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Positive Reviews: The Successful Transformation from a Celebrity IP to a Commercial IP, the Breakout Logic of Fan Beauty is Worth Learning From
Against the backdrop of the slowing growth of the domestic beauty market and the intensifying industry reshuffle, Fan Beauty Diary has achieved an annual revenue of 1.45 billion yuan and ranked among the top 35 in the industry. It has become a “dark – horse brand” that has only been established for 7 years. Its growth path demonstrates a typical successful paradigm for celebrities to venture into business across industries and provides a replicable methodology for new consumer brands.
First of all, the precise implementation of the single – product strategy is the core driving force behind Fan Beauty’s rise. From the Sea Grape Hydrating Mask to the “VC Big Orange Whitening Mask”, the brand has quickly built market recognition by focusing on a single category to create blockbuster products. The single – product strategy is not new in the beauty industry, but the uniqueness of Fan Beauty lies in its precise grasp of “high premium + strong demand”: the Sea Grape Mask targets the basic but high – frequency skincare need of “hydration”, while the VC Big Orange Mask aims at the high – premium niche segment of “whitening”. Both products hit the pain points of consumers. Data shows that the sales volume of the Sea Grape Mask reached 1.2 million pieces in the first month of its launch, and 100,000 boxes of the VC Big Orange Mask (with a sales volume of 19.8 million yuan) were sold out in 10 seconds in Li Jiaqi’s live – streaming room, verifying the effectiveness of the single – product strategy in the era of concentrated traffic. This “point – to – face” strategy not only reduces the risk of resource dispersion in multi – line operations but also boosts the overall brand reputation through blockbuster products, which coincides with the successful logic of Florasis’ “Air Loose Powder” and Proya’s “Dual Antioxidant Serum”.
Secondly, the in – depth integration of the celebrity IP and the commercial IP has injected differentiated competitiveness into the brand. As a public figure, Fan Bingbing’s personal influence played a crucial role in the brand’s cold start: in the early stage, by promoting the products on Xiaohongshu and hosting self – live – streaming sessions, she associated labels such as “celebrity – endorsed” and “red – carpet makeup essentials” with the products, quickly attracting the attention of her fan base; later, when collaborating with top live – streaming hosts such as Xue Li and Li Jiaqi, Fan Bingbing personally participated in the live – streaming, strengthening the brand’s credibility in her capacity as an “entrepreneur”. More notably, Fan Beauty does not rely entirely on external traffic. Instead, by building a multi – platform account matrix (with 3.77 million fans on Tmall, 327,000 fans on Xiaohongshu, and 1.141 million fans on Douyin), it has formed a stable traffic closed – loop of “self – live – streaming + cooperation with influencers”. According to the person – in – charge of a top live – streaming room, the self – live – streaming sales of Fan Beauty have reached the tens of millions level. This model of “celebrity endorsement + independent operation” avoids over – reliance on a single channel (such as top live – streaming hosts) and reduces the risk of fluctuations in traffic costs.
In addition, the selection of high – gross – margin categories and the asset – light operation of the contract – manufacturing model have provided financial support for the brand’s rapid expansion. As a typical “high – gross – margin, low – threshold” category in the beauty industry, the gross margin of masks generally exceeds 70% (for example, the comprehensive gross margin of Fulrjia is 81.95%), while the cost of Fan Beauty’s masks is only about 12 – 15 yuan per box (1 – 3 yuan per piece), but the selling price is as high as 138 – 198 yuan per box (27.6 – 39.6 yuan per piece), with a significant premium space. This combination of “low cost + high selling price” enables the brand to achieve profitability in the early stage without large – scale R & D investment, accumulating funds for subsequent category expansion (such as beauty devices and body care products). At the same time, adopting the contract – manufacturing model (cooperating with manufacturers such as Zhongshan Zhongyan and Yidai) avoids heavy asset investment in building self – owned factories, which is in line with the trend of “light operation and rapid iteration” of new consumer brands.
Negative Reviews: The Hidden Risks of Growth are Prominent. How Long Can Fan Beauty Rely on the “Traffic Dividend”?
Although Fan Beauty has shown remarkable performance in terms of revenue scale, the multiple risks hidden in its growth model may become a constraint on its long – term development.
Firstly, over – reliance on a single category and single products makes the brand’s risk – resistance ability weak. Currently, the brand’s revenue mainly depends on masks (especially the Sea Grape and VC Big Orange masks), while other categories (such as beauty devices and makeup) have limited market influence. This “one – legged” model can be maintained during the upward period of the industry, but it is highly risky when market demand changes or is impacted by competitors. For example, Perfect Diary once relied too much on eyeshadow palettes and fell into losses after consumers got tired of them; Fulrjia also faced sluggish growth after the concept of “medical beauty masks” lost its popularity. If Fan Beauty cannot quickly develop second and third growth curves (such as functional skincare products and men’s beauty products), once the popularity of the mask category declines or is subject to regulatory changes (such as stricter definitions of “cosmetics” and “medicines”), its revenue may decline significantly.
Secondly, the common industry problem of “emphasizing marketing over R & D” weakens the brand’s long – term competitiveness. All 7 patents of Fan Beauty are design patents, and there are no core technology patents; the contract manufacturer Zhongshan Zhongyan was once notified by the Drug Administration for production standard issues. This model of “emphasizing packaging over R & D” results in the lack of technological barriers for products and makes it difficult to establish the brand image of “professional skincare”. Compared with Proya (which invested over 300 million yuan in R & D in 2024 and has core ingredient patents such as “Dual Antioxidant” and “Ruby”) and Winona (backed by Yunnan Betta, focusing on “medical – research co – creation”), the product strength of Fan Beauty appears weak. Once consumers’ perception of “high price = high cost” is broken (such as the spread of information that the cost of masks is only 1 – 3 yuan per piece), it may trigger doubts about the product being a “rip – off” and damage the brand’s trustworthiness.
Thirdly, the quality control risks of the contract – manufacturing model and the short – coming in globalization ability limit the brand’s expansion space. Fan Beauty’s contract manufacturers involve more than a dozen enterprises, and the production standards and quality control capabilities of different manufacturers vary. If a quality problem occurs in a contract manufacturer (such as ingredient violations or excessive microorganisms), it may damage the overall reputation of the brand. In addition, the brand’s overseas expansion strategy (entering Lazada and TikTok) has not achieved good results. The number of fans and sales volume of its overseas accounts are low, reflecting its lack of understanding of local needs (such as the preferences and marketing methods of Southeast Asian consumers). The successful “celebrity IP + single product” model in the domestic market is difficult to directly replicate in overseas markets with large cultural differences. If the “localization” problem cannot be solved, overseas expansion may become an ineffective investment of “burning money for popularity”.
Fourthly, over – binding to the celebrity IP may become an obstacle to the brand’s independence. Currently, the market perception of Fan Beauty still highly depends on the personal label of “Fan Bingbing”. This binding was an advantage in the early stage of the brand, but in the long run, it may limit the brand’s universality. For example, consumers may associate the brand with negative celebrity news (such as past tax issues); or due to the mismatch between the celebrity’s personal image and the brand positioning (such as “youthfulness” and “technological sense”), the target customer group may be lost. Compared with successfully transformed brands such as Bloomage Biotechnology (relying on hyaluronic acid technology and淡化 the founder’s personal label) and Maogeping (centering on the professional image of a makeup artist and making the brand independent of the individual), Fan Beauty needs to think about how to upgrade from a “celebrity brand” to a “mass brand”.
