The AI-driven analysis across seven markets highlighted the value of character-driven storytelling, contextually relevant casting, and emotional diversity. The study reveals fresh ways for beauty brands to move beyond traditional advertising approaches for the category.
Takeaways:
- Product-people dynamics – While 86% of beauty ads put products at the center, brands can benefit from making people the stars and allowing products to play a supporting role in the narrative.
- Character roles matter – Beauty brands need to ensure every character has a meaningful role to play in the narrative, making the content more authentic and relatable rather than using a “Whoever Cast” approach.
- Celebrity effectiveness – Luxury ads featuring celebrities drove 104% higher engagement rates, but only when celebrities were matched to the moment with a clear point of view relevant to the narrative.
- Emotional diversity works – Leveraging unexpected emotions like surprise and humor alongside traditional emotions (happiness or seriousness) helps brands stand out in a “sea of sameness.”
WARC members can read the full study here.
Source: warc.com