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In some ways, beauty brand Merit delivered the Gossip Girl<\/em> revival that HBO didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n A recent \u201cget ready with me\u201d video featuring actress Kelly Rutherford\u2014known for playing Lily van der Woodsen on the mid-aughts CW show\u2014is now Merit\u2019s most-watched, most-liked TikTok video to date, with over 9 million views and more than a million likes.<\/p>\n The idea was to tap into customers\u2019 sense of nostalgia, CMO Aila Morin told us, which falls into the brand\u2019s larger strategy of listening to audience interests. As a makeup brand that promotes ease of use, Morin said a big focus is providing an antidote to pain points, something that \u201ccan be so lost [in marketing] today,\u201d and connecting with audiences directly.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just creating stories that really make sense for the consumer and are relevant for our consumer, and knowing who they are,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat are the things that [create] nostalgia for them? What are the things that are inspiring or make it easier to get ready? What are the fashion brands that have resonance? And finding how to put a voice to that in a way that feels really relatable, frankly.\u201d<\/p>\n The Kelly Rutherford video isn\u2019t the first time the brand has gone viral organically: Last summer, Merit\u2019s TikTok video about the release of its Solo Shadow eyeshadow product also did numbers, and Morin said it\u2019s essentially become \u201ca case study for what we\u2019ve always done, but in a really clear way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we really set out to do was make an incredible product and then make you feel something about it,\u201d Morin told Marketing Brew. \u201cThere was no traditional viral playbook; there were no celebrities, no gimmicks, and I think it resulted in a really strong emotional connection with the brand.\u201d<\/p>\n The company says that sales of Solo Shadow totaled $1 million in the two-week period following the post\u2014a single Solo Shadow retails for $24\u2014and, Morin said, the product \u201crevived the single-eyeshadow product category, which hadn\u2019t had much movement in many years,\u201d especially compared to larger palettes. She added that the brand has \u201cseen sustained brand awareness\u201d as a result of the Solo Shadow campaign.<\/p>\n Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe put nothing behind the Solo Shadow video or the Kelly [Rutherford] video,\u201d Morin said. \u201cIt was just content that was relatable, so it took on a life of its own.\u201d<\/p>\n Merit has tested organic content since before it went live in 2021. According to Morin, the brand created a mood-board-themed Instagram account before the brand had a name; the account was \u201cessentially a way for us to test customer sentiments [and] gauge what was important to our community\u2026prior to launching the brand.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBy the time we launched,\u201d Morin said, \u201cwe had more than 10,000 Instagram followers, which gave us an immediate community to learn from and scale the brand off the jump.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Morin, Merit has \u201cjust as many customers who are over the age of 55 as are under the age of 25\u201d on its DTC site, but what unites that wide demographic is an interest in storytelling. That strategy was apparent in the Solo Shadow campaign, though she noted that there\u2019s no \u201cvirality playbook\u201d or silver bullet.<\/p>\n \u201cI think [Solo Shadow] was a story that really resonated with the consumer, as opposed to feeling like it was manufactured,\u201d Morin said. \u201cAnd it came out of their insights, so it felt really real.\u201d<\/p>\n Morin is a firm believer in \u201cnever getting stuck on one thing\u201d or over-relying on any one strategy: 80% of the brand\u2019s marketing budget is spent on \u201cwhat works\u201d and 20% is spent on \u201ccrazy bets,\u201d she said. Despite recent success on social, she ensures customers are also being reached offline, whether that\u2019s via direct mail, newspaper ads, or OOH activations.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, multi-touchpoint has always been most successful,\u201d she said, later adding that \u201cit\u2019s that 360 experience that really results in conversion and business growth.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s, in part, why she\u2019s not holding her breath for another organic, viral video anytime soon.<\/p>\n \u201cI think lightning only strikes once, so it\u2019s continuing to have that mentality of working with amazing talent, testing different things, and focusing on what we\u2019re delivering that\u2019s different in this incredibly oversaturated industry,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s really what cuts through the noise.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nFresh and organic<\/h2>\n
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