Principles of Advertising project focusing on marketing and advertising strategies utilized by Bircbox, a monthly subscription-based beauty company.

1. Alycia Dailey
MRKT 0328
INNOVATION IN ADVERTISING

3. “OPEN FOR BEAUTIFUL”
BROADCAST MEDIA
Birchbox has a “test-and-learn approach” to it’s TV ads,
an approach added to the marketing mix in 2014. The
goal is to attract new audiences, which could extend to
print and outdoor campaigns depending on its
success.
• Birchbox targets new audiences by offering a
refreshing way to test beauty without high pressure
sales people
• There’s a better way to beautiful- have personally
curated products to delivered to your door.
MARKETING CONCEPT
• Women- millennials & up
• Middle class
• Online shoppers &social media savvy
• Interested in trying luxury samples w/o commitment.
TARGET MARKET
• 30 second spot developed by M&C Saatchi
• Broadcast in the top 50-100 target market areas,
including New York, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and San
Francisco.
• The spot runs an average of 55 times in a 24 hour
period on as TLC, Hallmark Channel, FOXMundo,
• National airing 3,955 times*
•Source: http://www.ispot.tv/ad/73_K/birchbox-a-better-way-to-
beautiful#moreData *as of 8pm10/4/15
CAMPAIGN

4. COOPERATIVE ADVERTISING
Birchbox partners with icons in television and pop culture, fashion, design and art. Cooperative advertising
partners include:
PRINT ADVERTISING
• Women’s Health
• Glamour
• Harper’s Bazaar
BROADCAST ADVERTISING
• “Gossip Girl” (CW)
• “Suits” (USA)
• “Mad Men” (AMC)
• “The League (FXX)
ADVOCACY ADVERTISING
• Women’s Health Box
• “Tiny Tweaks, Big Results”
• A wellness box for women to look
and feel their best.
• Premium included free 1 yr.
Women’s Health subscription
“The box we partnered on delivers the smart, simple solutions and actionable advice that our readers and
Birchbox’s network of women crave.” -Michele Promaulayko, WH Editor in Chief

5. Birchbox ‘bakes’ content into the product experience for
subscribers to discover and try.
The boxes function as a magazine with product samples
standing in as pages. The editorial helps subscribers get optimal
usage from the products.
Advertisers rent space in the box for their products and
discovery commerce begins.
Birchbox.com is the inspiration source for tutorials, reviews (that
earn discounts) and to purchase full sized products.
User generated content helps promote Birchbox’s marketing
message while engaging and attracting more audiences.
CONTENT MARKETING
“Traditional marketing talks to people. Content marketing talks with them.” - Doug Kessler
Birchbox Man editorial- content that is “personal, shareable, and
share-worthy”
“Birchbox’s content marketing strategy targets the millennial generations Achilles’ heel: the
fear of missing out…” –Stephanie Walden, 5 Businesses That Rock Content Marketing, mashable.com

6. “Birchbox is uniquely positioned to associate themselves with something
as forward thinking and unique as a Cardboard without it seeming like a
crass gimmick, I think it’s a brilliant and well-timed move.”
-Josh Payton, VP of User Experience at Huge, for adweek.com
MARKETING
CONCEPT:
Birchbox engages their target audience of male
subscribers to discover new worlds with their
products and cutting-edge technology- a virtual
reality viewer
TARGET
MARKET
Males- millennials and up
Middle Class
Online shoppers
Social media & tech savvy
CAMPAIGN VR company, River created 4 different
experiences for subscribers.
The content was featured in Birchbox Man,
August 2015 edition.
CONTENT MARKETING
“Brave New Worlds”
Birchbox Man
Virtual Reality Trial

7. ONLINE ADVERTISING
“Birchbox is native advertising on steroids…”
-Dr. Paul Marsden
Digital Intelligence Today
Native advertising blurs the line between advertising and content.
It’s deemed ‘native’ because it matches the platform that it
appears on. Birchbox uses it on social media to market engaging
content while building trust with new audiences.
Instagram and Pinterest are the most popular platforms for native
advertising; recent studies indicate a 65% retention rate for visual
information versus 10% retention for text based data.
Pinterest has 70M users-80% women, who view 2.5B pages for
month. Birchbox’s large presence on these platforms informs,
persuades, reminds viewers of its service while giving new
audiences the chance to subscribe.
Source: www.sharethrough.com/2013/05/infographic-native-advertising-effectiveness-
study-jb-jpb-media/fab

8. WORKS CITED
 Cover photo from London taxi 2015 campaign- from whocancutit.co.uk. Accessed 10/2/15
 Tv spot video- http://www.ispot.tv/ad/73_K/birchbox-a-better-way-to-beautiful#moreData. Accessed 10/4/15
 Virtual Reality Clips and Info-http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/birchboxs-monthly-deliveries-will-give-virtual-reality-fascinating-test-run-165864
Accessed 10/4/15
 http://www.woothemes.com/2015/07/content-marketing-industry-ideas/ Accessed 10/5/15
 http://www.inc.com/anita-newton/what-exactly-is-content-marketing-and-why-do-you-need-it.html Accessed 10/4/15
 http://mashable.com/2013/11/06/small-business-content-marketing/ Accessed 10/5/15
 https://www.birchbox.com/about/press/news/all Accessed 10/2/15
 http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/womens-health-got-43000-new-subscribers-after-sponsoring-birchbox-package-160445 Accessed 10/15/15
 http://mashable.com/2013/11/06/small-business-content-marketing/#cMb80O.oXqqa Accessed 10/12/15
 http://adage.com/article/news/women-s-health-mag-partners-birchbox-april-edition/240138/ Accessed 10/2/15
 http://digitalintelligencetoday.com/birchbox-is-native-advertising-on-steroids-is-this-the-future-of-content-marketing Accessed 10/4/15
 http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/reader/25?cid