e.l.f.: Turn brand recall into customer participation

Study the Eyes. Lips. Face. campaign’s music, accessible participation and brand cues, then design a small-brand shade-swatch experiment.

Beauty brands often lead with ingredients and features, while people may first remember a way to express themselves. e.l.f. put eyes, lips and face into music, giving audiences a format they could join.

This article analyzes a documented historical campaign. Use it to design a seven-day shade-swatch experiment and collect your own participation and feedback, not to expect billions of views from a hashtag.

Make participation easy to understand

The featured link is a hashtag page, not one fixed video. Start by asking whether participants can immediately understand the task: eyes, lips and face connect the brand name with a repeatable musical and action framework, while looks, people and expression can vary. A stable format reduces entry cost and flexible elements permit individuality.

The analysis concerns campaign design. Historical totals of over four billion views and 2.8 million user videos are campaign-level figures, not one brand video or proof that each submission earned revenue.

Test the rules before scaling a challenge

Invite a few authorized creators to test one task, such as three steps for a commuting makeup look using suitable products. Give identical action and delivery requirements without standardizing faces, skin tones or aesthetic choices. Check whether they can shoot without extra explanation and whether the product’s role is visible.

Music rights must cover the territory, platform and commercial use. A song used in the original campaign is not automatically licensed for your ad. Start with licensed music or original sound and state reposting, attribution, reward conditions and deadlines.

Measure useful participation

Track people reached, submissions, usable footage and complete permissions separately. If volume is high but usability low, improve the example and rules. If participation is low but quality good, improve the brief and recruitment. Attribute sales through trackable destinations rather than treating lively comments as purchases.

01 · Put the figures in their historical context

The brand’s December 16, 2019 release states that the song launched with #EyesLipsFace in October, with over 2.8 million user-created videos and over 4 billion challenge views. The work involved Movers+Shakers, music professionals and a record-label partnership.

These are historical campaign figures, not one account or video’s result, and not proof of entirely organic reach. Without the brand’s backend data, participation cannot be converted into buyer counts.

02 · Give people a format, not an ad to recite

Three elements connect: the words in the brand name provide recall, music provides rhythm, and personal expression provides variety. Different people can use the same structure without memorizing a product pitch.

Small brands often demand complicated actions, overly scripted ads or lack a stable brand cue. Make one action easy and leave room for individual expression. Do not reuse the original song, slogan or creator footage as your own commercial ad.

03 · Start with one gloss in three everyday settings

Suppose you sell three lip-gloss shades to English-speaking commuters. Use “Which one are you taking today?” across work, weekend coffee and an evening outing. This is our original exercise, not a reconstruction of campaign footage.

Make three demonstrations with yourself or consenting creators. Each follows choose a shade → real application → overall look, then asks for the viewer’s occasion. Keep shade labels, packaging close-ups and the ending consistent instead of filling the frame with logos.

04 · Shoot a 15-second demonstration

0–3s: show three shades. “One bag. Which shade?”
3–8s: pick one, show its label and actual application.
8–12s: lip close-up and overall look under consistent lighting, preserving texture.
12–15s: “Workday or weekend?” with the shade clearly labeled.

Lock exposure and white balance; avoid beauty filters that alter color. Label results on different skin tones separately. One swatch does not prove all-day wear or universal suitability. Use music with appropriate commercial rights; trending audio is not automatically cleared for ads.

05 · A seven-day experiment

Day 1: organize shades, verified product facts, assets and the product page; choose one audience.
Day 2: shoot three demos and ask an uninvolved viewer to identify the product and shade.
Days 3–5: publish the same structure with different occasions or hooks. Invite willing participants through appropriate channels without spam.
Day 6: collect questions about color, texture and skin-tone fit, then film answers.
Day 7: review useful participation and product inquiries before planning another round.

For gifts or payment, define deliverables and permissions. Customer submissions cannot be reused in paid ads without the appropriate separate permission.

