Ulta Beauty Sees Growth in UB Media Brand Partners, Pilots CTV, Audio & Luxury Private Marketplace
For the past few years, Ulta Beauty’s retailer media network (RMN), UB Media, has worked to leverage the retailer's proprietary data to enhance brand partner campaigns through personalized advertising across a variety of channels.
"Designed to drive both Ulta Beauty and brand growth, UB Media fuels product discovery among beauty enthusiasts and delivers measurable results for brands," Erin Houg, VP of media, CRM and personalization, Ulta Beauty, told the Path to Purchase Institute.
P2PI recently chatted with Houg to discuss a variety of topics, including the RMN's growing brand partner list and in-store retail media capabilities; the retailer’s unique, multigenerational shopper base; and UB Media piloting CTV, streaming audio and a luxury private marketplace.
P2PI: How has UB Media evolved since it launched?
Houg: Since launching in 2022, UB Media has seen strong continued growth. Today, more than 300 brands — nearly half of the brands we carry at Ulta Beauty — advertise with us, and that number continues to grow. In fact, we saw a 20% year-over-year increase in brand partners in 2024, and we’re on pace for strong growth in 2025.
P2PI: UB Media started out with a focus on off-site solutions and has now expanded to on-site solutions. Can you tell me a bit about this?
Houg: UB Media initially focused on off-site advertising solutions — digital campaigns delivered outside of Ulta Beauty stores to reach guests through online channels, including mobile apps and web platforms. These off-site solutions allowed brand partners to engage Ulta Beauty shoppers wherever they browse and buy beyond the physical store.
However, our capabilities have expanded to include on-site placements, unlocking even greater visibility and relevance for brands aiming to reach beauty lovers where they shop. With this growth in both off-site and on-site, we now have greater flexibility to tailor when, where and how often our brands’ ads are seen, maximizing relevance and impact across the full shopper journey. We've also enhanced our measurement capabilities to include more granular omnichannel reporting.
P2PI: Can you walk us through your new digital store capabilities? How does the in-store environment fit into the company's overall retail media strategy?
Houg: UB Media is currently exploring digital in-store capabilities. In-store digital capabilities can enhance the overall retail media strategy by offering brands targeted advertising opportunities that align with guests' in-store shopping experiences. While I can’t share many details yet, we are exploring optimal digital screen formats that deliver our brands’ messages to our guests in a seamless manner and plan to pilot new capabilities this year.
P2PI: Can you tell me a bit about what the retailer's shopper base looks like and what makes it unique?
Houg: What sets UB Media apart is our deep understanding of the beauty industry and the beauty enthusiast. UB Media provides access to Ulta Beauty’s more than 44 million Ulta Beauty Rewards loyalty members (the largest loyalty program in beauty) and rich first-party data, enabling precise targeting and effective campaign personalization.
One key aspect of Ulta Beauty’s retail strategy is our unparalleled product breadth, value and convenience. With the widest assortment available at every price point, Ulta Beauty caters to multigenerational guests across all beauty categories, from cosmetics and fragrance to skin care, hair care, and wellness products, as well as salon services. And our shopper base not only varies in age, but also what brands they tend to purchase. We often see our guests shopping a mixed bag of brands – the same guest that splurges on a luxury fragrance might also purchase mass cosmetics and prestige skincare products.
With data spanning transactions across channels, categories, price points and age groups, we have a competitive advantage in the beauty retail media space. Our focus is on scaling the monetization of this unique member data to create value for both Ulta Beauty and our brand partners.
P2PI: Is there anything unique about the beauty category and the typical Ulta Beauty shopper that influenced UB Media's solutions?
Houg: Our deep understanding of our guest — the beauty enthusiast — shapes every aspect of our approach, including how UB Media connects brand partners with our deeply engaged audience. Our solutions are designed to foster meaningful connections that feel personal, authentic and relevant to each beauty journey.
Our ability to tap into Ulta Beauty’s rich proprietary data, gives us the largest beauty database in the U.S. and allows us to deliver precise targeting and personalized advertising that resonates with real beauty preferences and purchasing behaviors. We meet guests both on- and off-platform, tailoring campaigns across their shopping journey for a full funnel impact. From on-site to social, all UB Media touchpoints allow us to overlay our first-party data for increased targeting precision to maximize campaign efficacy.
P2PI: Can you speak to any areas of opportunities or interest UB Media is exploring for the future?
Houg: While we have a strong foundation, we know it is critical to continue to enhance our retail media network in a way that works hardest for our brand partners. As such, we have exciting plans to expand into new channels for immersive 360-degree brand experiences. For example, we’re currently piloting connected TV (CTV) and streaming audio to reach guests while they are highly engaged.
We’re also piloting a luxury private marketplace so brand advertising, powered by our data, shows up in the most premium and relevant sites. And, we have future aspirations to introduce more opportunities with social influencers and digital in-store — all designed to enhance brand visibility and guest interaction across diverse media landscapes.
P2PI: When it comes to challenges of working with retailer media networks, measurement gets called out a lot. There are efforts to tackle this issue currently, but what is the approach to measurement at UB Media?
Houg: We offer closed-loop reporting, providing brands with detailed insights and performance data to clearly understand campaign effectiveness and return on investment (ROI). This includes a deeper look at true sales impact, along with valuable beauty category and consumer insights to fuel strategic planning efforts.
We’re proud to be the first beauty retail media network to offer omnichannel reporting with Meta, a significant advancement in early 2024. In addition, we’re piloting a self-service reporting portal that will provide brands with real-time access to campaign results, enhancing campaign effectiveness and ROI through detailed insights and performance data.
P2PI: What are some other challenges you see in the retail media landscape currently?
Houg: Since we’ve already touched on measurement as a key challenge, another important issue in the retail media landscape is the lack of standardization across platforms. Without consistent metrics, it’s difficult for brands to compare performance or understand true attribution of sales and brand impact.
At UB Media, we believe we stand apart from big-box RMNs because we’re a specialty retailer that lives and breathes the beauty category. We’re not just tapping into a massive dataset of more than 44 million Ulta Beauty Rewards members, but we’re also committed to showing our brand partners the real business impact of their campaigns. Through strategic partnerships and robust analytics, we deliver actionable insights and deeper transparency to help brands make smarter media investments.
P2PI: What do you wish more brand partners would do or consider doing when running retail media campaigns?
Houg: I would say it’s always important for brands to start with a clear understanding of their goals — whether it's driving awareness, conversion or something in between. We put together bespoke strategies focused on what each brand wants to accomplish with their media investment so aligning on goals early is important. We see ourselves as a branded house of brands and when our partners win, we win too — so we’re deeply invested in campaign success.
P2PI: What advice do you have for a marketer just starting out in retail media? What guidance do you have, especially those working in small- and medium-sized businesses?
Houg: For marketers new to retail media, especially those in small- and medium-sized businesses, my advice would be to focus on understanding your target audience deeply. Leverage retail media networks like UB Media for our precise targeting capabilities and closed-loop reporting to optimize campaign performance.
We encourage our brand partners to start with on-site sponsored search. From a product standpoint, the easiest entry point is within on-site sponsored search to help guests navigate your product. However, our most effective campaigns are reaching valuable beauty enthusiasts across the funnel, with campaigns inclusive of social, video and on-site placement. So, I would say to always embrace innovation and explore new digital channels to maximize your brand visibility and engagement.
