When it comes to gifting guests, not all party favors are created equal.
For its August 5 event celebrating the recent launch of its Sur.face Pro makeup palette, beauty brand Beautyblender proved just that, managing to get guests to gush about a particular gift bag item on social media streams.
“We really wanted to give guests something that was unique and tied back to the brand,” said Lexamedia’s Alexis Tedesco, who worked with Beautyblender’s vice president of marketing, Sarah Heath, to produce the event at Mixology 101. “We wanted it to be a constant reminder of Beautyblender, and something that they’d find unique, pretty, and that they’d actually want to put on their desk.”
The answer came in the form of sketched portraits of invitees holding the brand’s palette or signature cosmetics sponge. Organizers tapped a Stuk Designs artist to create the drawings based on photos from guests’ social media streams.
Fittingly, editors and beauty bloggers surprised with the custom artwork took to Instagram to share the illustrations, as well as the event’s #BeAMakeupMixologist hashtag—a nod at the new Sur.face Pro palette—with their already existing audiences of makeup enthusiasts. Many also took the time to call out their appreciation of the gifted goods on Instagram, including PopSugar’s Kirbie Johnson who referred to hers as an “AWESOME surprise” and Beauty Frosting blogger Dawn McCoy who wrote, “Best party favors EVER” about the portraits.
In what is perhaps a sign of these posts’ effectiveness, trendsetters who had RSVPed "yes" to the event but were unable to attend, contacted organizers to inquire about whether or not they could still obtain their portraits—a move that could prolong the sketches' marketing value if, like their fellow bloggers, said guests post the artwork.