06 · Give AI a precise brief

I sell lip gloss internationally. Market: [country]. Audience: [specific group]. Product and shades: [verified information]. Supported claims: [evidence-backed facts]. Assets: [list].
Plan a seven-day experiment: three 15-second demonstrations, two comment-response videos and one submission brief. Include English hooks, Chinese translations, real actions, captions, shade-label placement and calls to action.
Use a natural voice without copying e.l.f. lyrics or music, promising virality or inventing feedback. Add no unverified wear-duration, medical or skin-improvement claims. Include product-page shade questions and fields for a review sheet.

07 · Look beyond hashtag views

Track your own posts, unique participating creators, licensed submissions, useful shade questions, product visits and attributable orders separately. One person posting three videos is still one participant. Do not invent total hashtag views from incomplete public data.

□ The demos share recognizable brand cues.
□ An ordinary viewer can understand how to participate after one viewing.
□ Lighting and shades are honest, with supported claims.
□ The product page contains matching swatches, shipping and returns.
□ Submission and music permissions are traceable.

Low participation calls for simpler actions. High participation with weak recall calls for stronger shade and packaging cues. Repeated questions without orders call for better product-page answers.

Practical extension · Standardize the swatch setup

Show packaging/shade, a daylight hand swatch and application on a consenting model. Follow the label and do not share used lip applicators. Lock exposure and white balance where possible and retain an unfiltered reference.

Skin tone, natural lip color and displays affect appearance. Explain variation instead of universal flattering claims. Keep light consistent and avoid presenting retouching as product efficacy.

Test whether people understand the participation task

Give three volunteers one brief: use the shade in a work, evening or weekend setting. Define product, duration, rights and honest-review rules rather than a long identical script. Ask them to restate the task before shooting.

Track completion, brand recognition, real questions and clicks. A major campaign’s historical hashtag scale is not your pilot benchmark. Add shade detail when scenery overwhelms the product, and request concrete usage observations when every contribution sounds identical.

Original work and data sources

Visit the brand channel or official campaign

View the featured work or campaign page

Read the official source cited in this article

Sources checked on September 26, 2026. Historical figures retain their original reporting dates. Views, submissions and revenue are different measures. These are overseas reference brands, not our clients or partners.

Apply the case to your business

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Practical exercise: make one piece you can review

If I launched lip makeup abroad, my first piece would answer only “how lighting affects the shade.” Prepare same person before use, one application, daylight close-up and removal. Fix framing, distance and lighting; number the raw files in shooting order and retain records for any material, specification or performance claim. This is my adaptation exercise, not the account’s internal data or a frame-by-frame recreation.

On Monday, choose one visual question from ten customer questions. Shoot the evidence on Tuesday. Edit two versions on Wednesday, changing only the first three seconds and keeping the body, captions, duration and ending stable. Check that the task is clear without sound and captions match the footage. Remove unfilmed claims rather than fabricating evidence with AI.

You are my overseas short-video content assistant. Product: lip makeup. The single question is: how lighting affects the shade. Target country: [fill in]. Audience: [fill in]. Real specifications and limitations: [paste]. Available footage: same person before use, one application, daylight close-up and removal.
Provide two opening hooks for the first three seconds and one shared 20–30-second shot list. For every shot specify timing, raw asset, action, English caption and Chinese explanation. Use only supplied evidence; invent no specifications, sales figures or guarantees. End by inviting interested viewers to provide skin tone, shade and desired use. List missing assets and review questions; ask me about gaps instead of filling them in.

Publish the two openings on Thursday and Saturday and compare equal 48-hour windows: views, available viewing metrics, profile visits and qualified inquiries. Qualify inquiries by whether they include skin tone, shade and desired use; a compliment is not purchase intent. Small samples indicate a direction, not a guaranteed winning hook, and differences in traffic sources belong in the review.

If views produce no inquiries, check whether the ending gives a next step and the landing page explains price and delivery. If the same question recurs, film a real demonstration answering it. A completed first week has traceable raw footage, two versions differing in one variable, a working destination and a table of actual observations. Someone else’s follower count is not your acceptance criterion.