NYX turns Gen Z stars into Universal Monsters for Halloween campaign

Dive Brief:

NYX Professional Makeup launched a Halloween campaign, “Mon-Star Bash,” inspired by Universal Pictures’ classic movie monsters, according to a press release.
The campaign transforms several Gen Z influencers into monsters via looks created by makeup artist Mimi Choi. The social media stars will feature in a music video for an original song that will be deployed across digital platforms.
Beginning Oct. 1, NYX will also partner with Ulta Beauty’s Ultaverse within Roblox for a variety of interactive experiences. The campaign is timed to the release of a Halloween product collection.

Dive Insight:

For its “Mon-Star Bash” Halloween campaign, NYX is bringing together several tactics, including influencers and the metaverse, as it looks to engage with digitally native Gen Z consumers.

“Halloween is always one of the biggest moments of the year for the brand. We love to stretch the limit when it comes to new artistry and there’s no better time than Halloween to lean into this,” said Denée Pearson, global brand president for NYX, in a statement.

As part of the Universal Pictures tie-up, NYX will use its Halloween product collection to turn a handful of Gen Z social media stars into the iconic Universal Monsters. Looks created by makeup artist Choi — known for her optical illusion makeup artistry — will transform musician Landon Barker into The Werewolf; model Reginae Carter into one of The Mummi Twins; DJ Phoenix Brown into the Bride of Frankie; and musician Grace McKagan into Drakulah.

The seasonal push also represents NYX’s latest experiment with gaming and the metaverse. The brand in 2022 brought a virtual pride parade to The Sandbox decentralized gaming platform before later teaming with iHeartMedia’s iHeartLand space on Roblox for a series of activations. NYX’s latest Roblox activation pairs it with Ulta Beauty, leveraging the retailer’s existing Ultaverse space to allow consumers to play Halloween-inspired games, customize their avatars and win prizes.

The brand has created an original song as part of the campaign that will be leveraged across digital platforms and accompanied by a music video featuring the influencer talent. Creating original songs, especially ones that can be remixed and reworked for TikTok, has been a tactic used by competitor E.l.f. Cosmetics to great effect.

The campaign also includes an influencer program in which creators will post videos of their own “Mon-Star” transformations, extending the campaign with the help of the content creators most favored by Gen Z. Investment by brands in influencer marketing is growing at a faster pace than for social ad spend overall, with creators poised to benefit amid ongoing strikes by Hollywood writers and actors.