Free Trial

How Europe’s Top Beauty Brands Slayed Makeup Giveaways

Marketing Strategy Cosmetics Skincare
The holiday edition of Pixi Beauty’s Glow Tonic.

Gifting wasn’t just a family affair this past holiday season: in December, beauty bloggers in the U.K. and France celebrated their followers with generous skincare and makeup giveaways. And the lucky winners weren’t the only ones who scored, with brands that featured widely in giveaway content seeing sizable gains in Earned Media Value (EMV). Here’s how December’s top beauty brands in the U.K. and France got into the holiday spirit—and ahead in EMV—by teaming up with influencers on seasonal contests. 

Screen Shot 2020-01-31 at 1.25.24 PM-1

Laura Mercier and Pixi Beauty Are the UK’s Giveaway Heroes 

A go-to for the soft-glam looks popular over the holidays, Laura Mercier owed 12% ($839.0k EMV) of its December total to content mentioning “giveaway.” Beauty bloggers including Serena Cleary (@makeupbyserenacleary on Instagram) featured favorites like the Translucent Loose Setting Powder in Christmas-themed contests for their followers, helping fuel the brand’s 33% month-over-month EMV increase. Meanwhile, Pixi Beauty starred in skincare giveaway content, as self-care enthusiasts such as Caroline Hirons gifted treatments and masks from the brand to their fans. Posts including “giveaway” accounted for over one-quarter of Pixi Beauty’s $2.0M EMV in December. 

 Screen Shot 2020-01-31 at 1.33.36 PM-1

In France, #Concours Powers Growth for Too Faced, Benefit, Lancôme 

With palettes inspired by Christmas staples like Gingerbread and Hot Buttered Rum, Too Faced is a favorite for holiday makeup looks—so it’s no surprise French influencers, including Noémie (@noemiemakeuptouch), featured festive offerings like the Gingerbread Extra Spicy Eyeshadow Palette in their Christmas giveaway content. A total of 19 bloggers mentioned Too Faced in posts tagged #concours (giveaway), which ranked among the brand’s three highest-earning December hashtags with $467.6k EMV. 

Benefit saw a similar boost from #concours ($374.0k EMV) posts, thanks partly to a coordinated giveaway of its limited-edition I’m Hotter Outdoors holiday kit via beauty influencers like Chloé (@thegingerchloe). And Lancôme owed its impressive 96% month-over-month surge almost entirely to an Advent calendar giveaway by Marie Claire magazine, which gifted select followers with products from the brand all 24 days preceding Christmas. #Concours collected $1.0M EMV for Lancôme, nearly half of the brand’s monthly haul. 

Screen Shot 2020-01-31 at 1.27.13 PM-1

From orchestrated campaigns to organic holiday enthusiasm, the spirit of giving was as alive on Instagram as it was IRL in Europe, and the generosity of brands—and bloggers—left a mark on the beauty space. To read more about the influencer marketing initiatives that took over Instagram overseas in December, download our U.K. and France Tribe Top Tens!


VIEW DECEMBER UK TOP 10
VIEW DECEMBER FRANCE TOP 10
Read More

Related Articles

Europe’s Top Beauty Brands Ride Wave of Organic Enthusiasm

As influencers across Europe continued to shelter-in-place throughout April, the festivals and events that traditionally dominate...

4 New Beauty Products Europe’s Top Influencers Raved About in February

Who can resist shiny, new makeup? In February, several top brands in the U.K. and France galvanized the beauty community with...

Europe’s Top Beauty Influencers Create Community in Quarantine

With influencers and consumers across Europe sheltering in place in response to COVID-19, beauty bloggers provided much-needed...

Ready to unlock your brand’s influencer marketing potential?

Tribe Dynamics provides iconic brands the full picture of their influencer marketing programs through industry-leading data and influencer marketing analytics solutions. We work with brands, retailers, and agencies across industries—from beauty to entertainment—so let’s get in touch to see if we’re the right fit for you!

“Working with Tribe Dynamics over the past 5+ years has been a true partnership in every sense of the word. The sophistication in their data is unmatched in the industry, and the level of insight in their analysis has become indispensable for any marketer in the beauty space today. They’re truly best-in-class.”

Mehdi Mehdi, VP Digital & eCommerce,
NYX Professional Makeup

“Working with Tribe Dynamics over the past 5+ years has been a true partnership in every sense of the word. The sophistication in their data is unmatched in the industry, and the level of insight in their analysis has become indispensable for any marketer in the beauty space today. They’re truly best-in-class.”

Mehdi Mehdi, VP Digital & eCommerce,
NYX Professional Makeup