e.l.f.’s glow storm campaign delivers thunderous results

Weather’s influence on beauty and personal care is undeniable, affecting people’s decisions on everything from skin products to color cosmetics and shade ranges. In fact, eight in 10 women say they change their beauty routine based on the weather.

e.l.f. Cosmetics recognized this influence as an opportunity to communicate its brand purpose of unstoppable self-expression to a younger audience while promoting the restock of its popular Halo Glow Primer.

The company launched a weather-driven holiday campaign that would drive attention and sales by tapping into the relatability of weather to help people create dazzling holiday looks in any condition.

The e.l.f. Cosmetics campaign consisted of integrated creative experiences on The Weather Channel® app as well as its digital out-of-home (DOOH) inventory during December 2022. These units presented fun messages and animated images that promoted its Halo Glow Primer products and reflected the consumer’s weather conditions.

Copy and images were dynamically served to people in key designated marketing areas (DMAs) based on the time and whether conditions were clear, cloudy, rainy or wintery. Units appeared front and center in The Weather Channel’s Integrated Marquee, which seamlessly incorporated e.l.f.’s creative into the current hyperlocal forecast on the app’s home screen.

These weather-specific messages were extended across DOOH screens through Weather Targeting for DOOH via Vistar Media. Consumers in key markets would see e.l.f.’s messages during their daily routine through DOOH placements based on the current weather conditions in that location.

These DOOH screens appeared in pharmacies, outdoor urban panels, in taxi or rideshare vehicles, grocery stores, malls and more.

The campaign also featured pre-roll videos featuring popular singer, songwriter and influencer Meghan Trainor and presented in the style of a weathercast—titled “the radiance report”—forecasting an oncoming “e.l.f.ing glow storm.”

Videos were served to e.l.f.’s targeted consumers—women aged 18–48—on The Weather Channel app prior viewing video content.

Between display media and DOOH, the glow storm campaign delivered more than 15 million total impressions and a clickthrough rate of .48%.

e.l.f. Cosmetics increased brand awareness by 9.2% and purchase intent by 6.5% among women aged 25–34 by aligning its creative experiences with weather. Brand consideration improved to 8.9% higher than the industry benchmark.

The campaign also generated insights about the best times and weather conditions during which to reach consumers. Specifically, e.l.f. discovered that purchase intent grew by 17.3% when messages were presented during the daytime when conditions were sunny.

With these results, the forecast looks bright.

Or perhaps we should say, it’s glowing.