In the mercurial world of the beauty industry, launching a new product is trickier than applying eyeliner in the back of a moving Uber. With trends changing almost overnight, brands are increasingly realising that standing out requires more than just a good formula.
This is why when Urban Decay brought their Face Bond foundation to the UK, they didn’t rely on the same tired old traditional marketing. Instead they hired We Are Collider to create a multi-layered experiential marketing campaign designed to be seen, shared, and most importantly, remembered. Drawing on our MARVELS™ framework, we pulled out all the stops. From CGI-driven storytelling to influencer collaborations and interactive billboards, every touchpoint was crafted to build engagement and excitement.
Creating a launch that would leave a lasting impression
Urban Decay had a challenge: translating their US success into something that would work across the pond. Luckily, We Are Collider could act as the perfect interpreter, crafting a carefully orchestrated three-phase experiential marketing campaign that would create maximum buzz across multiple platforms in a way that spoke directly to its target audience.
Rather than a single splashy event, we rolled out the brand activation in stages, with each one building anticipation and deepening engagement. Through this multi-touchpoint approach, Urban Decay created a launch that felt both high-energy and considered, something that played perfectly into consumer expectations for modern beauty brands.
Sociality in action and the power of influencer marketing
Influencer marketing is nothing new, but execution makes all the difference. Urban Decay didn’t just send out products and hope for the best; they turned unboxing into an event in itself. In the run-up, 650 high-impact PR kits landed in the hands of beauty influencers, each styled like a glossy magazine and featuring a shade swatch book showcasing all available shades. Alongside it, each influencer received a bottle of product that had been shade-matched to them prior to sending. The result? Authentic, engaging content that was perfectly tailor-made for social sharing.
This is a textbook example of our MARVELS™ Sociality lever at work. By integrating influencers into the brand story in an interactive way, they created a social moment that felt exclusive, yet inclusive. At its core, Sociality is about feeling part of a tribe. Urban Decay’s campaign worked because it tapped into that innate human desire to connect, encouraging influencers and their audiences to engage, discuss, and ultimately become part of a larger beauty community. A sense of togetherness around a product will always help a launch go from a simple promotion into a shared social experience.
The Exchange lever of MARVELS™ also played a key role. The influencers were gifted a personalised, content-ready moment that encouraged deeper interaction. This reciprocity led to a wave of organic social media buzz, amplifying the campaign far beyond paid advertising.
From LA to London—by CGI hot air balloon?
Great campaigns tell stories; we’ll always bang this drum. Urban Decay leaned heavily into this idea by creating a playful CGI-driven narrative around the product’s journey from LA to London. The visual hook? A hot air balloon transporting Face Bond across the Atlantic. It also played directly into the Magic lever of MARVELS™, which focuses on creating a sense of excitement, and memorability. The CGI approach made the launch feel bigger than life, sparking curiosity and reinforcing the idea that this was no ordinary foundation release.
Revamping an old marketing favourite. Try-before-you-buy!
Getting a product into consumers’ hands is one of the most effective ways to drive sales, but how you do it matters too. Instead of relying solely on standard samples, Urban Decay took product trialling to the streets with interactive billboards. Strategically placed in high-footfall shopping areas, the adverts featured real Face Bond bottles, allowing people to get shade-matched by professional make-up artists before dispensing their own samples from the billboards. Each visitor walked away with their perfect shades and a QR code to purchase the full-size product online.
This is where our Labelling lever of MARVELS™ came into play. Every element of the brand activation, from the bold, high-impact billboards to the personalised consultations, reinforced Face Bond’s premium positioning. Consumers were engaging in a high-value beauty experience aligned with Urban Decay’s identity. The Exchange lever was also key here. Instead of a boringly passive sample handout, consumers had to actively participate, engaging with the product, learning about its benefits, and forming a personal connection. This increased the likelihood of conversion, as people had invested real time in the experience.
The result was that Urban Decay’s launch didn’t end up as another faceless beauty campaign. Rather than relying on one channel, its brand activation combined digital and physical touchpoints, ensuring visibility across different audience segments. The influencer unboxings built credibility, the CGI storytelling created anticipation, and the interactive billboards gave consumers hands-on experience. Each element played a role in creating a launch that felt fresh, engaging, and (most importantly) effective.
As Miranda Anthony, Senior Advocacy & Media Manager at Urban Decay’s parent company L’Oréal, put it:
“We’re really pleased to have worked with We Are Collider on this innovative three-phase campaign. As an important UK launch to drive Urban Decay’s credibility in the complexion space, I have no doubt that their creativity and vision for this campaign will engage our audience.”
For brands looking to make their next brand activation unmissable, the lesson is clear: it’s not what you launch, but how you launch it. By creating experiences that invite participation, spark conversation, you can ensure your product makes a lasting impact.
See more of our work here: https://wearecollider.com/projects/
