Topicals: scaling Sephora’s fastest-growing skincare brand through paid media and creative strategy

Topicals hit the ground running in summer 2020, but soon after the launch buzz, sales slumped. Their previous ad managers were unable to grow the account: with a ROAS below 1x and a CPA over $50, they were spending more to gain customers than they earned. Time was ticking with the peak shopping season on the horizon. And while they aimed for a game-changing partnership with Sephora, they needed beefier revenue stats, a larger email subscriber count, and enhanced user engagement to seal the deal.

Enter MVR, just in time for the Black Friday rush. Before we began ramping up, we first got the house in order: stabilized the account, sorted pixel-related structural glitches, and revamped ads to better resonate with customers. Our mantra is test, learn, iterate. Weekly sprints saw new asset and copy variations, with the best rising to the top for new iterations for the following week. We overhauled email designs to not just sell but to build a community. Lastly, harnessing data from NYC & LA, the cities with the highest DTC conversion rates, we rolled out an on-the-streets truck campaign, boosting brand awareness while gathering mobile device data for retargeting on digital channels.

Within just a few weeks, our first-purchase acquisition cost dropped from $50+ to under $16, and remained around that metric for months before iOS 14 changes (based on 28-day click metrics). Our ad effectiveness was so good that we had to hit the brakes multiple times as the brand sold out of their hero product 4 times within our first 3 months together. Our email restructure and redesign resulted in a 35% repurchase rate increase. And most importantly, Sephora.com was eager to add the brand to its store. With our redirection of ads toward the Sephora site, Topicals was sold out within 48 hours, the first for any brand in Sephora’s history.