Situation:

2022 was a landmark year for e.l.f., filled with breakthrough collabs, viral product drops and explosive digital moments. In January '23, e.l.f. saw an opportunity to start its year with a moment so disruptive, they'd outdo even themselves: an ad spot on the world's biggest stage: Super Bowl Sunday.

Brief:

With just three weeks until Game Day, e.l.f. enlisted us to spearhead creative from scratch: concept, script, cast, produce, shoot & edit the brand’s first-ever commercial, then amplify it with a “surround sound” integrated PR strategy.

Objectives:

To align with an iconic figure and pop culture heavyweight to create a viral moment for the brand, and a breakthrough moment for the beauty industry.

To develop a campaign that translated e.l.f.’s TikTok and Gen Z prominence for a mass audience.

To catapult the Power Grip Primer to the #1 SKU in mass cosmetics, and surpass 10 Billion earned media impressions.

Jennifer Coolidge receives a surprise delivery of e.l.f.'s new and famously sticky Power Grip Primer - but the application goes awry and chaos ensues! The creative rested on a well-known TikTok format: a direct-to-camera product test. It was designed to speak directly to e.l.f.'s social-fluent audiences, while relying on the singular pop culture prowess of Jennifer Coolidge to carry the comedy and resonate more broadly across generations and audiences. Utilizing Jennifer's brilliant brand of physical and self-deprecating humor, we created a universe where the product is so powerfully sticky, it overrides natural law, toppling an unsuspecting Jennifer in the process. And does she even care? Not at all! Because she looks amazing. We dialed up the camp, kook, and comedy to achieve an almost cartoonish, larger-than-life result that would resonate with the Super Bowl audience and breakthrough with consumers.

With Jennifer Coolidge's career peaking in her sixties, she was proving to be the stickiest, longest-lasting icon in culture. When she expressed her dream to play a dolphin, we saw an opportunity to once again move at the speed of culture, and attach Jennifer - literally! - to e.l.f.'s megaviral Power Grip Primer, helping her achieve #dolphinskin at the Super Bowl. By tapping Jennifer, we reached beyond e.l.f.'s typical Gen Z customer, sending the message: e.l.f. is for everyone.

The commercial was one component of a broader campaign; we made strategic choices to amplify our 30 seconds into a cultural moment. We pulsed out assets and information for a steady stream of news, and ensured every aspect of the campaign (talent, hero product, platform) had its own PR hook. We sent tailored pitches across verticals to ensure everyone received the message: the e.l.f. Power Grip Primer is sticky as f*ck.

Implementation: The campaign was designed to launch on social first, buillding buzz and anticipation across Instagram and TikTok leading up to Game Day. We parceled out bite-sized pieces of content, creating a hunger and a sense of mystery around first) our star talent and second) the creative content.

Timeline: The initial campaign teaser was posted on e.l.f. and Jennifer’s channels a week before the Super Bowl, followed by a “first glimpse” video shared by e.l.f. the day before the game. A different cut of the commercial was posted to the brand’s channel, giving social audiences the first tease of what was in store during the big game.

Placement: Seconds after the full-length Super Bowl commercial aired, we leveraged Jennifer's newly created TikTok account with posts to her channels. We utilized the collaboration tool on Instagram Reels, permitting the content to be posted simultaneously across both Jennifer and e.l.f.’s channels.

Media Outputs:

10 Billion earned media impressions in 24 hours; 57 Billion globally to-date

65 Million paid and organic media impressions in 5 days

Stories in WWD, The Cut, BoF, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, People, Vogue.com, AdWeek, AdAge, GMA3, Forbes, Access Hollywood, Yahoo! and more.

E! News: ”The best ad I’ve seen so far this Super Bowl!”

WhoWhatWear: “In true e.l.f. fashion, THIS IS ICONIC”.

PopSugar: “OMG, this partnership is so epic.”

InStyle: “This is so exciting! Our audience definitely loves Jennifer and e.l.f.!”

Fat Mascara Podcast: “OMG, genius casting & excellent creative.”

Allure.com: “I have fainted - love this.

RollingStone: "Dreams come true for The White Lotus star in this silly ad for e.l.f."

Yahoo!: "Her dream came true in this ad for e.l.f. cosmetics - Coolidge can do no wrong."

FoxNews: "It's not often you see a beauty brand in the super bowl and they did it in such a good way."

Target Audience Outcomes:

e.l.f.’s brand sentiment hit a February high on Game Day (82% positive), 10% points higher than previous Sunday.

Ranked 1st in audience sentiment of any celebrity Super Bowl spot

Ranked 5th in social mentions of any Super Bowl spot (only one in top #5 that wasn't a national buy)

Business Outcomes:

e.l.f. Power Grip Primer became first-ever primer in history to earn #1 SKU spot

1 primer is now sold every 3.5 seconds

460% increase in Amazon best seller rank in 24 hours

68% increase in new users to elfcosmetics.com (week-over-week)