Case study — Disney × Luminess Cosmetics × Sir John
One production.
Every partner's payoff.
A beauty collection launch that doubled as theatrical marketing for a Disney film and drove traffic to retail partners — phased across pre-release, release and run. Sixty-plus pieces from a single production, on two content tracks, versioned again for every partner's call to action.
Disney's Lion King. Luminess Cosmetics. Sir John, one of the most recognized celebrity makeup artists working. Ulta Beauty and other retail partners carrying the collection. One launch, and a release date that could not move.
Disney Marketing wasn't a licensor signing off on artwork. They were a partner in the campaign, which meant the creative had to serve their theatrical objectives and the brand's sell-through objectives at the same time — and clear both approval chains.
A collection launch has to land everywhere at once — broadcast, cable, retail, YouTube, social — and a film launch runs on its own clock, with pre-release, opening and theatrical run each needing different creative.
Most brands shoot a hero spot and then scramble to feed everything else from the scraps. That works until the second week, when the channels are hungry and there's nothing left that's any good.
The content architecture came before the camera. One production, designed from the start to yield sixty-plus finished pieces — not a shoot we cut down afterward, but a shoot structured so every setup had three jobs.
Two tracks, not one. The broadcast and cable spots were the lead campaign. The social work was built for the feed rather than cut down from the TV edit — talent-led, beauty-led, native to where it ran. The spots ran on every channel, carrying the film's hooks and end cards through pre-release, release and theatrical run; the social work carried them where it fit. The social audience came for craft, and a repurposed TV spot would have been read as an ad in half a second.
Every partner got their own call to action. Disney wanted tickets. Luminess wanted direct sell-through. Ulta Beauty wanted traffic to Ulta. So the digital ads and tutorials were versioned with partner-specific end cards — the same piece of creative sending each audience to the destination that partner was paying for. One production, every partner's endgame.
Tutorials in three iterations each. That versioning wasn't a post-production favor asked of an editor six weeks later. It was a decision made on the shoot day, by the person directing it.
Licensed film footage woven with original. The broadcast and cable spots intercut Disney's own film clips with the beauty footage we shot, and that combined campaign ran across TV, digital and every partner's social channels. It meant working inside a studio's licensing process while the campaign was live, and getting it cleared.
Social-first storytelling
Built for the feed, not cut down from the TV edit — a music-led BTS teaser, the promo, Sir John on what inspired the collection, then Sir John walking the products themselves. Each one a different job in the funnel.
Broadcast and cable
The lead campaign: original beauty footage intercut with licensed Disney film clips. Cut at two lengths for varying placements and needs across channels, then versioned again with end cards for each phase of the release and for each retail partner. Ran on TV, digital and every partner's social channels.
The tutorial library
A tutorial series with Sir John — three looks, three models, each delivered in three lengths for different placements, then versioned again with partner end cards for Disney, Ulta Beauty and the rest of the retail roster. Here's the Safari Sunset look, all three cuts. Note the third: no voiceover at all, model-led, built to work with the sound off. Not a shorter edit — a different piece for a different placement.
Part of the decade of work that took Luminess Cosmetics from $50M to $250M+.
The launch broke through
The collection was covered by the beauty and entertainment press, in the US and internationally:
The broadcast spot is archived as “Embrace Your Kingdom” on iSpot.tv.
Your next launch can work this hard.
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