Too Faced has long been a cutting-edge leader in the beauty industry as it pertains to adopting first-to-market tech and spurring innovation across digital & social media channels. To further establish the brand as this category market leader while engaging our core audience in an inventive way, Too Faced partnered with Snapchat to participate in a brand beta test of their Virtual Try On technology,. We used this opportunity to launch our Born This Way Natural Nudes Eyeshadow Palette in an impactful and novel way. We worked with Snapchat to create a unique lens, which.enabled users to try on the palette and its various shades virtually, while following alongside a makeup tutorial led by Too Faced Beauty Director, Elyse Reneau. The activation married the experiential and the educational seamlessly; users were able to not only try on shades virtually, but receive in-app tools and tricks from Elyse to create a 360-experience. Our end goal with this Snapchat activation was not only to test a new piece of technology and continue leading innovation in the beauty industry, but more importantly to create a new experience for our customers that was equal parts engaging and educational.
The strategy behind this activation was especially relevant and timely given the onset of the pandemic. All in person makeup try ons came to a halt, with Sephora, Ulta, and department stores closed for months on end around the world. We wanted to provide our customers and followers with a way to still engage with our brand and our products the way they could have done in person. The VTO tool did just that: it enabled Too Faced to not only pilot test a unique and exciting piece of technology on a popular social media network, but it also allowed us to offer our customer a new way to interact with us during an uncertain and restricted time.
The results of this activation were above and beyond our expectations. We knew that our 2020 makeup launches were going to be challenging given the pandemic, but we never expected that this VTO lens would render our Born This Way Natural Nudes Eyeshadow Palette as the #1 Best Selling Makeup Launch in the US* of ALL prestige beauty brands nationwide.in 2020! Too Faced’s Born This Way Palette Lens was also named the #1 VTO lens within Snapchat during the Beta test.
*Source: The NPD Group, Inc./ U.S. Prestige Beauty Total Measured Market, Makeup Product Dollar Sales, Annual 2020
