We are thrilled to announce the release of our comprehensive study on experiential marketing trends in the Beauty & Skincare industry.

With offices in major cities like New York, San Francisco, and London, we collaborate with top-tier clients, including Fortune 500 companies. For this study, we conducted interviews with 15 C-suite executives and surveyed over 750 senior brand marketers across more than 12 industries.

We explored how these industries approach, manage, and evaluate their experiential marketing campaigns—delving into their strategies for launching campaigns, analyzing results, and understanding the motivations behind these initiatives. This will give you a deeper understanding of how the industry operates.

The full study, packed with meticulously visualized data and in-depth analysis, is set to launch soon on our website. In the meantime, we've prepared an exclusive preview, specially curated for the Beauty & Skincare industry.

84% of Beauty & Skincare Companies Increased Experiential Budgets Over the Last 3 Years, Representing 10-30% of Their Marketing Budget

• The Beauty & Skincare industry allocates about 9.55% of its revenue to marketing, indicating a more conservative investment compared to other sectors. 

• However, it dedicates a significant portion of its budget to experiences and events, with ⅔ of surveyed companies spending between 10-30% and ¼ spending more than 30%.

• 84% of companies reported that their experiential marketing budget has increased over the past three years (38% significantly and 46% slightly), while 15% said it remained the same, and none reported a decrease. 

Overall, Beauty & Skincare is among the top industries in terms of increasing their experiential marketing budgets, indicating a strong focus on enhancing customer experiences through marketing events and immersive activities.

Pauline, Gradient’s CEO says, “The Experiential era allows beauty brands to connect with their consumers on a deeper level – creating stronger brand affinity and engagment. The desire for these human connections over product consumption is here to stay – and brands must shift to experiential to keep up with this demand.”

Evaluating ROI: Industry Focus on Sales, Awareness, and Loyalty

Compared to other industries, Beauty & Skincare places a stronger emphasis on Sales, Awareness, and Loyalty, while metrics like Lead Generation are less emphasized. This reflects the industry's strategic focus on maintaining brand visibility, retaining customers, and driving direct sales:

• Sales is the most important, with 64% of respondents ranking it as either the most important (44%) or important (20%). 

• 85% of respondents are satisfied with their ability to measure ROI, while 8% are somewhat dissatisfied. However, satisfaction levels are lower compared to top-performing industries like Tech & Digital (92%), Financial Services (91%), Retail (93%), and Fashion (91%).

This may be due to the more subjective nature of measuring customer advocacy and loyalty, which can be harder to quantify compared to more straightforward metrics like sales and leads

Key Areas and Objectives in Experiential Marketing: In-Retail Rituals and Content Creation

• In the industry, various areas are recognized as experiential, including In-Retail Rituals (62%), Livestreams (56%), Partnerships and Collaborations (41%), and Influencer Content Creation (36%). 

This indicates a broad and diverse understanding of what constitutes experiential marketing, with opportunities for deeper integration and innovation in newer technologies and comprehensive brand interactions.

• The primary objectives for hosting experiential marketing events or brand experiences include Content Creation (51%), Innovation/Test Marketing (49%), and Customer Relationship Management (41%).

Top Success Metrics: Earned Media Value and Social Engagement

• The industry places a strong emphasis on Earned Media Value (64%) and Social Engagement (41%), similar to industries like Tech & Digital and Fashion. 

• Foot Traffic is also a key metric (46%), consistent with Retail and Travel & Transport. 

• The focus on Trial & Sampling Quantities (41%) and CRM Data Capture (38%) indicates a balanced approach to both direct consumer interaction and long-term relationship building, although less emphasis is placed on Trackable Sales compared to other metrics. 

This highlights the industry commitment to measuring the broader impact of their experiential marketing efforts through media value and engagement.

Key Challenges: Budget and Measurability

• The biggest challenges faced with experiences and events are Budget Size & Allocation (64%, compared to the other industries’ average of 51%), and Measurability (49%, average 48%). 

• Other notable challenges include Proving ROI (36%), Scalability (36%), and Adapting to Current Trends (28%) Internal Cross Collaboration (Teams & Departments) (49%)

Overall, Beauty & Skincare shares common challenges but faces significant issues with Budget Size & Allocation, more so than most other industries, indicating a strong need for better budget allocation. 

Strong Digital Integration: Influencer Marketing and Content Creation in Focus

• Beauty & Skincare shows a strong integration with Influencer Marketing and Brand Content Creation (62%), both above the industry average (52% and 54%). Paid Social and Talent are also well-integrated.

The integration with Retail and PR channels is low, while OOH Advertising is significantly less integrated compared to other industries. 

Overall, the Beauty & Skincare industry focuses heavily on digital and content-driven channels but has room to grow in traditional and retail-based integrations.

Pauline says, “Experiences prompt more UGC because audiences want to live the story of the product – not just buy it.” 

The Need for Early Integration

The Beauty & Skincare industry shows a clear gap between current integration practices and the desired earlier integration of experiential/events into the campaign process. 

While a significant 61.54% of respondents believe these elements should be integrated earlier or more holistically, current practices show that only 21% integrate at the beginning, and 36% after the big idea is developed.

This indicates a general dissatisfaction with the current timing of integration and highlights the need for earlier and more holistic inclusion of experiential/events to align with industry expectations and improve campaign effectiveness.

Pauline says, “The sooner experiential marketing can be integrated into a beauty brand’s strategy, the bigger the payoff across its channels.” 

Beauty Industry Case Study: Gradient’s Experiential Marketing Campaign for Maybelline

The need

Maybelline approached Gradient with the need to create a buzz around their Lifter Liner, Sunkisser Liquid Blush and Firework Mascara in order to enhance brand visibility, engage target consumers, build brand love, and boost product engagement.

The solution

Gradient’s mission was to create a dynamic VIP event and two-day consumer activation highlighting a festive moment for each product. 

The idea

Gradient produced the Maybelline Summer Carnival of Beauty, an exclusive extravaganza that transformed beauty into a spectacle of boardwalk-inspired fun. The event embodied the playfulness and creativity of Maybelline makeup, featuring product-based carnival games like the Lifter Liner Ring Toss, Sunkisser Skee Ball, and Firework High Striker. The experience was further elevated by engaging elements such as a custom charm bracelet bar and a personalized shade matching station. Every detail was designed to create a one-of-a-kind, interactive playground that allowed attendees to connect deeply with the Maybelline brand.

The results

The event welcomed over 3,000 attendees, generated a 30% increase in share of voice, and 19K samples were distributed. 

Discover the full story behind this transformative event and see how Gradient’s experiential marketing brought Maybelline’s products to life. Read the full case study here.