Dive Brief:
- E.l.f. Beauty in December debuted its “Glow Up” gaming experience within Roblox, according to a company press release.
- Players work as makeup artists to prepare characters for significant life events. They can choose themes, create makeup looks using virtual cosmetics and interact with other players’ creations in “livestream” mode.
- At launch, the game features four characters that celebrate women in business, sports, music and gaming. New characters will be released each month, per the announcement.
Dive Insight:
E.l.f. Beauty partnered with eGen and Exclusible to develop its new Roblox experience for players age 13 and up. The company aims to appeal to Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers “who believe their virtual avatar represents them better than their physical self,” the company said, citing data from the Pion Youth Trends Report.
“Our community doesn’t want to be marketed to — they want to be invited in to play, create, and express themselves,” Patrick O’Keefe, chief integrated marketing officer at E.l.f. Beauty, said in a press release. “With Glow Up, we build an experience rooted in co-creation and belonging to support the majority of gamers who use character personalization to reflect who they are and what they stand for. Self-expression isn't a feature — it's essential.”
The beauty company previously introduced other experiences on Roblox. In 2023, E.l.f. Up launched on the platform, a gaming experience designed to teach financial literacy and entrepreneurial skills to a young user base.
E.l.f. Beauty stands in a growing line of brands and retailers integrating themselves into Roblox to connect with Gen Z and Gen Alpha customers. Pacsun introduced a virtual experience titled “Pacsun Los Angeles Tycoon” in 2023. Meanwhile, Mattel plans to bring multiple franchises, including Barbie, Uno and Hot Wheels, to the Roblox gaming universe, the toy company announced in October.
Walmart has also increased its presence on Roblox. In 2023, Walmart rolled out its Walmart Discovered experience on Roblox for players age 13 and up. The following year, the retail giant partnered with E.l.f. Beauty to let players buy the beauty brand's physical goods using Walmart’s infrastructure.
Beyond deepening its relationship with Roblox, E.l.f. Beauty recently introduced “The Sound of Kindness,” a social-first campaign developed in collaboration with skin care company Beekman 1802 and research firm Kindness.org. The campaign aimed to stop users from doomscrolling on their social media feeds using audiovisual stories.
At the same time, E.l.f. and Beekman 1802 collaborated on a Roblox experience for the second year in a row that let players relax in a calm virtual environment with soothing sounds.
As brands and retailers flock to Roblox, the virtual gaming platform wants to help companies bridge the gap between digital and physical commerce. The gaming platform last year began allowing creators and brands to add physical items for purchase in virtual stores through a partnership with Shopify, which previously only facilitated digital item purchases.
