We recently covered the in-house beauty comms pros taking the reins in-house for a peek behind the scenes at some of the top brands known worldwide. Now, we turn our attention to the leading beauty agencies making waves in the industry. Get an inside look at how these agencies connect brands with their audiences and discover the significant trends shaping the beauty marcomms landscape today.
Studio Beauty
Studio Beauty stands as a culturally engaged, well-connected PR supergroup, bringing together interdisciplinary experts to shape brand stories, elevate thought leaders, and build communities through media, social, and experiential strategies. With showrooms in both New York and Los Angeles, Studio Beauty is the epicenter for the world’s leading beauty brands; some of their latest wins include COMMENCE by Brooke Shields, Victoria Beckham Beauty, NUDESTIX, and Sabrina Elba under their Talent Partnerships Division.
Founder Bex Meredith captures the essence of Studio Beauty’s mission, stating, “It’s an exciting and competitive time to be a brand in the beauty space. As the industry pushes past the point of oversaturation, PR has never played a more important role in establishing a clear point of differentiation to remain successful and to come out on top. With consumers hyper-engaged, the opportunity is ripe to create meaningful connections through every touch point. To develop a PR ecosystem, unique to your brand, with earned media and brand storytelling at the heart—seamlessly integrated with clients’ in-house teams to build out strategies and executions that live across press, influencer, affiliate, experiential, and partnerships.”
Alison Brod Marketing + Communications
Alison Brod Marketing + Communications is well-known for their approach to beauty, lifestyle, and consumer PR, and for pioneering the first-ever beauty showroom with a salon. The agency doesn’t just keep up with the times – it moves alongside our fast-paced culture; ABMC recently expanded its focus with dedicated teams for integrations, collaborations, and partnerships. With growing influencer and celebrity divisions, plus enhanced crisis comms offerings, the agency is trusted by notables including Pizza Hut, Charlotte Tilbury, L'Oreal Paris, Garnier, Dyson Beauty, and many others.
Founder Alison Brod speaks on the state of the industry, saying, “Overall, integrations, collaborations, and partnerships have exploded. So much so that we've spun the capability out into its own division that works hand-in-hand with our Influencer and PR teams, ensuring programming is 360. Related, our Celebrity Division continues to grow, as more and more brands are finding it to be an impactful marketing lever to amplify existing campaigns – from the traditional ‘buying talent’ approach to sponsorships and integrations.”
SEEN Group, a leader in beauty and personal care PR, continually enhances its talent portfolio and services, ensuring the best creative and strategic counsel for its clients. SEEN Group’s reputation as a trusted partner to the world’s top beauty brands is reinforced by its work with major clients such as Fenty Beauty, Estée Lauder, Clinique, and L’Oréal. With a presence in both London and New York, SEEN Group continues to lead the charge in beauty business transformation and acceleration across its specialized divisions.
The agency recently strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Maria Llanos as Senior Vice President, Marketing. Llanos, who brings over 18 years of experience in the luxury beauty sector, expressed her excitement about joining SEEN Group: “I am delighted to join SEEN Group in New York, bringing my proven passion for beauty to a vibrant and innovative agency. I am honored to join the talented team under Jane's inspiring leadership and aim to drive strategic growth, work with our brands to maximize storytelling efforts across all channels, and expand the Community x SEEN platform. This is an exciting new chapter, and I can’t wait to see what we achieve together!”
Bold PR
BOLD PR distinguishes itself in the beauty industry through its specialized focus, benefiting a diverse range of established brands, niche innovators, and industry disruptors, including Lancome, Armani Beauty, Fenty Beauty and Pat McGrath Labs. Recent client wins—Wyn Beauty, Fenty Hair, Blake Brown Beauty, and Divi—highlight the team’s expertise in generating impactful coverage and awareness.
“PR has become more and more about managing people with influence, matching talent to brands that go beyond the usual suspects, and creating symbiotic alignments that tell a strategic and meaningful story," says Founder Jodi Balkan.
Balkan also emphasizes the importance of purposeful disruption in PR: “When a brand is trying to be disruptive for the sake of disruption, it rarely is. So many are trying to make the biggest flash, but flashes fizzle. And when media and consumers remember the hype more than what’s being hyped, PR fails.”
Tractenberg & Co., creates programs that forge direct connections between brands and consumers for their clients across beauty, lifestyle, and wellness. The team’s strategic approach drives engagement and fosters brand-consumer relationships, with recent client successes including LolaVie, MAY Botanicals by Georgia May Jagger, Dr. Whitney Bowe Beauty, and AlumierMD.
