When e.l.f. Beauty announced its acquisition of rhode in May 2025, it was more than just another consolidation move in the cosmetics industry. It marked the convergence of two companies that had, via different paths, perfected the same principle: treating closeness to the consumer as the strategic core of their business model.

e.l.f. Beauty – originally launched as an online purveyor of $1 makeup – has grown over more than two decades into a $1.3 billion enterprise, delivering market share gains for over two dozen consecutive quarters. rhode, Hailey Bieber’s minimalist skincare brand, achieved nine-figure revenue in just three years with only ten products. Their unification under one roof signals something clear: legacy industry giants – L’Oréal, Estée Lauder, Coty – are now facing competition from a new kind of strategic thinking.

Cultural Fluency as a Competitive Advantage

What sets e.l.f. and rhode apart from many established players isn’t primarily their product portfolios or pricing strategies. It’s their ability not merely to observe cultural currents – but to actively participate in them. e.l.f. was the first beauty brand on TikTok, operates its own channel on Twitch, and has built the most successful brand experience on Roblox.

rhode leverages its founder’s massive global reach – Hailey Bieber commands millions of followers worldwide, 74% of whom are outside the U.S. – and pairs it with a deliberately pared-down product aesthetic that resonates powerfully with younger audiences.

CEO Tarang Amin puts it plainly: “We don’t need focus groups. Our team is our community.” At e.l.f., 76% of employees are women, 74% belong to Gen Z or Millennials, and 44% come from diverse backgrounds. This composition isn’t diversity for diversity’s sake – it’s a strategic decision, ensuring the company spots trends as they emerge – not after they’ve been validated by conventional research.

Nick Vlahos, CEO of rhode, adds a concrete example: When the brand noticed consumers mixing blush with Barrier Restore Cream, its product development team responded immediately. The result? A hybrid blush combining skincare benefits with pigment. “We watch. We listen. Then we build,” says Vlahos. rhode’s own lab in Santa Monica makes this speed – from consumer signal to finished product – possible.

Disciplined Growth Over Pure Scale

The merger follows a logic that extends well beyond top-line revenue growth. Amin describes the approach as building a portfolio of complementary yet autonomous brands – all sharing one trait: rapid growth with significant further expansion potential. e.l.f.’s gross margins exceed 70%, and rhode was value-accretive to the combined entity from day one.

For rhode, the partnership unlocks access to physical retail. Prior to the acquisition, the brand operated exclusively via direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels. Its September 2025 launch at Sephora in the U.S. and Canada marks a strategic inflection point. Pop-up data shows that 60% of visitors had never purchased a rhode product before – a strong indicator of substantial untapped growth potential beyond its existing digital community.

The international outlook is especially notable. Already, 20% of rhode’s revenue comes from outside the U.S., while much of e.l.f.’s social media engagement is also international. Amin articulates the five-year ambition accordingly: global accessibility. With every retailer e.l.f. has partnered with over the past 18 months, it has launched as either #1 or #3.

AI as a Tool – Not an End in Itself

Both CEOs speak candidly about AI adoption – without falling into technological euphoria. Amin breaks down the approach into three dimensions: automating repetitive tasks so teams can focus on creative work; scaling content creation while simultaneously increasing personalization; and community management, where AI-powered systems handle first responses.

Vlahos emphasizes the analytical side – measuring marketing ROI, optimizing budget allocation, and enabling data-driven resource distribution. His framing is refreshingly pragmatic: “There’s always an adoption curve. The question is how you deliver today – and position yourself to accelerate tomorrow.”

This sober, grounded stance toward technology – not dismissive, not breathless – offers a useful compass for leaders far beyond the beauty industry. At a time when generative AI hype is driving cross-sector investment decisions, e.l.f. and rhode demonstrate that AI pragmatism beats AI activism.

Radical Transparency in Uncertain Times

How companies handle price increases serves as a litmus test for their relationship with consumers. e.l.f. has raised prices only three times in 21 years. When it announced a $1 increase in August 2025, it did so months in advance – across all social media channels. The response was 98% positive – because the explanation was honest and the community felt respected.

Vlahos applies a similar philosophy at rhode. Price hikes on lip products were justified by improved formulas – and communicated openly. Simultaneously, rhode is doubling down on multi-use products – like a Barrier Butter that both targets fine lines and carries the Eczema Association’s seal of approval.

This posture gains urgency against a backdrop of economic uncertainty and global tariff concerns. Consumers are making purchase decisions more deliberately. In that context, choosing transparency over obfuscation is an investment in long-term trust – a currency more valuable in volatile markets than short-term margin optimization.

Ownership Culture as Strategic Foundation

What Amin calls the “secret sauce” is, at its heart, a corporate culture that makes every employee a co-owner. Every e.l.f. staff member receives annual equity grants. This is reinforced by extensive training in teamwork and accountability. The result is an organization that thinks entrepreneurially, even though it has long since reached the scale of a publicly traded conglomerate.

Amin acknowledges this culture faces pressure under scaling: “Every acquisition must be more than a financial fit. It must align with our culture – and keep us agile.” Vlahos echoes the sentiment: “What got you invited to the party won’t keep you there.”

Both CEOs stress humility and curiosity – traits not always viewed as strategically relevant in boardrooms, yet ones that can make the difference between relevance and irrelevance in fast-moving consumer goods markets.

Lessons for Other Industries

The story of e.l.f. Beauty and rhode begins as an industry-specific narrative. But the strategic principles behind it are universally applicable. The idea that a company should mirror its community internally, rather than study it externally, translates just as readily to technology firms, financial services providers, or industrial enterprises.

The principle of translating consumer signals into product development – with the speed digital markets demand – is a challenge confronting virtually every B2C organization – and increasingly, B2B ones too. Any company still relying on six-month market research cycles while competitors respond to community feedback in real time will fall behind.

Equally noteworthy is how this merger was structured: not as an integration that absorbs the smaller brand, but as a partnership that respects the autonomy of both identities. That a publicly traded, billion-dollar company explicitly prioritizes respect for the founder’s vision speaks volumes about an evolving understanding of corporate combinations.

The central lesson for leaders across sectors crystallizes in Amin’s closing statement: “Build a team of owners, with a high-performance culture that mirrors the community you serve. And never lose sight of delighting your consumers – that is the strategy.” It’s a remarkably simple formula. Its consistent execution is what makes it hard.

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