What Beauty Campaign Was Particularly Innovative?
In the ever-evolving beauty industry, campaigns that break the mold capture our attention and set new standards. We've gathered insights from CEOs and Founders to recall the most innovative beauty campaigns they've encountered. From Dove's self-empowerment message to Billie's challenge to body hair stigma, here are four standout campaigns that left a lasting impression.
- Dove's Self-Empowerment Message
- Drunk Elephant's Interactive Launch
- Benefit's Inclusive Beauty Campaign
- Billie Challenges Body Hair Stigma
Dove's Self-Empowerment Message
I've always loved the Dove Beauty Campaign; it really stands out as an innovative force in the beauty world. The message of self-empowerment is so inspiring, reminding us all that we're beautiful at every stage of life. It's such a great reminder that true beauty comes from confidence!
Drunk Elephant's Interactive Launch
As co-founder of Glow Therapy, I found Drunk Elephant's "Break the Cage" campaign particularly innovative. They built suspense for their product launch using cryptic social media posts with locked cages and keys, challenging followers to guess what was inside. This creative approach generated excitement and curiosity in a memorable way.
For example, as a D2C brand focused on light therapy masks, we launched our latest model with an unboxing campaign. We shipped masks early to select influencers and had them post reaction videos as they opened the new package for the first time. Their genuine surprise and delight upon seeing the product for the first time helped to convey its luxuriousness and premium quality to their audiences.
As a brand in a niche space, using social media in creative ways is key. Finding opportunities for customers to experience and interact with your product through social campaigns or influencer partnerships helps to raise brand awareness and foster loyalty in memorable ways that traditional ads do not.
Benefit's Inclusive Beauty Campaign
As a boudoir photographer, I found Benefit Cosmetics' 2016 'The Bold Is Beautiful Project' particularly innovative. They featured relatable role models of diverse ages, backgrounds, and abilities in their ads to promote self-love and crush unrealistic societal beauty standards. The campaign featured women with cerebral palsy, prosthetic limbs, and albinism, highlighting their stories of resilience and confidence.
By using real women with inspirational stories instead of models, Benefit forged an authentic connection with customers and took a meaningful stance on inclusivity. The relatable messaging and empowering tone resonated deeply with their target audience and allowed Benefit to position themselves as a socially-conscious, purpose-driven brand.
The social strategy was also smart. Benefit created the #TheBoldIsBeautiful hashtag to spread user-generated content and foster community. Followers shared photos of what made them feel bold and beautiful, allowing Benefit to strengthen brand loyalty by facilitating an important conversation.
This campaign was memorable because it felt genuine. Benefit understood that women want to see realistic, inclusive representations of beauty. Featuring diverse, inspiring women in their marketing helped establish Benefit as a leader in empowering their customers.
Billie Challenges Body Hair Stigma
The launch of the hair-removal brand Billie instantly comes to mind. It was 2017, and traditional razor brands were still perpetuating the idea that body hair on women is unhygienic or unsightly—commercials showed women 'shaving' already-bare legs and armpits!
Billie not only featured women removing real body hair but also made it clear with their messaging that their products are all about choice: there when folks want to remove their hair, but also proudly pro-body hair. Any time a brand uses a campaign to challenge the status quo—especially when the status quo makes a group of people feel shame—is a win in my book.
