Beauty is inherently tactile. Any beauty lover can tell you about when they first found their holy grail product—the first time they smelled their signature scent or saw the pigment of a favorite lipstick on their skin. But these moments are rarely initiated from a shipping box, typically happening IRL while exploring products in store with others who share their passion.
This absence is especially evident on Amazon Prime Day, a cultural moment driven by discounts and convenience, but devoid of the joy, experimentation and discovery of beauty shopping.
So, as THE leader in beauty, Sephora saw an opportunity: invite beauty lovers to reimagine what “delivery” could mean. We had a bold idea: earn share of voice and traffic on Amazon Prime Day, ensuring Sephora was top-of-mind during the year’s biggest Ecommerce shopping event outside the holidays.
Our KPIs:
Steal Share of Voice: Generate 150M media impressions for Sephora during Amazon Prime Day
Increase Brand Love: Increase Brand Love by 5+ pts in the brand health tracker vs. prior period
Drive Foot Traffic: Drive increased foot traffic to Sephora stores vs typical store traffic
Our research revealed a crucial tension: While Amazon wins on convenience, only 30% of beauty buyers are excited about their deliveries vs. 70% of beauty buyers being excited about their Sephora delivery.
The insight? The real “value” in beauty isn’t just about discounts; it’s the curated assortment of trusted products with expert advice from knowledgeable beauty advisors. Amazon’s Prime Day was Sephora’s chance to reinterpret “delivery,” transforming it from a transactional moment to an immersive experience by delivering beauty lovers to Sephora stores to get beauty from people who actually get beauty.
So, our strategy was to flip the script on “delivery” during Prime Day. Instead of scrolling our phone screens to pick-up unexciting essentials, we’d make delivery personal by delivering people to the heart of beauty—Sephora stores—where the real magic happens.
It was a bold idea, and we knew we couldn’t do it alone. Recognizing that only a mobility leader could amplify our reach and deliver real-world excitement at scale, we sought out Lyft to partner with us to bring this idea to life. Lyft, via their Lyft Ads, was the perfect partner for both its mass reach/popularity and values alignment with Sephora – their purpose to serve and connect aligning perfectly with Sephora’s “We Belong to Something Beautiful” brand messaging.
So, the “Sephora x Lyft: Delivered to Beauty” partnership was born. Sephora teamed up with Lyft Ads to kick-off consumers’ beauty journey in-app with video content and map takeovers. Lyft offered promo codes and discounted rides to beauty lovers in major cities across the U.S., turning a simple trip into a bold activation. Sephora-stripe-wrapped vehicles rolled through Seattle, San Francisco, NYC, LA, and Chicago, even pulling up cheekily outside Amazon HQ. Our goal was to create an unforgettable real-world experience via a memorable, joy-filled activation that brought fans out from behind their screens and into our stores. Stores welcomed “Get Delivered” participants with samples, exclusive promotions, and the VIP treatment only Sephora can offer.
To integrate the activation further, we connected digital buzz with in-person discovery by integrating social activation, influencer participation, and live events. We amplified reach beyond the participants with creators and influencers sharing moments of discovery. Social chatter took off as fans posted about their beauty adventures, while PR and media coverage amplified the story, making it impossible to ignore.
Sephora and Lyft’s close partnership in the execution phase was key to bringing this idea to life. Sephora provided the concept and creative, and Lyft Ads worked closely with Sephora to execute in local markets.
Altogether, this partnership with Lyft reasserted Sephora’s role as a destination for advice, experimentation, and product discovery—the qualities that make Sephora unique and irreplaceable in the beauty retail landscape.
Overall, the “Sephora x Lyft: Delivered to Beauty” partnership was a massive success. By integrating Lyft Ads’ digital expertise with Sephora’s in-store experience, we created a cultural moment and retail result neither could have achieved alone.
These outcomes far surpassed our goals for media buzz, brand love, and foot traffic during Prime Day.
In the end, Sephora and Lyft were the talk of Prime Day—not by chasing discounts, but by redefining what it means to deliver joy, expertise, and human connection, the real tenets of the beauty experience.
