Inside the Creative Engine: How e.l.f. Beauty Campaigns Get Made
A conversation with our Chief Creative Officer about how campaigns are built at e.l.f. speed and rooted in culture and heart to resonate with our community.
When we said Zero Distance, we meant it.
All of the e.l.f.z have been reading your comments, so this week, we’re going to answer a question that surfaced again and again.
A reader named Karen asked: “What I would really like to know is how do you come up with such ICONIC campaigns/play on words just your creativity in general where does it come from <3 its mind blowing.”
Community resonance is our fuel. The e.l.f.z create everything with a whole lot of heart and requests from e.l.f.ies often shape creative briefs.
The short answer? We do it together as One Team, One Dream. The longer answer is where the real mechanics come in.
Behind every bold idea is a team of e.l.f.z working at what we call e.l.f. speed (i.e. extra fast) to delight our community and move culture forward with positivity, inclusivity and accessibility. Our Marketing team sits at the intersection of speed and culture, turning real-time insights, community feedback and bold ideas into campaigns that are uniquely e.l.f.
From product launches to creative campaigns, we listen to our community, pressure-test ideas and push forward with our bold, disruptive and kind-hearted persona.
So, how does it actually happen? Ashley Rosebrook, our Chief Creative Officer, takes us under the hood to show how e.l.f. campaigns come to life, from the first spark to the moment it hits the world.
Here, she answers what inspires us, the fastest idea that ever came together and walks us through our recent collaboration with Liquid Death.
e.l.f.itor: I’m e.l.f.ing excited to bring you a question straight from our readers! One reader asked how we come up with such iconic campaigns. Where do you look for inspiration?
Ashley: We’re endlessly inspired by what’s happening in culture, and specifically, what’s resonating with our community. Our community of e.l.f.ies fuel us every day with their ideas — and their humor. They’re so clever with not only what they say, but how they say it. We get a lot of inspiration from the collective voice of the e.l.f.ies.
e.l.f.itor: How do you know the idea is sticky?
Ashley: Our ideas are always rooted in insights, and pattern disruption is in our DNA. We look at how our community behaves, what they crave and why.
The question we always ask ourselves is “what makes an idea ‘e.l.f.only’ in a way that only e.l.f. could and would do. When an idea is firmly rooted in an observation and brought to life in a way that’s culturally relevant, with the e.l.f. disruptive spirit and relatable humor, it’s emotionally resonant with our community, and therefore, shareable. That’s sticky.
e.l.f.itor: How does the team function? Is it an open forum for ideas or what role does collaboration play?
Ashley: We’re a highly collaborative culture and we move at the speed of culture. We have an abundance of “yes” energy. Our mantra is “anything is e.l.f.ing possible.” The team lives by this mantra, and our speed is part of the magic.
We don’t overthink. We’re direct communicators who highly value our relationships with each other. Those are key ingredients for a collaborative culture that can move at the speed of culture.
e.l.f.itor: Walk us through a recent campaign, like our latest collaboration with Liquid Death. For those unfamiliar, we recently partnered with Liquid Death for a second time to create Lip Embalms inspired by their popular drink flavors. It’s also paired with the return of Glothar, the death metal star featured in our first collab. This time, he’s serving death to chapped lips with a catchy musical PSA.
So, how did it come to be and what inspired the sequel?
Ashley: We’re always looking to collaborate with like-minded disruptors, and the Liquid Death team is a bunch of maniacs. We were inspired by how they brilliantly flipped the water category on its head, so naturally, we hit it off. We wanted to connect our communities with the wildly unexpected.
The sequel was inspired by the communities of both brands. Chapter one left them thirsting for more. Chapter two was influenced by Liquid Death’s innovation in new flavors, which we translated to “Lip Embalms.” The packaging was brought to life with iconic design and elevated execution.
The campaign video concept was the brainchild of Liquid Death’s creative genius, Andy Pearson. Continuing Glothar’s family storyline made perfect sense for our continued collaboration — and the connective storytelling brings the community along the journey.
e.l.f.itor: What are your non-negotiables to make a campaign happen?
Ashley: Any campaign we create must have the “e.l.f. did what?!” energy. Expect the e.l.f.ing unexpected.
e.l.f.itor: One reader asked us how fast we come up with campaigns and drops. The short answer is e.l.f. speed, of course, but what is your favorite or proudest campaign moment?
Ashley: I always go back to our first Big Game spot with Jennifer Coolidge, when we turned the entire project in two weeks with our agency partners, Shadow. That was one wild e.l.f.ing ride, and I loved every minute of it. That campaign was a turning point for the brand, and it’s a key example of how e.l.f. disrupts norms, shapes culture and connects communities.
We listened to our community and knew they loved the makeup-gripping “stickiness” of our Power Grip Primer. We connected that community truth with the data point of women making up almost 50% of viewers watching the Big Game. [e.l.f.itor Note: Women make up 46% of viewers, according to Forbes.]
e.l.f. has always had an underdog spirit at its core, and we love to punch above our weight class, so the Big Game was a goal for us. One part of our Purpose is empowering women, and we champion all generations of female talent. This was true with Jennifer Coolidge, as well as when we cast Judge Judy (who was 81 years young) in our second Big Game spot. To do this in a forum that’s been historically male-dominated was an intentional statement.
That campaign had all the ingredients of an e.l.f. moment: Deeply rooted in insights and data, of-the-moment cultural relevance, championing women…all while animating the key benefit of our “sticky” Power Grip primer in a way that was unexpected and hilarious.
That was the ultimate example for me of e.l.f. showing up loud and proud with the big guys.
e.l.f.itor: What’s a lesson you’ve learned in Creative to share with the community? How do you keep moving forward onto the next idea?
Ashley: I’m big on connecting disparate thoughts and ideas into constellations. “Constellationing” is my intention word in life. Our Chief Marketing Officer, Kory Marchisotto, whom we call KBO$$, is a master of the art of constellationing, and I love experiencing the way her brain makes constellations on the daily.
There’s no place like e.l.f. for championing this type of creative thinking because it’s who e.l.f.is as a brand. We draw unexpected connections and bring them to life in a way that’s “e.l.f. did what??!” But then you realize, it makes perfect sense.
e.l.f.itor: What’s one word to describe your team of creatives?
Ashley: I call the e.l.f. creative team “The e.l.f.telier” because the art of craft is of utmost importance to us, but it’s equally important that we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
Our purpose is to see, speak and feel e.l.f. And what’s more fun than that?
For someone in PR and comms, there is so much good stuff here from a case study perspective. Thx for sharing!
I saw first hand how Ashley and the e.l.f.z. through talent, really hard work and under crushing timelines somehow pull out superior output that fuels e.l.f. campaigns. Ashley leads with grace and humbleness. Keep going Ashley!