Jacquie Tractenberg, President of Tractenberg & Co., captures the essence of the current industry landscape: “Now more than ever, all of our disciplines must work together completely synergistically. Nothing can be siloed. Social trends make editorial headlines, great press can make an impact on social media and all have the ability to drive meaningful growth for brands when working together. Everything we do – from influencer marketing, affiliate, editorial outreach, social media and experiential marketing – has to be unified under one cohesive message and feed off one another. 360 communications are no longer a novel idea, they are table stakes.”
Six One Agency
Six One Agency is a multicultural and woman-owned agency that develops comms strategies for beauty, lifestyle, and wellness brands. Recently, the agency welcomed new clients ELEVEN Australia, The Ogle School, Mixik Skin, and Skin by Brownlee & Co., strengthening its portfolio of influential brands, and reflecting leadership's commitment to amplifying diverse voices in the beauty and wellness space. Six One Agency’s portfolio has included recognized brands such as Allergan Aesthetics, Violet Grey, Flawless by Gabrielle Union, Nest Fragrances, and Frank Body, showcasing the agency’s ability to deliver impactful strategies for industry-leading names.
Kilee Hughes, founder of Six One Agency, observes that, "Beauty consumers today exhibit a remarkable level of passion and dedication, more so than ever before. The commitment to beauty is so strong that even in times of economic uncertainty or when faced with the need to cut back on other expenses, consumers continue to prioritize their beauty routines and investments—i.e. the lipstick effect. Whether it’s skincare, makeup, haircare, or wellness products, the desire to enhance and express one’s personal aesthetic remains a steadfast priority, reflecting the deep connection and self-care values that beauty products represent in their lives. In today’s landscape, much of this drive is fueled by platforms like TikTok Shop, YouTube’s new creator platform, and shoppable links across media channels, making the purchasing process more seamless than ever."
Foundation supports a broad range of beauty brands from Briogeo and cocokind to NARS and Youth to the People. The agency has made significant strides of late with major launches, such as NARS’ 30th anniversary and their new celebrity global beauty ambassadors, as well as Patrick Ta Beauty’s first OOH campaign and Cocomoi by Courteney Cox’s Homecourt line extension. Foundation also successfully introduced NOYZ, a new perfume brand, through impactful creator partnerships and experiential events in major cities.
Jenny Lin and Kelly Fobar Davis, Co-Founders of Foundation, reflect on their roles, saying, “Foundation is known for building beauty brands. In addition to traditional PR, our roles now include out-of-home marketing, influencer and digital marketing, experiential eventing, affiliate marketing, and so much more. As we continue to see brands take on this approach, we have adapted to expand our resources and service offerings so that we can provide our expertise across all marketing channels, creating holistic brand building and communications for our clients.”
DripComm
BIPOC female-founded and based in NYC and LA – with offices opening in Miami – DripComm is known for its high-impact PR stunts, experiential marketing, and social campaigns that generate buzz for beauty, lifestyle, and wellness clients. Recent wins include being named Agency of Record for Aroma360 Parfums, DND Gel USA, Haut.AI, Hotel Collection Fragrances, KAILO Nutrition & Skin, and MYAVANA Hair.AI. Notably, DripComm led the launch of "In The Lab With MYAVANA Hair AI," a pioneering Web3 hair experience with Ulta Beauty, and the #AnxiousGirlElixir campaign for KAILO, which successfully introduced the Aussie wellness brand to the US market.
Delilah Owens, CEO & Co-Founder, reflects on the agency's approach over the past decade: “The beauty world has become as saturated as ever & consumers are looking for more authentic brands that speak to who they are and the lifestyle they're curating. We attribute our fast growth to recognizing this shift-- our entire service model is built around connecting brands to their target consumer in a more authentic way through high-effort stunts, experiential marketing and creative social strategy which is what brands truly need to stand out. It allows us to insert our clients into culture through creative storytelling that is really resonating with their target consumers and building brand affinity.”
Bevel | First & Last PR
First & Last PR, founded by Stephanie Scott-Bradshaw, is a female-led agency specializing in beauty, lifestyle, and wellness communications with a media-first approach. Based in New Jersey with a shoutout-worthy showroom, the agency excels in integrating influencer engagement, partnerships, social media, and content creators to make brands stand out. Recent collaborations include Bevel X Overtime Elite, Design Essentials X Pressed Roots, and The Lip Bar’s partnerships with Slutty Vegan, Victoria Monet, and HBCUs. Committed to CSR, the agency has supported initiatives like Bevel’s $25K Invest Fest grant and Design Essentials’ impressive $1M pledge to Spelman College and $1M pledge to Howard University.
Stephanie reflects on the importance of collaboration in today’s landscape: “Modern brands know that collaboration is key, so it’s important to develop your existing brand loyalists while forming new communities. Public relations is more important than ever, and we use it strategically, intertwining influencer, partnerships, social media, and content creator divisions to activate in ways that truly make our clients stand out.”
