In a recent study by AARP, 81% of women over 50 said they felt pressure to look and dress younger. Laura Geller Beauty has long aimed to build a supportive and safe community for mature women in a society where aging is often associated with negative and inaccurate stereotypes. In 2022, the brand created National Mature Women's Day (NMWD) with the National Day Archives to take place every year on April 9th to honor the beauty of aging alongside an age-based discount on their website.
To celebrate National Mature Women’s Day in 2024, Laura Geller Beauty teamed up with comedian Leanne Morgan for their new 'Own Your Age' campaign. The hilarious campaign explores the different facets of aging, the pressures older women experience to keep up with younger generations, and aims to create a positive discourse around embracing the age you are now. A comedic video was leveraged across the brand's social channels and digital platforms and featured women 40+ delving into humorous ways in which older women try to look and act younger. Within, Leanne Morgan portrays an Age Empowerment Coach working with these mature women to own their age. Tangible consumer incentives, such as the age-based sale for the third consecutive year also reinforced NMWD and the campaign.
The core idea for Laura Geller Beauty’s Own Your Age campaign emerged from a deep understanding of our audience—women over 40, particularly those 50 and older—who often feel overlooked by beauty brands and the media. Recognizing its desire for authenticity and age inclusivity, the brand built a campaign that empowered women to confidently embrace their age. By combining humor and relatable messaging with comedian Leanne Morgan, Laura Geller Beauty shifted perceptions, fostered community, and reinforced the brand’s commitment to mature beauty.
In line with the campaign's ethos, Laura Geller Beauty for the third year in a row offered their annual sitewide age-based sale for one day only. Discounts started at 40% with increments corresponding to age (i.e. if you're 52, you get 52% off, etc.) by entering your email, address, and birthday on laurageller.com on April 9th. Additionally, the brand introduced an 'Own Your Age' makeup kit featuring their best-selling Best of the Best Baked Full Face Palette, Jelly Balm Hydrating Lip Color, and the Angled Kabuki Brush.
The main marketing vehicle for Laura Geller Beauty’s creative was the campaign video featured as a post on social media. Ideally, the customer path would click on the website from social media, or a media article, where they would see the campaign featured on the homepage, and be taken to a dedicated landing page to understand more about the brand, the campaign mission and age-based promotion. The video was also featured on television and on Meta and TikTok as paid media for additional exposure. The campaign video embodied the brand’s message that while mature women are striving to remain relevant, it's okay to own and act your age. The video was supported with still imagery, graphic assets, additional behind-the-scenes content, and on-trend TikToks created by Leanne Morgan on the shoot day.
The activation strategy was a blend of digital and traditional channels. Laura Geller Beauty ran a robust social media campaign, spearheaded by 89 posts on Laura Geller Beauty channels and 4 additional posts on Leanne Morgan’s channels, amplified further through paid social media and television advertising. The brand’s website was upgraded with assets including homepage and secondary homepage banners, a dedicated landing page, email sign up pop-up for the age-based discount, and an enriched product detail page featuring a limited-edition Own Your Age Kit created for the campaign. Email marketing was a core component; through dedicated emails and SMS, the brand nurtured relationships with existing customers, aligning with our CRM program. Influencer collaborations, through support videos, bolstered the social proof, inviting a broader audience to engage with our brand. A press release and targeted media outreach were deployed to secure coverage in relevant publications, enhancing brand visibility and credibility.
The results from this campaign were substantial, achieving significant year-over-year growth across all channels compared to last year's NMWD campaign on the same day featuring comedian Ali Wentworth in a similarly hilarious campaign video. From April 8th-9th, 2024, email sign-ups surged, with total users increasing from 15,000 in 2023 to 44,731 in 2024, and new users growing from 4,603 to 18,382—marking a 193.3% increase in acquisition. Website traffic also spiked by 235% on launch day. Campaign sales from April 9th-30th saw a 176% boost year-over-year. Additionally, the age-based sale, supported by email marketing and SMS, successfully drove website traffic and engagement, delivering a 10.11% conversion rate.
Social engagement skyrocketed, with total engagements increasing from 14,844 in 2023 to 99,656 in 2024, and the average engagement rate (ER) rose from 1.27% to 1.87%. Earned media impressions doubled from 1.1 billion in 2023 to 2.2 billion in 2024, while video views grew exponentially from 165,581 to over 7.3 million. Social paid ads performed strongly, with the click-through rate (CTR) rising from 1.26% in 2023 to 1.48% in 2024, alongside a significant jump in impressions from 10.3 million to nearly 24 million. Additionally, television paid ads brought in 23 million impressions, further amplifying brand visibility. Notably, 76% of the limited edition makeup kit sales came from new customers, underscoring the campaign’s success in reaching a fresh audience.
