Welcome to the Glossy+ Research Briefing, your weekly curation of fashion and beauty research insights. Glossy+ members have full access to the research below.
In this edition, we share focal points from Glossy’s YouTube Influencer Index and case study highlighting how marketers are creating long-form social media content and using influencers for events
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Long-form video creates more meaningful online engagement for brands
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Essence Cosmetics is investing in long-form video content, starting with TikTok. The makeup company teamed up with creative agency Movers + Shakers to create an IRL awards show in Los Angeles. The awards show will be recorded in-person and mined for content to post on Essence’s TikTok page. The campaign is an effort to boost U.S. awareness for the brand. Although the brand has a high following on TikTok, it falls behind competitors like Nyx and Elf Cosmetics.
The content created at the awards show will be posted mid-October, according to Jill Krakowski, chief marketing officer for the brand’s parent company, Cosnova. “Movers + Shakers [told us] that long-form content on TikTok is starting to have more of a moment, not just short,” Krakowski said. “[They said that] if you can create something super engaging, people will stay and watch.” The exact length of the content that the brand will post has not been determined, but it’s estimated that the clips will be around a minute and a half long.
This trend was also observed in Glossy+ Research’s YouTube Influencer Index — longer videos held viewers’ attention and triggered engagement the most. Videos that are 15-30 minutes in length receive more views, on average, than longer videos or even those shorter than 15 minutes. In particular, viewers turn to YouTube looking for more creatively curated or informative videos than those found on other platforms.
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Posting longer-form sponsored content on YouTube results in a more attentive audience, eager to interact with the video and possibly a brand, according to Glossy’s analysis. Conversely, marketers have struggled on TikTok, which feeds viewers a constant stream of catchy, short videos and dilutes the impact of a sponsorship; inclusion in a quickly-forgotten clip provides minimal value. Now that longer videos are an option on the platform, brands are starting to experiment with more informative and curated long-form content on TikTok.
Key findings:
- Essence is experimenting with longer-form TikTok content to increase brand awareness in the U.S. The brand hopes to engage consumers for longer than 30 seconds, especially loyal fans.
- YouTube viewers turn to YouTube looking for more creatively curated or informative videos than those found on other platforms. Videos that are 15-30 minutes in length receive more views, on average, than longer videos or even those shorter than 15 minutes.
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Gucci pairs with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny to create brand buzz, similar to Fenty’s Super Bowl moments
To create natural buzz and conversations about their products, brands continue to associate themselves with large pop culture moments. Gucci’s newest campaign featuring rapper Bad Bunny and supermodel Kendall Jenner was the working debut of the new celebrity couple. While their relationship had been shrouded in online speculation for months, Gucci was able to capitalize off this internet buzz for its new campaign with a casual airport photoshoot of the couple, similar to paparazzi photos that have been circulating online since January.
Gucci posted five photos and a Reel from the campaign to the company’s Instagram grid on Sunday. In total, all six posts received approximately 4.4 million likes as of Tuesday. The most popular post received over 1.2 million likes and over 4,500 comments alone.
Glossy+ Research observed similar positive brand impressions being created through large cultural events, like the Super Bowl, in our recent case study on how brands paired influencers with events to amplify awareness.
For example, Rihanna used her half-time performance at this year’s Super Bowl to promote her Fenty brands, including Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty. Because the Super Bowl already has an established annual fanbase and viewership, Fenty didn’t have to invest in other ways to promote the campaign. Instead, the company wove natural brand touchpoints into the performance, such as having Rihanna reapply her powder on-stage. Fenty Beauty also enlisted NFL reporter Erin Andrews and singer-actress Sheryl Lee Ralph to wear the brand’s products, which were featured in behind-the-scenes videos on Instagram Stories.
“[These examples] are such a beautiful way of integrating Fenty without being too branded or over the top,” said Bilal Kaiser, principal of creative and influencer firm Agency Guacamole.
Fenty Beauty also sponsored Super Bowl trips for popular influencers Bretman Rock (@bretmanrock, 15.2 million TikTok followers), Mikayla Nogueira (@mikaylanogueira, 14.6 million TikTok followers), Golloria George (@golloria, 1.1 million TikTok followers) and Stephanie Valentine (@glamzilla, 1.7 million TikTok followers). Traveling to Arizona for the brand’s “Fenty Bowl” weekend, the influencers brought along their millions of followers — sports fans and non-sports fans alike — to a series of events and their Fenty-sponsored hotel rooms.
Like Gucci, Fenty Beauty used Rihanna’s celebrity power and the brand’s influencer partners to lead the conversation with its audience. Similarly, Bad Bunny and Kendall Jenner’s relationship has been a hot conversation topic for months, with loyal fans eager for glimpses into their private lives. And now we know one thing — they’re wearing Gucci.
Key findings:
- The latest Gucci campaign featuring mega-celebrities Bad Bunny and Kendall Jenner garnered a lot of attention for the brand, receiving over 4.4 million likes on Instagram across six grid posts.
- Rihanna used her Super Bowl half-time performance to promote her Fenty brands. Because the Super Bowl has an established annual fanbase and viewership, Fenty didn’t have to invest in other ways to promote the campaign. Instead, the company wove natural brand touchpoints into the performance, like having Rihanna use Fenty Beauty products during the performance.
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