Free Gift With Purchase

Have you ever received a “gift with purchase”?  Well…

…you have Estée Lauder to thank for it!

Believing it was the very best way to advertise and not having a lot in her advertising budget, Estee Lauder came up with the idea of  giving customers a free product when they made a purchase. She felt it was the most honest way of advertising as it gave the customer the chance to actually try the product in their own home before having to purchase it….and wonderful for the Company as it did not have to pay huge amounts to the likes of Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue.

Some of these wonderful stores of yesteryear enjoyed being a part of the promotion and gifting the light blue compact to their customers.  Estée Lauder apparently chose the pale turquoise color as the brand’s signature because she felt “it lent an air of luxury and was a versatile shade that would match any bathroom décor”.

Sara Bliss of Celebrity Beauty writes,  “Way before branding oneself became a trend, the cosmetics queen perfected the concept. Born Josephine Esther Mentzer in Queens, she teamed up with her uncle John Schotz who made beauty tonics in his home kitchen.  While he was skilled at creating the product, Lauder was a born salesperson.

Estée Lauder

By the early 1940s, Lauder changed her husband’s surname Lauter to Lauder, began using her middle name, and was selling creams under Estée Lauder. Lauder’s personalized selling approach earned her legions of devoted fans. She believed in the power of touching each client, often directly applying products to their skin. Lauder also understood the power of image, marketing her own glamorous lifestyle to sell beauty-in-a-jar. By the time her company went public in 1995, the global company’s estimated worth was five billion dollars”.

Sara Bliss talked with Estelle Hahn Brodsky who worked at Estée Lauder for over a decade in their public relations department. Brodsky reminisced about her time working at the prestigious beauty brand, and what it was like to work with the Lauders. Here is her story in her own words:

I started working at Estée Lauder in 1980. I stayed for twelve wonderful years and I don’t have a bad word to say about that time. Previously I was a model in the 1950s, then I worked in publicity for magazines. At Estée Lauder, I worked in the International Press Department. We did presentations all over the world, Singapore, parts of Africa, and Asia. It was an excellent company to work for, partly because you were working with such a high caliber team of people. Everyone had really earned their stripes. 

Everything we did was inspired by Estée Lauder herself. We had a sign on our desks that said, “Is it Estée Lauder?”  We wanted to make sure everything reflected her vision. We always knew to push things one step further. You always had to be at the top of your game. She was extremely detail oriented. She approved everything, the placement of things in a meeting, and every single color line. 

Estée always was impeccably turned out and we had to be too. You couldn’t go without lipstick. Makeup always had to be perfect, but not too much. You couldn’t look like you were trying too hard, more elegant. You had to be in heels. She really preferred dresses or skirts. When Estée was on the floor, you were very conscious of the proper way to do things. She noticed every detail even the cookies. There were special cookies she liked from the bakery at Bloomingdales, they couldn’t be too crumbly, and you had to be able to hold them with one hand. 

From Estée Lauder, I learned about the importance of striving to be the best, and the importance of working with people who are like that too. Estée Lauder is a company that recognizes people who put their passion into their work. 

We too can learn from Estee Lauder.  Certainly, to always do our best and yes, always remember our lipstick!

More joy – oh yes, so much more joy!