‘You say it, we create it’: How Saie seized on another brand’s creator opportunity

Over the last three years, creator Hannah Chody has tried many times to find a perfect dupe for Tom Ford Beauty’s Cream and Powder Eye Color in the shade Golden Peach, which was discontinued in 2023.

She’s tried around 50 dupes over the course of her search, documented on TikTok for her more than 288,000 followers. Over the years, many commenters wondered whether Tom Ford Beauty would jump on the opportunity to relaunch the product or collaborate with Chody. Chody told Allure in 2024 that she had reached out to the brand but hadn’t heard back.

“I’ve tried to get in touch to no avail, but I’m here! I’m patiently waiting,” she told the magazine at the time.

Chody may not have convinced Tom Ford Beauty to bring the shade back, but beauty brand Saie decided to seize on the opportunity.

In collaboration with Chody, the team at Saie created a rose-gold shade of its SuperSuede Baked Eyeshadow called Bellini, which officially debuted last month. Prior to launch, Saie received more than 7,500 waitlist sign-ups, and when the shade became available on Sephora’s website, it sold out in 12 hours. Since then, more than 1,300 people have signed up for restock notifications, according to the brand.

Laney Crowell, founder and CEO of Saie, told Marketing Brew that the interest far exceeded the brand’s expectations, and that the popularity of Bellini has also created a halo effect for Saie, driving a 305% sales lift across the brand’s other core shades.

“The results were just so incredible,” Crowell said. “There was a magic to this. It’s not going to be easily replicable.”

Sometimes, it seems, one brand’s loss is another brand’s gain. We spoke with Crowell about what went into the campaign and the benefits of finding untapped brand opportunities.

No shade

Crowell became aware of Chody’s dupe journey the same way many other people did: on her TikTok feed. Throughout Chody’s search for the perfect dupe, Crowell said some people began tagging Saie in the comments; at the time, though, Saie didn’t have an eyeshadow. Once the team decided to enter the category, Crowell said she immediately got in touch with Chody.

“I said, ‘I know this is kind of fast timing, but I’m actually going to Italy to where we make the product. Do you want to come with, and we can actually develop the shade in person?’” Crowell said. “Hannah, being such a perfect partner, was like, immediately yes.”

Crowell said Chody was involved in creating and naming the Bellini eyeshadow over the course of a month and through multiple rounds of product testing. When it came time to release the product, Crowell said it became clear that Chody wasn’t the only person looking for a Tom Ford dupe.

“While we forecasted this as a quite big launch,” she said, “we underestimated the demand.”

Sip, sip

To roll out the campaign, Saie worked with Chody to promote Bellini on her owned channels. One of the most successful online activations came from a Sephora-hosted TikTok Shop Live event, which set a record for the highest unit sales of any featured Sephora brand to date, the company said. In total, the Live generated 6.5 million impressions, 89% of which were new viewers, according to Saie.

“The conversation started on TikTok; that’s where the majority of [Chody’s] followers are,” Crowell said. “When Sephora came to us with the TikTok Shop opportunity, it just made perfect sense.”

Offline, Saie also created bellini-making kit mailers and hosted events in New York with Chody where people could try the product in person (and, of course, sip on bellinis). In Austin, where Chody lives, Saie also put up a billboard with the tagline, “All eyes on Hannah Chody.” The creator’s posts about the billboard and about the eyeshadow launch have generated millions of views on TikTok to date.

“What was really part of the secret sauce to how successful this campaign is is how engaged [Chody’s] community is,” Crowell said.

Saie is continuing to work with Chody to create content, particularly around restock updates, but Crowell is not under any presumption that this is a campaign that can be done twice. Instead, the biggest learning from this campaign, she said, has been the importance of listening to a brand community, both online and in person, and thoughtfully executing on those insights—especially in areas where competitors may not be activating.

It’s the same approach that inspired the brand to take other big swings, like signing on as a sponsor of the New York Knicks, which had “no other brand speaking to women in that moment,” Crowell said.

For now, the brand will be listening to its customers for its next big idea.

“We’re continuing to be true and authentic to what this was, which was us answering the demand from her community,” Crowell said. “You say it, we create it.”