Sol de Janeiro is the latest brand to venture into the metaverse via Roblox, with the hope of bringing its signature Brazilian flair to gamers.
The Sol de Janeiro Roblox activation, called “Sol de Janeiro Universe,” launched Thursday and will last through February. While Sol de Janeiro has formerly invested in tech-focused activations focused on AR filters on Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok, this is the first time the brand has ventured into gaming. Sol de Janeiro’s primary customer base is older Gen Zers and young millennials, said Tamera Ferro, CMO of Sol de Janeiro, adding that younger Gen-Z customers typically buy into the brand through body mists. Though Roblox experiences are geared for anyone and everyone, 22% of Roblox users are 17-24 years old, and 55% are older than age 13. Roblox has 70.2 million daily active users, according to its latest earnings report released on Nov. 2023.
“We continue to diversify our audiences, leading to our Roblox strategy,” said Ferro. “We look a lot at our audience overlap. We understand that what they’re interested in has a ripple effect, and our audience overlap in gaming is a fast-growing cohort for us.”
The Roblox experience takes inspiration from Rio de Janeiro and the annual Carnival of Brazil. A teaser video published Tuesday shows flashes of the brand name etched in white sand beaches, Brazilian Bum Bum Creams dangling amid a lush forest and a hot air balloon suspended over city buildings. Within Roblox, players can spin a compliment wheel, share the resulting compliment with a friend, learn about core products and participate in a sustainability scavenger hunt. Ferro said the aim is for users to experience joy and confidence as they navigate and immerse themselves into the brand’s Brazilian-inspired lifestyle. As of this reporting, a teaser video for the Roblox game published on Tuesday has 1.4 million views and 189,000 likes on TikTok plus 56,000 likes on Instagram.
“The fragrance experiences and the sensorial-ness and quality of the products are coming through in the creative,” Ferro said. The Sol de Janeiro team worked with Roblox to develop its presence over five months. Ferro declined to share any investment figures behind the activation.
Sol de Janeiro joins a host of other brands that have ventured into the Roblox space. E.l.f Beauty created a Roblox experience in Nov. 2023, following Fenty Beauty, which first activated on the platform in June 2023, and the accessories retailer Claire’s, in Aug. 2023. Sol de Janeiro has been rapidly growing, partly thanks to the popularity of its body mist fragrances, which it first introduced in 2017. The brand was majority acquired by L’Occitane in Nov. 2021, and in the company’s most recent earnings reported Tuesday, Sol de Janeiro reportedly saw $512 million in sales in the first nine months of fiscal year 2024, representing a year-over-year growth of 184%.
Alongside with a social post, Sol de Janeiro promoted the Roblox launch be enlisting several paid gaming streamers to play live on Twitch throughout the month. The gamers include Manny Gutierrez, Brooke Ashley, Kennedy Rose, Tara Moon and Megan Letter. For his part, Gutierrez said he looked forward to the “positivity” and “confidence-boosting in-game elements” which his followers will hopefully enjoy. The gamers will also create social media content to share with their audiences to encourage gameplay.
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“It’s so important for us to have a bigger impact,” said Ferro. “Roblox is a way to [showcase] the essence of Sol de Janeiro: positivity, confidence and the personal expression of celebrating yourself. That’s what we want people to walk away with.”
