The cosmetics industry has a history of promoting a singular standard of beauty. These images and spokespeople haven’t had a revolutionary change in over 40 years. As a result, many consumers don’t see themselves reflected in mass media and don’t feel included in the beauty conversation, although they love the category. As personal freedoms, gender norms, and individuality continue to be at the forefront of debate & cultural conversation, people are standing up for equality and are looking for brands that are inclusive, showcasing authentic diversity. It means that it is impossible to say one person or “look” is beautiful because there shouldn’t be an archetypal standard. We saw this as an opportunity to connect our brand mission; everyone can be a COVERGIRL, to what is going on culturally and inspire people through the launch of So Lashy! with #LashEquality.

To spearhead the campaign, Katy Perry posted a welcome message on Instagram introducing James, which was followed by a post to James and COVERGIRLs’ fan bases. COVERGIRL quickly became a trending topic, securing coverage from the New York Times, Allure and the Today Show among many others. To continue momentum, COVERGIRL leveraged a key retail partner’s flagship store in Time Square to announce the full talent roster through a Facebook Live event, and allowing fans to meet and greet their favorite influencers. A few months later, we inserted Lash Equality messaging in the official Grammy Snapchat Live Story to capitalize on the conversation around red carpet season. Throughout the entire campaign, we leveraged the voices and audiences of our COVERGIRLs, influencers and press partners to drive buzz and awareness. We also amplified the most successful press coverage via content syndication allowing us to garner a strong SOV against our competition.

-So Lashy! was THE #1 MASS MASCARA LAUNCH IN 2016 by wide margins (Nielsen xAOC week ending 12/24/16)

-In the final week of December, dollar sales were a 218 index to L’Oreal Feline (vs. their launch in August) and 206 index to Maybelline Push Up Angel (vs. their launch in September)

-EARNED 2.8 BILLION FREE IMPRESSIONS for COVERGIRL including coverage on Ellen, Good Morning America, ABC News, Daily Mail, Teen Vogue, Buzzfeed, Refinery29, Allure, Huffington Post, Ad Age and many more.

-Created an industry trend with the announcement of THE FIRST MALE INFLUENCER to become a brand ambassador, beating our competition by three months

-Content featuring So Lashy! influencers broke benchmarks with native digital partner Sharethrough with the HIGHEST ENGAGEMENT RATE EVER

-Paid Facebook/Instagram campaign featuring So Lashy! influencers MOVED AD RECALL BY 18 POINTS (Facebook Health & Beauty ad recall benchmark is 7.25 point)