The anti-aging and dermatologist-founded skin-care brand Dr. Loretta is hitting the refresh button.
On Monday, the 4-year-old brand introduced revamped packaging and an updated website, and archived its existing Instagram feed to relaunch 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, only saying that it’s continued to grow year-over-year. The privately-held brand has no outside funding. 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 sells through Dermstore, QVC, Anthropologie and Nordstrom. Dr. Ciraldo has been a practicing dermatologist for over 40 years and is frequently cited as a medical source in publications like CNN, Elle, Vogue and The New York Times.
Dr. Loretta Ciraldo, founder of the eponymous brand, said the company’s first website did not dive deep enough into the brand’s proposition around combatting photoaging via preventative skin care like anti-pollution and anti-blue light products. In addition, she added that the brand’s social media had offered bits and pieces of knowledge but not comprehensive understandings of these subjects. For example, chemical ingredients are required to make anti-pollutant products, which often goes against the ethos of “clean” beauty. Dr. Loretta uses lab-created antioxidant ingredients like lipochroman and chromabright, and more familiar ingredients like glycolic acid.
“[Social media] may sort of alert us to 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 educates them on not only what the problem is but also the solution.”
Key changes to the site include the navigation on the homepage and the hierarchy of content. For example, the previous website featured five menu tabs: shop, philosophy, formula, press and rewards. The new version has gone to four: shop, philosophy, story and rewards. The new website emphasizes testimonials and before-and-after photos on the main page, while the previous website did not. Imagery featuring Dr. Ciraldo with her two daughters, Liza Ciraldo and Gina Ciraldo, is also present for the first time to emphasize the brand as a family-run business. Customers are directed to the website via the brand’s social channels, SEO for terms like anti-pollution skin care, and online ads across Facebook and Instagram.
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The new packaging includes a more organized color palette, with individual products represented by different light pastel shades like yellow for sun care and pink for serums. Before this, several types of products would be grouped under one color, leading to customer confusion. Dr. Ciraldo said her patients do not always understand the differences between products like a serum or an oil, and would remark to her that they “ran out of the pink product,” which could be one of several items.
“What we’ve learned [over the] years has been super insightful,” said Dr. Ciraldo. “There have been changes for the skin-care consumer, like the shift from having things done in the office to doing them at home. People are not waiting to go into the dermatologist’s office for their next peel or laser.”
With people replicating traditional in-office procedures at home, Dr. Loretta also launched on Monday a resurfacing enzyme polish, retailing for $60, and a bounce-and-glow kit, for $75. The latter includes the polish, an eye gel and a repair serum. Other packaging updates included a lock pump, in place of a dropper bottle, for easier use and dispensing, as well as tweaks to ensure to European Union, U.K. and Canada compliance, in anticipation of launching in those regions. Gina Ciraldo Stabile, CEO of Dr. Loretta, declined to share investment figures behind the packaging updates and website relaunch.
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Dermatologist-backed brands have gained a significant foothold in beauty over the past two years due to the rise of platforms like TikTok and the subsequent DermTok group, as well as customer focus on clinically-efficacious brands and brands with medical professionals at the helm.
Dr. Loretta has posted on TikTok, under its own brand account, since Feb. 2021, 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 wiping 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 using the #RealWorldSkin hashtag and content showcasing Dr. Ciraldo herself and her daughters.
Dr. Loretta’s paid search strategy has been vital for customer acquisition, but word-of-mouth marketing remains the brand’s most significant drivers, said Liza Ciraldo. She also said affiliate marketing through platforms like ShareASale and Shop My Shelf continue to bring in new customers at a lower but steady rate. Dr. Loretta’s core customers range in age from their late 20s to late 40s, said Dr. Ciraldo.
“Our social media strategy is shifting to focus on growing our community of skin-care lovers. We’re now engaging with our audience about the real-world factors that age our skin and about how skin care can prevent and correct these unwanted changes,” said Liza Ciraldo.