Advice for Entrepreneurs: From Traffic Dividend to Value Deposition, Build a Sustainable Brand Moat
The case of Fan Beauty provides a typical sample of “celebrity cross – border + new consumption” for entrepreneurs, but the problems it has exposed also warn the industry: the traffic dividend will eventually fade away. Only by building a comprehensive barrier of “product strength + brand strength + organizational strength” can long – term growth be achieved. The following are specific suggestions:
The single – product strategy needs “vertical deepening + horizontal expansion”:
The single product is an effective tool for cold start, but “single – category dependence” should be avoided. Entrepreneurs can enhance the product barrier of the core product (such as masks) through technological upgrading (such as adding exclusive ingredients) and expand related categories around the needs of the target customer group (such as essence and cream for mask users), forming a “1 + N” product matrix. For example, Proya takes the “Dual Antioxidant Serum” as the core and extends it to the Dual Antioxidant Mask and Dual Antioxidant Cream, which not only shares R & D results but also covers different usage scenarios.Balance marketing and R & D investment to build a technological moat:
New consumer brands often fall into the trap of “marketing – driven growth”, but in the long run, R & D is the fundamental for product differentiation. Entrepreneurs should invest 3% – 5% of their revenue in R & D (referring to the R & D investment ratio of Proya and Winona), focus on core ingredients (such as Procyanidin for anti – aging and nicotinamide derivatives for whitening) or exclusive technologies (such as membrane material innovation), and strengthen technological barriers through patent registration. At the same time, they can cooperate with universities and research institutions (such as Bloomage Biotechnology’s cooperation with Jiangnan University) to improve the professionalism and credibility of R & D.Optimize contract – manufacturing management and establish a “double – insurance” for quality control:
Although the contract – manufacturing model is asset – light, quality control is the lifeline. Entrepreneurs can reduce risks through “binding with core contract manufacturers + reserving backup factories”: select 3 – 5 contract manufacturers with good qualifications and stable cooperation (preferably those certified by GMPC and ISO22716) and sign strict quality agreements; at the same time, establish an internal quality control team to supervise the entire process from raw material procurement, production process to finished product inspection (such as spot – checking each batch of products and entrusting third – party institutions for re – inspection) to avoid the chain reaction of “contract – manufacturer problems = brand problems”.Reduce over – dependence on the celebrity IP and build an independent brand image:
The celebrity or founder IP is an “accelerator” for the brand, but it needs to gradually transition to the “brand IP”. Entrepreneurs can strengthen the brand’s own values and emotional connection through “user co – creation” (such as soliciting product names and packaging designs), “content promotion” (such as popularizing skincare knowledge), and “social responsibility” (such as using environmentally friendly packaging and participating in public welfare activities). For example, Florasis has upgraded from a “brand promoted by Li Jiaqi” to a “representative of national fashion” through its cultural positioning of “Oriental makeup”, successfully reducing its over – dependence on a single traffic source.Globalization layout should prioritize “localization”:
Overseas expansion is not about “replicating the domestic model” but “understanding local needs”. Before expanding into overseas markets, entrepreneurs need to conduct in – depth research on the consumption habits (such as the preferences of Southeast Asian consumers), regulatory requirements (such as the cosmetics safety regulations in the EU), and channel characteristics (such as Southeast Asian consumers’ greater reliance on Shopee and Lazada, and Middle Eastern consumers’ preference for SHEIN) of the target market, and verify the feasibility of the model through “small – scale testing + rapid iteration”. For example, they can first conduct content testing on local social media (such as Facebook and TikTok in Southeast Asia) and then test the waters in 1 – 2 top channels (such as the Lazada flagship store) to avoid blind investment.
Conclusion: The rise of Fan Beauty is a successful practice of “celebrity IP + single product + traffic operation”, but the problems it has exposed, such as weak R & D, single category, and insufficient globalization ability, also reflect the common pain points of new consumer brands of “emphasizing growth over deposition”. For entrepreneurs, short – term revenue growth is just the starting point. How to convert traffic into user trust and transform blockbusters into brand assets is the key to determining whether an enterprise can survive market cycles.
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