Bésame Cosmetics

Challenge:

Bésame Cosmetics are beloved in Hollywood for their authentic vintage makeup made with modern ingredients. But their success on screen wasn’t translating to sales on the street.

Treasured by vintage enthusiasts and beauty history lovers, the brand was nevertheless struggling to attract new customers or to get back on the shelves at Sephora.

Mixed messages — from inconsistent branding and oversaturated Disney collabs — along with the intimidation factor of full-beat Old Hollywood glamourous looks left customers turned off and saw a 20% drop in sales from the previous year.

Plan:

1. Focus comms on lipsticks, as a low-risk buy-in for new customers.

2. Make a red lip feel like a safe choice to lift an everyday look.

3. Show how glamour has a home on the street, not just the screen (without diluting the vintage heritage).

We aimed to position the brand around true color, longevity and a sense of ease. The rich pigment and durable formulas of the product are mirrored beautifully by both the brand’s celebration of iconic looks from the past and by the wider role of glamour in helping us celebrate ourselves with a little show of bold.

We made it our mission to help people feel more confident to rock a red lip, because everyone deserves that red lip feeling, no matter their age, lip shape or the day of the week.

Impact:

• Recouped the 20% sales deficit the following year

• More first-time buyers; increased sales through email and social; increased engagement and clickthrough

• “It was very easy to get all the team on the same page, really fast. We didn’t have to explain. People just got it.”

• “Finally something actionable”. “Easier all the way around”.