care such as anti-pollution and anti-blue light products. In addition, she added that the brand’s social media provided bits and pieces of knowledge, but not a comprehensive understanding of these topics. For example, chemical ingredients are required to make anti-pollution products, which often conflict with the ethos of “clean” beauty. Dr. Loretta uses laboratory-created antioxidant ingredients such as lipochroman and chromabright, and more familiar ingredients such as glycolic acid.
“[Social media] can sort of warn us of something, but then there isn’t a comprehensive solution to it,” she said. “We’re trying to make an online experience that people want to spend time with. It not only teaches them about what the problem is, but also about the solution.”
Key changes to the site include the navigation on the home page and the hierarchy of content. For example, the previous site had five menu tabs: shop, philosophy, formula, press and rewards. The new version went to four: shop, philosophy, story and rewards. The new site highlights testimonials and before-and-after photos on the main page, whereas the previous site did not. Footage with dr. Ciraldo with her two daughters, Liza Ciraldo and Gina Ciraldo, are also present for the first time to emphasize the brand as a family business. Customers are driven to the site via the brand’s social channels, SEO for terms like anti-pollution skin care, and online advertising across Facebook and Instagram.
The new packaging includes a more organized color palette, with individual products represented by different light pastel shades such as yellow for sun care and pink for serums. Prior to this, various types of products would be grouped under one color, leading to customer confusion. Dr. Ciraldo said her patients don’t always understand the differences between products like a serum or an oil, and will tell her they’ve “run out of the pink product,” which could be one of several items.
“What we learned [over the] years were very informative,” said dr. Ciraldo said. “There have been changes for the skin care consumer, such as the shift from doing things in the office to doing them at home. People don’t wait to go into the dermatologist’s office for their next peel or laser.”
With people repeating traditional office procedures at home, Dr. On Monday, Loretta also introduced an enzyme polish that retails for $60, and a bounce-and-glow kit for $75. The latter includes the polish, an eye gel and a repair serum.
Dermatologist-backed brands have gained a significant foothold in beauty over the past two years due to the rise of platforms such as TikTok and the subsequent DermTok group, as well as customer focus on clinically effective and medical specialist-led brands.
Dr. Loretta has been posting on TikTok since February 2021, under his own brand account, and has 7,000 followers. But it has been sporadic in its posting, with only a few monthly posts.
Liza Ciraldo said the purpose of deleting the brand’s Instagram feed was to give the rebrand a “fresh slate” to incorporate the new color story. In addition to the new color palette, the social strategy will include more user-generated content and content showcasing Dr. Ciraldo herself and her daughters.
Dr. Loretta’s paid search strategy has been essential to customer acquisition, but word-of-mouth marketing remains the brand’s most important drivers, Liza Ciraldo said. She also said that affiliate marketing through platforms like ShareASale and Shop My Shelf continues to bring in new customers at a lower but steady rate. Dr. Loretta’s core clients range in age from their late 20s to late 40s, said Dr. Ciraldo said.
“Our social media strategy is shifting to focus on growing our community of skincare lovers. We are now in conversation with our audience about the real factors that age our skin and about how skin care can prevent and correct these unwanted changes,” said Liza Ciraldo.
