Why Glossier Used Empty Movie Theater Marquees for its Latest Campaign

Glossier’s latest campaign is the opposite of Taylor Swift’s T-shirt in her “22” music video—it definitely has “a lot going on at the moment.”

The beauty industry disruptor is celebrating its signature “Lash Slick” mascara’s success with a campaign centered around positive reviews-turned-UGC. Look out for those reviews...

• In a series of “movie trailers”—running both digitally and on linear TV—starring celebs like Saturday Night Live’s Ego Nwodim and improv actor Catherine Saint Siena
• And out of home (OOH) installations on marquees and poster boards at nine indie movie theaters in cities like NYC and LA

Each trailer tells a short story inspired by a reallife product review, spanning genres like romcom and anime, with the faux movies being promoted outside said theaters.

Big (moving) picture: While we’re major SNL fans here at the Brew, it’s the movie theater strategy that caught our eyes. What gave Glossier the idea to seek out cinema billboards as an OOH platform?

We chatted with Glossier SVP of Marketing Ali Weiss to find out

Just as we suspected—the entire “Lash Slick: The Movie” campaign was inspired by the OOH opportunity.

• “One of our directors of marketing was brainstorming about new media ideas for this period of time. And it occurred to her that this would be a really exciting opportunity,” Weiss told Marketing Brew.
• Glossier was specifically excited to “partner and support businesses that were struggling” during the pandemic while simultaneously furthering its marketing goals.

Zoom out: Crafting an entire omnichannel campaign around a creative OOH opportunity might seem surprising…if not for some recent data:

• 45% of 2,058 US adults reported noticing OOH advertising more than they did pre-pandemic, per a Q4 2020 Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA) survey.
• Targeting major cities like NYC and LA for the OOH placements makes sense, too—a separate survey conducted by OAAA in January found that 55% of adults living in cities with more than one million people are noticing more OOH messaging today, as compared to 41% of the general population.

Looking ahead

If you’re inspired by this campaign and now want to hunt down an OOH platform for yourself, Weiss suggests you look no farther than outside the window.

Weiss said she thinks there are “underutilized spaces” outside, like parks, that marketers can tap into, “especially as we come out of this phase of bad weather and [...] people feel a bit more comfortable doing socially distant outdoor meetups.”

On testing theories: If you’re wondering whether a creative OOH idea would really work metrics-wise for your brand, Weiss says to ask yourself the following questions:

• What's the length of the impression? Are they seeing it quickly as they pass by in a car, or for longer while approaching a large installation on foot?
• How many people will likely see this?
• How does the experience impact the person walking by? Does it bring a moment of joy to their day? Will they share that moment of joy with those around them as well?

The UGC of it all

Glossier is famous for centering much of its marketing strategy around user-generated content—after all, this campaign was inspired by customer reviews for its mascara.

But wait, there’s more: The buck doesn’t stop there—the millennial pink icon is using the UGC-based OOH installations as a way to create future UGC. 

Weiss told Marketing Brew that she likes to think of OOH as an engagement point, not just an advertising touch point to optimize impressions.

• “So for example,” she explained, “when you have someone who is part of the Glossier community walking down the street by an independent movie theater that they used to support, and they see that we are advertising on their marquee and their poster boards, and they post a picture of that on social media, that’s amplification to that person’s circle of influence.”
• Glossier can then use that image from a fan’s social media account as even more UGC down the road. A domino effect, you might say.

Bottom line: As the weather gets warmer (and vaccinations continue), more people will presumably be venturing outside—aka where movie theaters live. Glossier is taking advantage of that.