Creator marketing has become increasingly transactional. Partnerships are often built around tightly scripted deliverables, leaving little room for authentic storytelling or meaningful relationships. Creators say they prefer long-term brand partnerships, and brands that invest in consistent creator relationships of 12 months or more see engagement rates up to 300% higher compared to short-term campaigns.* The creator economy has become overly focused on #sponcon, over-briefed for brand messaging, and too transactional.
eos saw an opportunity to take a different approach.
The beloved Gen Z beauty brand has built its cultural relevance through genuine relationships with creators and community members who love eos products and consistently advocate for the brand. As the creator economy becomes more performance driven, eos wanted to invest in something deeper: long term creator relationships fueled by inspiration, education, and access.
To do this, eos launched Scent & The City, its first ever creator trip, bringing ten fragrance obsessed eos creator “besties” to New York City for a multi day immersion into the world of scent.
The goals were to:
• Strengthen long term relationships with core creator advocates
• Inspire creators’ passion for fragrance through hands-on education and expert access
• Equip creators with knowledge and experiences that elevate their fragrance storytelling
• Generate authentic, organic creator content fueled by genuine inspiration vs contractual deliverables
• Reinforce eos’ community-first creator strategy while driving measurable social engagement and earned impact
To build lasting creator relationships, eos focused on delivering something creators rarely receive from brands: meaningful value.
Rather than designing a trip around content production, eos built an experience around creative inspiration, fragrance education, and access to industry experts. To preserve authenticity, creators were not contracted to produce content. Instead, eos focused on providing value through unforgettable fragrance experiences, access and education, trusting that genuine inspiration would naturally translate into storytelling
Ten long time eos creator advocates across Gen Z and Millennial audiences were invited to New York City, eos' homebase, for Scent & The City, an immersive exploration of fragrance designed to deepen their connection to scent and strengthen their relationship with the brand.
The experience was structured around three strategic pillars:
Fragrance education
Creators visited one of eos’s fragrance houses for an inside look at how scents are created. They participated in a hands on “Be the Perfumer” workshop, explored the science behind fragrance composition, and engaged directly with industry perfumers. Creators also joined a high tea and meet-the-perfumer fireside chat at Laudree where they enjoyed one-on-one facetime with master perfumers in the industry.
Creative inspiration
A scent layering masterclass led by a Scent Sommelier showed creators how eos body lotions can be paired with fine fragrances, transforming body care into a fragrance ritual and giving creators new storytelling angles for their audiences.
Trend and Content Insights
Creators participated in a trend discovery session with Pinterest, exploring emerging fragrance and beauty trends and how they can translate those insights into compelling social content.
Throughout the experience, eos intentionally designed moments that encouraged connection among creators, the brand team, and fragrance experts. No detail was overlooked. Personalized touches and creative surprises at every step made the experience feel special, turning the entire trip into a series of photo worthy moments creators couldn’t help but share. Importantly, creators were not required to produce content during the trip. By prioritizing value and inspiration over deliverables, eos created the conditions for authentic storytelling and deeper brand advocacy.
Scent & The City proved that investing in creators’ passions generates stronger and more authentic brand impact.
Although creators were not contracted to produce content, the experience inspired significant organic storytelling and delivered outsized results.
The ten attending creators generated:
• 90+ organic posts across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube
• 2.7M+ earned/organic social impressions
• 328K+ engagements
• $476K EMV
More importantly, the relationship building objective delivered lasting impact.
Creators continued producing eos content months after the trip, including collaborative posts, fragrance reviews, and themed content inspired by the experience. Several creators documented the trip through long form YouTube recaps and vlogs, extending the storytelling beyond the initial event.
Creator sentiment reinforced the strategy’s success. Attendees described the experience as one of the most thoughtful brand trips they had attended, highlighting the focus on fragrance education, creator diversity, and genuine community building.
By investing in creators’ growth and passions rather than transactional deliverables, eos strengthened long term advocacy while generating powerful organic reach. It continues to pay off dividends today.
*2023 Study Later Media
