CASE 77 / e.l.f. Cosmetics / 2019
Eyes. Lips. Face.
Give people a creative format that also teaches a brand memory cue.
AI-assisted research and analysis for the SNS Creative Fieldbook
Sources reviewed 2026-11-05
Campaign credits belong to the original creators. They did not write or endorse this analysis.
Credits: Movers+Shakers for e.l.f. Cosmetics; original music by iLL Wayno with vocals by Holla FyeSixWun; creator-seeded TikTok participation.
Recognition: The broader e.l.f. TikTok program won TikTok Presence at the 2021 Shorty Awards. That recognition covers several initiatives, not this challenge alone.
Launch / edition: 2019. Award years: 2021.
The problem. The idea. The experience.
e.l.f. wanted stronger cultural relevance with younger consumers and better recognition of what its initials meant.
How the idea came to life
The brand commissioned a song and invited people to interpret an Eyes, Lips, Face challenge, launching on October 4, 2019.
How it reached people
Creator participation seeded a TikTok format that ordinary users and some unsolicited celebrity participants could adapt.
Supporting sources: Primary agency case → Primary award entry →
Read the data in context.
The numbers below describe different kinds of outcomes. Their date, scope and reporting source are part of the result.
- Reporting period
- Cumulative total in later award entry
- Scope
- Participation count; not unique customers
- Evidence
- Source-reported; not independently audited here
The later award entry reports five million user-generated videos and seven billion views for EyesLipsFace. Its larger ten-billion-view figure covers multiple e.l.f. campaigns and is not assigned to this one.
The creative mechanism.
Original music tied to the brand name, with room for personal interpretation
The mnemonic can be the entertainment
A name, sound or ritual can become part of what people enjoy repeating. The useful design question is whether the creative cue remains recognizable when a participant changes everything else. That creates consistency without demanding identical content.
Lower the effort to join
Participation grows more plausible when a person can understand the task immediately and use what they already have. A format that requires professional production or a complex purchase journey will exclude many potential contributors. Simplicity is a design choice, not a guarantee of virality.
Leave room for identity
A challenge is more inviting when participants can show something of themselves. A rigid choreography or scripted message may make people feel like distribution units. Provide a clear starting point while allowing choices in expression, setting and interpretation.
Popularity needs message testing
A widely used sound can travel far beyond the intended product context. Check whether people connect it to the right brand and understand the intended cue. Otherwise the campaign may create an entertaining cultural asset with weak commercial ownership.
The intended behavior loop
- 01Hear a memorable sound
- 02Understand the simple creative invitation
- 03Make or watch an interpretation
- 04Recognize the brand cue through repetition
- 05Recall the brand in a relevant purchase situation
Growth job: Easy participation → repeated brand cue → cultural familiarity. This is an interpretation of the mechanism, not an audited attribution model.
A direction to take into the room.
Original editorial interpretation and proposed adaptation. This is a proposed adaptation, not historical campaign execution or a forecast.
The transferable principle
Create a simple participation format around a distinctive, useful brand cue and test brand recognition as well as participation.
Keep these boundaries
Do not assume a branded song will go viral, reproduce licensed music without rights or attribute all later company sales growth to one challenge.
Turn the lesson into a test.
Illustrative adaptation, not a historical campaign fact
A small-team experiment
A small language-learning brand commissions a short original sound around one memorable practice ritual.
Build the test
- Secure music and creator rights for intended uses.
- Test whether people understand the prompt without explanation.
- Invite a small group to make different interpretations.
Measure the right thing
Measure correct brand association and voluntary participation, then compare with a simple instructional post.
Know when to stop
Stop if the sound spreads but loses the brand connection or the prompt excludes the intended audience.
How this reading fits your brief
Start with the useful part.
Best for: Easy participation → repeated brand cue → cultural familiarity
What to adapt: Give people a creative format that also teaches a brand memory cue.
Prerequisites: Creator contracts and usage rights; Clear sponsorship disclosure; Product and factual review; Defined measurement window.
Smaller-team route: Create a simple participation format around a distinctive, useful brand cue and test brand recognition as well as participation.
Budget: Not established by the cited public sources. No cost-fit claim is made.
Trade-offs and evidence: Read the limits below before choosing a test. There is no guaranteed reach, sales lift or ROAS.
Questions for your next brief
- Which cue is distinctive enough to survive remixing?
- Can someone join without a production team?
Sources & further reading.
Brand and award-entry results are attributed claims, not independent causal audits. Source links open the original third-party pages.
- Movers+Shakers: Making of the e.l.f. TikTok challenge →Primary agency case · Supports: Exact launch date and original creative premise.
- Shorty Awards: e.l.f. Cosmetics’ Innovation on TikTok →Primary award entry · Supports: Challenge-specific reported results and broader-program award scope.
Independent educational analysis of external campaigns. These are not SNS client projects, endorsements or claims of involvement. Campaign facts and reported outcomes are attributed to their sources. Explanations, adaptations and test plans are original analysis and hypotheses, not proven causal findings.