5 beauty ads we love & what brand builders can learn from them

As a multi-billion dollar industry, beauty brands are all the rage.

After a brief blip during COVID-19 when skincare marketing shrank, the beauty industry is back in full swing again, with new products constantly launching by giants like L’Oréal and Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty to smaller DTC brands across the world.

The beauty market—which includes haircare, skincare, fragrances, cosmetic products, and makeup—created a whopping $430 billionOpens in new tab in revenue, and is expected to grow to $580 billion by just 2027.

The numbers for beauty ads also represent a pretty penny, given that it’s one of the most competitive sectors worldwide. In fact, industry dataOpens in new tab shows that $7.7 billion was spent on advertising beauty products worldwide; in just the U.S., it was around $373 million—and it’s likely to keep increasing.

Tracksuit data shows that in the American female population, the skincare category is growing, now sitting at 79%. Over the past 6 months alone, it’s grown by 2% - that’s 2.1 million more humans who are willing to or actively purchasing skincare products! The UK skincare market has similarly seen 2% growth.

As for the makeup and cosmetics category, this is currently sitting at 68% penetration - that’s almost 7 in 10 American adults who are willing to purchase.

To stay relevant in a cutthroat market, beauty brands need to make sure they’re reaching their target audience where they’re most active so they’ll be top-of-mind when the consumer makes a purchase.

That’s why beauty ad campaigns have moved away from primarily focusing on channels like magazines, newspapers, and TV to having a stronger focus on digital and social media campaigns, the latter of which accounts fo almost a third of product and brand discovery in the U.S.Opens in new tab

Whatever approach you use, the core of great brand management is that your beauty or cosmetics brand makes a real, emotional connection with your followers. Your brand should humanize your company, forge a connection with potential customers, harvest existing demand, and perhaps more importantly, grow future demand.

Sounds like a tall order and looking for inspo for your next beauty ad campaign to tick all these boxes? You’re in luck: here are 5 beauty brands (that’re also Tracksuit customers!) with marketing and ad campaigns we’re loving.

Dermalogica’s “Skin, We Treat it All” Video Ad 📹

Skin, We Treat It AllOpens in new tab

Dermalogica’s marketing campaign—with the above video ad featured centrally throughout the campaign—clearly positions Dermalogica as more than just a product line.

The ad, shot from the perspective of one of Dermalogica’s Professional Skin Therapists, shows several real people with real skin problems achieving results through the state-of-the-art, high-quality products Dermalogica offers. The products are highlighted both visually and through crisp audio, along with the users commenting on its texture, giving viewers a visceral impression of the skincare.

But above all, Dermalogica’s philosophy can be clearly felt in just 30 seconds: there’s a strong focus on innovative, science-based skincare, but the human touch is still central. And at the end of the day, a human-centric brand always wins.

To back this up, Tracksuit data shows that Dermalogica is leading its category in the statements ‘Is more natural than other brands’ and ‘Is known for its treatments and services’.

Michiel Tops, Australia’s Head of Marketing, says the Statements tab on the Tracksuit dashboard (which tracks the brand’s key value props it wants to align itself with) is of most value to Dermalogica AU for strategy setting, as brand positioning is a key focus for his team.

tbh Skincare’s Limited Edition “tbh x Matildas Pimple Patch” TikTok & Instagram Campaign ⚽

Source: InstagramOpens in new tab

We’re a huge fan of the Aussie skincare brand tbh Skincare, which offers a range of products like SPF, moisturizers, and cleansers that primarily target acne.

In May 2024, the brand launched a limited edition pimple patch, a collaboration between tbh and the Commbank Matildas, the Australian national women’s football team—and we can’t get enough of the product and campaign.

This was a clever campaign that capitalized on consumer knowledge of the Matildas, since in 2023, Matilda was named Australia’s word of the yearOpens in new tab after the team won the hearts of virtually every Australian in the Women’s FIFA World Cup. By identifying a collaboration opportunity with a culturally significant brand topping the charts in positive sentiment, tbh proved itself a cool brand that lives in the spaces their target market is playing in.

But that’s not all: the custom-designed pimple patches and brand campaign assets use the team’s iconic colors (plus the pimple patches are shaped like a football). The campaign was also timed to launch during the football season, with tbh running a giveawayOpens in new tab allowing followers to win passes to the team’s games in Adelaide & Sydney.

Watch the reel.Opens in new tab

Plus, some of the organic video content featured Charli Grant, one of the Matildas players—a perfect way to get extra eyeballs on the product launch.

Supergoop’s Unseen SPF Digital Campaign 😎

If you ask us, “The best SPF you’ve never seen” is a genius slogan for Supergoop!’s new Unseen Sunscreen.

The company launched its first digital media brand campaign globally back in 2021 with the Good Morning Supergoop! campaign, utilizing a mix of organic and influencer content, display, paid search, and digital video.

Watch the reel. Opens in new tab

Now a household favorite, the Unseen Sunscreen Instagram campaign is short, sweet, and to the point. With bold, stunning visuals, it’s instantly clear why it’s practically invisible, while doing a flawless job of catching the eye.

The copy on the Instagram post is succinct, but highlights the benefits and features of the sunscreen and makes it clear it can be used as part of your makeup routine. In our books, it’s a super good job by Supergoop!

We’ve been tracking the funnel metrics and brand perceptions of Supergoop! and a range of other suncare brands over the past twelve months and have seen some strong upwards shifts in awareness across the board - those summer months are calling and suncare brands are ramping up their brand marketing activity!

Bondi Sand’s Technocolor Face Serum UGC Campaign 🧴

We love user-generated content since it can help potential customers build a stronger connection with the brand and provides a more authentic feel. Here’s how it worked out for Bondi Sands.

This Australian brand is best known for their self-tanning skincare products, and everything about their brand oozes sunny beach days. With the launch of its Technocolor Self-Tanning Face Serum, the brand utilized UGC and collaborated with different influencers, many of whom explained the product’s benefitsOpens in new tab.

But its most popular UGC video? At just a few seconds long, it's a lip-sync video that showcases the before and after of using the self-tanning serum. With over 325,000 views as of May 2024, this shows that sometimes simplicity is indeed the best.

And the proof is in the pudding (or maybe in this case, lotion) because Tracksuit data tells us that Bondi Sands has been steadily growing its awareness across all three of its key markets, the US, UK and Australia.

Sol de Janeiro’s OOH Campaign 🛫

For beauty brands with more ad dollars, take note of Sol de Janeiro’s brand awareness campaign. The Brazilian beauty company launched an OOH media campaign across several European airports during winter, which likely played a role in the 189% growthOpens in new tab for the brand.

Sol de Janeiro used digital space on various airport screens, had brand ambassadors and models offer free products, and even provided a Wishing Wall display where visitors could make a wish and receive a free branded bracelet.

Through these multiple touchpoints, this OOH campaign perfectly bottles up the joyfulness and philosophy of the brand, creating an invaluable moment for brand awareness.

The finishing line 🏁

We hope these ads have helped spark some creativity so you can grow your brand and build future demand. But if you’re going to launch a campaign, it’s critical that you determine what success is to know if you’ve achieved your results. And while it may seem tricky to quantify the impact of brand marketing, Tracksuit makes it possible with our beautiful, always-on brand tracking software.

We’re helping ambitious beauty brands around the globe grow by tracking all their fundamental brand metrics (and those of their competitors) in our easy-to-use dashboard that’s updated in real time.

We know your brand would look even hotter in a Tracksuit dashboard. So let’s grow a world class together. Request a demo.