Messaging Makeover for a Legacy Lip-care Brand:

Overview

This leading lip-care brand had long dominated the category—but digital ad performance had stalled despite increased spend. With recall stuck at 3%, click-through plateaued at 1.2%, and conversion hovering at 0.5%, leadership turned to Starlight to evaluate if its “clinically proven relief” message still resonated with younger audiences.

Challenge

The brand’s scientific positioning had earned credibility, but it wasn’t breaking through with Millennial and Gen Z consumers gravitating toward clean ingredients and self-care.

The team needed a clear direction—reframe the message to stay relevant, or risk losing ground to modern, lifestyle-first challengers.

Solutions & Insights

Starlight used social listening and competitor analysis to uncover that 60% of positive lip-care conversations centered on self-care themes, while clinical claims underperformed. Audits showed that beauty-gloss visuals drove 35% higher engagement, prompting a shift to lifestyle-focused assets.

Qualitative interviews and targeted surveys confirmed that “natural ingredients” and “self-care indulgence” lifted purchase intent by 40% and recall by 25%. We aligned internal teams around messaging that emphasized “overnight hydration” and “daytime SPF protection,” with visuals spotlighting ingredient provenance and user-generated content.

The results: conversion rose 22%, e-commerce revenue grew 15% in test markets, click-through hit 2.2%, and ad recall more than doubled. Brand preference in follow-up trackers among Millennials and Gen Z surged 25 points—reestablishing the brand’s edge in a fast-moving category.

“The insights that Chris and his team brought to the table were sobering. The quality of the analysis and the direction helped us focus on the fix and drove a real impact.”
— VP of Marketing, Confidential Personal Care Brand