To close out 2017, Beauty Insider thought to unwrap five gift sets from different brands, each of which has a new holiday item to release. Some are high-value sets sold at lower prices, designed to entice consumers; others aim to woo with limited editions.

Product: All the Jewels

Marketer in charge: Sarina Godin, President, butter LONDON
How it works: All the Jewels offers a treasure-trove of award-winning, long-lasting, decadent colors in the company’s vitamin-enriched nail polishes to ensure nails are pampered and shiny.

Waitlist worthy: For the lacquer lover, this limited-edition set features 34 lacquers and treatments, paired with an assortment of nail essentials.

Marketing plan: “The launch strategy includes a strong focus on influencer seeding and social integration, including dedicated social content, nail looks and an upcoming co-branded social giveaway,” said Sarina. The product has seen strong sell-through results since its October launch, with the limited-edition collection and collectable keepsake tin driving consumer excitement.

New Strategy: “As a brand, we are putting a strong focus on influencer outreach,” added Sarina. “All the Jewels was included in a top-tier influencer mailer to garner strong social coverage, our first holiday-specific influencer program to date.” To leverage the placement on Oprah’s Favorite Things, the company created exclusive social content for Instagram, resulting in a 500% lift in views from previous Instagram video content. “To further support the launch, we will be participating in a co-branded social giveaway with Brooklyn-based hair care brand Eva NYC to engage and activate a new audience. These new strategies have resulted in double-digit sales growth on butterLONDON.com compared to previous years, and we are on pace to exceed sales expectations.”

Get it: ButterLONDON.com is sold on Ulta.com, Nordstrom.com and Amazon.com, as well as in Nordstrom doors. The gift set retails for $150, a $300 value.

Product: Timeless Essentials Collection

Marketer in charge: Giovanna Coluccio, Senior Marketing Manager, AMOREPACIFIC

How it works: The five-piece Timeless Essential Collection, offering full-size and travel-size products, features coveted items from their Time Response line, along with new favorites and best sellers, such as Treatment Enzyme Peel and Vintage Single Extract Essence.

Waitlist Worthy: The gift set collection delivers luxury with high value wrapped in giftable packing for the perfect holiday present. Bonus? A limited keepsake ornament is included.

Marketing Plan: “Our strategy is customized to our retail channels and consumer profiles, with two overarching themes: Timeless Holiday and Botanical Holiday,” said Giovanna. “To support this program we’ll execute full takeovers in stores and on our online brand boutiques,” he added. “Social media channels will be leveraged throughout the holiday to pulse animation and bring the offerings right to consumer’s fingertips – particularly on mobile. We’ve also partnered with key publications to advertise our holiday story across digital, print, pop-ups and events.”

New Strategy: This is the first season the company launched a holiday program. “As a skin care brand, holiday gifting has traditionally played second string to other categories, for example fragrance,” said Giovanna. “However, with the advent of K-beauty and luxury skin care on the rise, there has evolved a huge opportunity to gift skin care this season.”
Get it: TheTimeless Essentials Collection is sold at Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, and on us.amorepacific.com. The gift set retails for $375, a $565 value.

Product: The Neo-Trio Palette

Marketer in Charge: Malek Zouari, Director Marketing Kevyn Aucoin

How it works: This 3-in-1, magnetically-designed face palette features best sellers from the Kevyn Aucoin Neo Collection. Carry all three all at once, or take one at a time for quick touch ups.

Waitlist worthy: The technique of sculpting and highlighting was signature to Kevyn Aucoin. The Neo-Limelight is a statement highlighter. The Neo-Bronzer adds glow and warmth. The Neo-Setting Powder is the perfect finishing touch.

Marketing Plan: “We are supporting the launch with a multi-tiered plan that includes leveraging our pro artist community, aggressive social media and influencer marketing,” said Malek. “Digital advertising across all social channels, in-store events and how-to videos will also be part of our plan.”
New Strategy: “We are committed to bringing strategic, first-to-market innovation to the highlighting and complexion categories, especially in the form of books and palettes,” he added. “This is a great giftable concept, as holiday self purchase and gift giving is an ideal season to grow our customer base. We will also be targeting consumers with holiday how-to videos on social and our site, its the perfect palette for the season.”

Get It: The Neo-Trio Palette is sold at SpaceNK, Sephora, Bergdorf Goodman, Net a Porter.com, Barneys New York, Beautylish and on KevynAucoin.com. The gift set retails for $58.

Product: Holiday Eye for Elegance Liquid Eye Shadow Set

Marketer in charge: Desiree Tordecilla, Chief Marketing Officer, Stila Cosmetics

How it works: The perfect pairing of two different long-wearing liquid eye-shadow formulas, Shimmer & Glow and Glimmer & Glow, offered in deluxe sample sizes, of which some shades will be forthcoming next year.

Waitlist worthy: For those who want glitter one day, and shimmer another. The colors are buildable, making them perfect for day or nighttime looks.

Marketing Plan: The company has a history of, “sneak-peeking key spring launches in our holiday gift set programs,” said Desiree. “We find that a deluxe size sample of our spring newness gets consumers excited to purchase the full-size product when it launches.”

New Strategy: “Our 360-plan incorporates previewing, sampling, then full marketing support at launch,” she added. “That support includes: blister card samples of several shades, educational application videos featuring Sarah Lucero, our Global Executive Director of Creative Artistry, secondary merchandising display exposure at Ulta Beauty, in-store events with our field team and giveaways on our social media platforms.”

Get It: The Holiday Eye for Elegance Liquid Eye Shadow Set is available at Sephora stores, Sephora.com, Ulta Beauty and Ulta.com. The gift set retails for $45.

Product: Farmacy BEE WELL Mask and Meditation Gift Set

Marketer in Charge: Mark Veeder, Co-founder, Farmacy How it works: Honey Potion is a hydrating mask that gently warms and transforms into a rich cream as it’s massaged into skin. It nourishes and revitalizes skin for a glowing, smooth complexion. The custom crafted semi-precious gemstone bracelet embraces the product’s rejuvenating and cleansing qualities.

Waitlist Worthy: BEE WELL features a full size (4.1 oz. jar) of Honey Potion paired with a custom Satya mala meditation bracelet.

Marketing Plan: “We have taken a more grassroots approach towards marketing this gift set, as it’s a limited-edition piece only available during this holiday season,” said Mark. “We have hosted intimate events with influencers and fans of the brand, which focus on the harmony between meditation and self-care through masking. In addition, we plan to promote heavily on the digital and social landscape, with a homepage feature, dedicated email campaigns, social media posts and ads.”

New Strategy: “Though we have done collaborations before, this is the first one that we’ve done centered around holiday gifting season,” he added. “We will be promoting through social media, with a giveaway hosted on both @farmacybeauty and @satyajewelry Instagrams, as well as through email campaigns and our respective websites.” For this launch the brand focused on a broader, multi-tiered earned media campaign, “Punctuated by extensive influencer outreach as well as gift guide features on national TV news and entertainment outlets,” said Mark, “as well as digital and short lead media.” The company also focused on highlighting the charitable component of the gift and under $100 price point.

Get It:

Exclusively on farmacybeauty.com and satyajewelry.com. The item retails for $90, with $2 from every sale going to citygrowers.org.