The brand had to overcome two main problems. First, typically, launch events happen before the product is available in stores for purchase, significantly limiting the connection for consumers.
Second, most celebrity launches are local events with limited results.
As a category leader, Maybelline assumed that the launch of its new product should be made at a larger scale. The new product should reach women across all China. So Maybelline decided to break the limits and create an unique experience for its customers by giving them what they wanted – the possibility of purchasing the product right from the start by creating a live-streaming app.
It was the first time a brand combined two components: live-streaming and immediate sales.
The live-streaming app shortened the purchasing process from weeks to a single click.
They live-streamed the event with the largest mobile platform possible in China – Alibaba’s Taobao.
Any beauty invitation on the platform had a pop-up window leading to the event. So, by making this live-streaming of the event, each viewer got engaged into the event.
Maybelline really broke its sales record for lipsticks on the platform – at 10 times daily average orders. 6 million women watched the event launch, commenting in excitement – I want that lipstick. Fulfillment of this features was a total frenzy. Maybelline sold 10,600 Lip Flush Oil lipsticks, breaking its lip product
The digital campaign also increased the sales in offline stores with 50 percent.
Maybelline is fighting a battle for winning women’s hearts locally but also globally. Even though the launch events were meant to get a great impact, the brand intended to make ecommerce history in launching a new lipstick in China. In addition, they nailed it for real. How to transform a live stream event into the biggest cosmetic shopping event? Well, by using mobile technology and Alibaba’s platform Taobao. The target of the mobile platform was to reach women across all China from the first day of the product launch, right from the start.
