Beauty brand L’Oreal swapped traditional advertising for real social media buzz to introduce its Pure Clay Masks – and got a 51% sales boost via Snapchat and other social channels.
Case study summary
• L’Oreal targets female millennials for new product launch with focus on Snapchat ahead of other social channels
• 500 “snaps” and stories were shared with hashtags #clayyourway and #multimasking
• To communicate that a free sample of the product was provided, Agents included the hashtag #gotitfree
• Saw a 53% increase in social conversations and 51% sales lift for Pure Clay products
The challenge
L’Oreal Paris UK wanted to amplify the audience reach of its new Pure Clay Mask skincare products, aiming at young women. As a result, the beauty brand partnered with influencer marketing firm BzzAgent to harness the power of social media on the mobile image messaging app Snapchat.
Snapchat is one of the fastest growing social platforms, and now the second most used platform after Facebook. It’s a particular favourite of female millennials, an important and hard to reach target for brands. The value for brands is that the quality of the content shared on the platform is excellent. Snapchat users are very creative with their “snaps”, telling stories with their photos, filters, animations and videos. It’s an ideal platform for brands who know how to embrace it.
The solution
From its global network of “everyday influencers”, BzzAgent – customer-science company dunnhumby’s advocacy platform – engaged more than 2,000 of its UK Agents in the campaign targeted at women aged 20 to 55 years old. It inspired them to pamper themselves by “claying the day away”, sharing photos, reviews and videos on Snapchat and other social-media platforms.
With an emphasis on Snapchat, more than 500 “snaps” and stories were created and shared before, during and after the users’ trials of the L’Oreal Pure Clay mask products, using the hashtags #clayyourway and #multimasking. To communicate that a free sample of the product was provided, Agents included the hashtag #gotitfree.
The results
Overall, the campaign was run across 6 social platforms and generated more than 5,800 pieces of engaging content, reaching more than 741,000 people. This resulted in a 53% increase in social conversations and drove a 51% sales lift for Pure Clay products (measured in a match market test conducted by IRI). The Snapchat activity was a major driver in the sales results.
“With its tremendous reach and high quality content, Snapchat is a highly effective addition to a brand’s influencer marketing strategy,” says Johanna Jones, Commercial Director of BzzAgent. “Creativity and authenticity are critical forces behind purchase behaviour for millennials, and BzzAgent taps into that across all social platforms with outstanding sales results. Crafting campaigns that emphasize Snapchat is an exciting step forward for our clients and our everyday influencers.”
“This was a fantastic opportunity for us to test Snapchat to drive consumer advocacy getting real people to snap and share their experiences of the L’Oreal Clay mask product” adds Becky Cutbill from L’Oreal. “BzzAgent is a key partner for L’Oreal and we’ll continue to explore Snapchat for everyday influencer campaigns in the future”.
