Michele Gauthier, vp, production, Americas, Shutterstock StudiosIn an industry built on transformation, beauty brands are facing one of their biggest reinventions yet. Costs are rising, consumer attention is fractured and once-reliable formulas for growth are losing traction.Shutterstock’s 2025 Creative Impact Report shows global marketing spend is up 33% since 2023, while purchase intent increased just 17%. The increase in the impact on purchase intent hasn’t kept up with the increase in spend, so while marketers are spending more, it’s not paying off proportionally, resulting in a 12 percentage-point gap.To further illustrate this, if a brand sees a 12% drop in creative impact, followed by another year-to-date 8% drop, that doesn’t mean they saw a 4% improvement. Instead, it means they’re operating at a nearly 20% cumulative impact deficit from where they were previously. Ultimately, it signals a failing strategy where brands pay much more for much less of an effect.The 12 percentage-point gap highlights that higher brand spending doesn’t lead to more engagement. But it also points to a solution: creativity itself. Done right, creativity isn’t a luxury — it’s the key to growth, trust and long-term brand resilience.To thrive in 2026, beauty brands need to reframe ROI, make AI work for people (rather than the other way around), replace influence with authenticity, rethink the customer journey, address the problem with performance metrics and build trust through education and empathy. Reframe ROI: Fewer assets, bigger impact Shutterstock’s report tells a clear story: The industry’s impact score (a measure of how…
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