Maybelline launched a mini-movie campaign on Twitter, Vine, and YouTube to promote its Baby Lips product series before its Japan release in August. Japanese fashion model Elaiza Ikeda was cast in a teen romance storyline, and fans were able to vote on the plot after the first episode. The voting button was gated: fans had to send an automatic tweet about the campaign to vote. Those who shared the campaign and followed the @LoveMaybelline account were entered to win samples.
The Vines received more than 600,000 loops during the first week, and the YouTube clip combining all six Vines was viewed more than 4,000 times in just two weeks. Maybelline’s Japan Twitter account @LoveMaybelline gathered 12,000 new followers in six weeks, raising its status to the top Twitter among brands in the Digital IQ Index®: Beauty Japan.
Maybelline is the fourth most-viewed Beauty brand channel in Japan, and one of three global brands to be in the top ten. A large part of Maybelline’s success can be attributed to an emphasis on localization. Not only did the brand cast a local star, it centered on the most popular video type in Japan: campaign videos. (Tutorials are the least popular videos on Japanese brand channels.) Its gated campaign – offering prizes to and accepting votes only from those who tweeted about it – sets an example for brands looking to expand their footprint in Japan.