Putting the ‘U’ in Beauty: Leveraging retail media to reignite brand loyalty in premium beauty

In response to "dupe" culture and shifting consumer behaviour, Boots and Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) leveraged retail media through Boots Media Group (BMG) to re-engage consumers and enhance brand loyalty. Using Boots Advantage Card data and market insights, we discovered that shoppers were trading down to value alternatives, challenging heritage brands like ELC. Yet, glowing 5-star reviews on boots.com revealed that many customers returned to ELC brands (Estée Lauder, M∙A∙C, Too Faced, Tom Ford, Clinique, Dr.Jart+, Origins, Bobbi Brown, Bumble & bumble) for their unmatched quality. This insight guided our strategy to remind shoppers they don’t need to search and trade down.

The ‘BeaUty Days’ campaign, emphasising the ‘U’, placed Boots shoppers at the centre, activated across all of BMG's 26 touchpoints, including a digital takeover at Boots Beauty Battersea and an influencer push with bespoke beauty boxes— a first for BMG. The campaign delivered 50 million impressions and a mind-blowing double-digit sales uplift for ELC compared to the two weeks before the live period, with over half of sales coming from new or lapsed shoppers. The campaign demonstrated the power of retail media in engaging consumers at crucial decision-making moments and secured a second bespoke brief from ELC.