Maybelline leveraged a mix of relevant trending content, TikTok creators, product consultations, and the full suite of TikTok Ad solutions to engage the beauty community on TikTok. The brand deployed short- and long-form videos on TikTok to turn its target audience into customers through its #WeAreMaybelline campaign.
Objective:
The shift to online shopping due to the pandemic became a challenge for Maybelline, as makeup purchases often rely on product trails, which are traditionally supported through in-store experiences. In response, the brand created a fully digital experience leveraging short- and long-form video on TikTok, one of the fastest growing entertainment platforms in Indonesia, and a platform where beauty is a rising category.
TikTok has become the holy grail for female beauty enthusiasts. Many women use TikTok to learn and explore beauty content, making TikTok the ideal platform to find the newest products, beauty trends, and content. The consumption of content from beauty creators more than doubled since 2021, and the beauty category is No. 3 on TikTok Shop — a platform that offers an end-to-end journey for beauty consumers from brand experiences (short TikTok videos and live streaming) to purchase. Furthermore, the potential of TikTok's social commerce live streaming as a channel for consumers to purchase was immense, growing by 70 percent annually. Maybelline also sought to boost its sales by utilizing the full suite of TikTok's advertising capabilities, features, and video formats.
Target Audience:
Maybelline's core target audience are females between 18 and 34 years old. They're interested in beauty and personal care, travel, news, and entertainment. For this campaign, the brand narrowed its target into three separate personas:
This target audience lives on TikTok and also aligns with Maybelline's followers, with 85 percent being between 18 to 34 years old.
Creative Strategy:
Maybelline created the #WeAreMaybelline hashtag challenge to engage younger consumers. It invited beauty enthusiasts and communities on TikTok to participate through trending Korean music and dances, a mukbang challenge to stress-test and prove Maybelline's long-lasting products, and by sharing videos submitted under the campaign hashtag.
The campaign attracted 20,000 beauty enthusiasts who shared their experiences using Maybelline's products, resulting in 1.1 billion views on TikTok. Beyond short videos, Maybelline also provided a live beauty consultation through TikTok Livestream. These long video sessions also provided customers with expert reviews, make-up lessons, product giveaways, and virtual activation, which further convinced consumers to purchase during live streaming sessions. Maybelline then provided a seamless purchasing journey through TikTok Shop, which enabled TikTokers to make a direct purchase in-app. Maybelline also leveraged the full suite of TikTok solutions, including infeed ads, TikTok Top View, video streaming ads, and live streaming ads, empowering the brand to reach 22 million beauty enthusiasts.
Context:
Maybelline wanted to provide an interactive online brand experience by leveraging short- and long-form videos. The brand recognized that its desired audience was spending more time online. With the growth of TikTok as a promising platform, especially with respect to the beauty community, Maybelline turned to TikTok to help the brand reach its target audience.
Overall Campaign Execution:
Through this campaign, Maybelline turned TikTockers into customers. The overall execution included:
The whole activation on TikTok was further amplified through a suite of TikTok ads solutions, namely Top View, infeed ads, livestreaming ads, and video shopping ads. These resources helped the brand reach more relevant audiences and drove a seven times return on ad spend (ROAS).
Mobile Execution:
The whole #WeAreMaybelline campaign commenced with the launch of short videos related to beauty trends that the target audience could participate in. The audience could further participate by sharing their own experiences with products. The campaign further utilized TikTok Live Streaming that provided consumers with expert reviews, make-up lessons, live consultation, product giveaways, and virtual activations, which further convinced consumers to purchase during live streaming sessions.
Maybelline took it to the next level by activating the TikTok Shop feature and boosted it via video shopping ads, making the videos shoppable and reachable by an even wider audience on TikTok. Through TikTok innovations like live shopping ads and video shopping ads, the demand for Maybelline products on TikTok Shop increased by 166 percent compared to the previous period. The campaign also successfully drove sales growth by 100 points.
Maybelline's campaign demonstrated how short- and long-form video can drive awareness, community engagement, and tangible business results:
