Revitalizing a brand stuck in the 90s to reclaim its role as the original industry rebel

Agency: Virtue, 2019

Urban Decay loudly debuted in 1996 with its legendary “Does Pink Make you Puke?” campaign- a bold message of rebellion against the status quo of the pink lipstick era. Fast forward to 2019 and the rest of the industry finally caught up. New category disruptors emerged, borrowing the Urban Decay aesthetic and ethos for the 21st century while the brand stayed stuck in the 90s.

We were tasked with revitalizing this iconic brand for a new era. In this approach, we shed a light on the hypocrisy of the beauty industry and mock the sea of sameness that floods our feeds. Through a cast of bold characters that personify the original Urban Decay spirit of rebellion, we disrupt the monotony and shake the world out of its makeup trance.

Our work with Urban Decay spanned from a complete global rebrand (look & feel, tagline, tone of voice, and more) to the nine campaigns we produced for them within in a span of just a few months.

Results:

• Over 1B social impressions globally
• Most positively reviewed campaign in UD history with 99% positive sentiment
• #1 performing Instagram video in UD history with 4.2M organic views (against benchmark 1M views)
• #1 performing YouTube video in UD history on press embargo day with +100k organic views
• Garnered 250 global press stories with 600M PR impressions

Press:

PaperMag, Dazed, The Cut, Elle, Allure,Teen Vogue, Nylon, Fashionista, Glamour, Billboard, Business Insider, Hypebae, Bustle, Popsugar, Broadway World, Campaign, Daily Mail, Hola!, Makeup, Shape, Stylist, Adweek