Small moments of joy, hope and connection have been given a name, a scent and a face. Estée Lauder has chosen Hailee Steinfeld to front its new fragrance Glimmer Eau de Parfum, building the entire campaign around “glimmers”, brief positive moments that can shift a mood and spark a sense of connection. In the campaign, the actress and singer appears not only as the face of the fragrance. Her music and voice are part of the idea that a single spark can set off a chain of new moments of joy.
For the brand, this is its biggest fragrance launch in more than a decade and its first major return to the prestige women’s fragrance category in ten years. The global campaign launched on 30 July across television, print, digital channels, retail and outdoor, while Glimmer Eau de Parfum itself arrived in selected global markets during August. The fragrance is described as an amber floral composition with gourmand elements.
In the UK and Ireland, the launch also marks the beginning of a new media partnership. WPP Media won The Estée Lauder Companies business earlier this year as part of a global consolidation, with the new partnership in the UK beginning in July. Glimmer is one of the first major projects delivered under this new setup, bringing together media planning, audience strategy and activation.
Rather than relying solely on the traditional visibility of a luxury beauty product, the media plan follows the journey from a consumer’s first encounter with the campaign to purchase consideration. The focus is on women and beauty audiences in the UK and Ireland, particularly Gen Z and younger millennials, with large-scale formats designed to build awareness connected with social media and digital touchpoints.
One of the most visible executions can be found at Oxford Circus station, where Glimmer has taken over the space with a 360-degree activation close to key retail locations. The campaign also spans AV, social media, programmatic video and outdoor. For audience planning and understanding cultural signals and media consumption habits, WPP Media is using WPP Open and the Cultural Reflex Agent.
This media approach reflects the ambition behind the product itself. Estée Lauder is not introducing the new fragrance simply as another addition to its existing portfolio, but as a way to bring its fragrance category closer to a generation of consumers who may not previously have associated it with the brand. From the global film starring Hailee Steinfeld to the London Underground, Glimmer carries the same idea across different audience touchpoints: finding something positive in a small moment and making it noticeable enough to be remembered.
