How e.l.f. Beauty has used Super Bowl ads to rocket from 10% brand awareness to 40%
Good morning. E.l.f. Beauty CFO Mandy Fields wants to play on the biggest stage there is.
The rising beauty powerhouse, a Gen Z favorite, ran its first Super Bowl Sunday ad in 2023. From a finance perspective, Fields said the company’s confidence in big-ticket Super Bowl investments stems from their long-term impact on brand awareness rather than a focus on immediate dollar-for-dollar return. Brand awareness was a little over 10% five or six years ago, and today it’s over 40%.
With only one in three women currently shopping e.l.f., Fields sees a sizable runway. Each wave of awareness-building activity, she said, gives the brand access to the two-thirds of women who are not yet customers. About 75% of e.l.f.’s portfolio remains priced at $10 or less, even after a recent price increase in August, a stance Fields said resonates with consumers becoming more selective with their spending.
On average, a 30-second Super Bowl ad in 2025 ranged from $7 million to $8 million, with this year’s average estimated at $8 million, USA Today reported.
As a company, e.l.f. tracks a wide set of performance indicators. The finance and marketing teams monitor sales trends alongside earned media value, impressions, and social engagement to determine whether the creative is resonating and being shared organically. Those metrics are reviewed before and after each campaign, Fields said, helping the company measure halo effects and refine its approach year to year. (I sat down with Fields and Kory Marchisotto, SVP and CMO, in 2024 to talk about their partnership.)
That evolution has played out on screen. In its first year, e.l.f. produced a Jennifer Coolidge–led Super Bowl commercial, followed in 2024 by its “Judge Beauty” ad. Last year, the brand skipped a broadcast ad in favor of a live watch-party experience.
Overall marketing spend for e.l.f. is expected to be higher this year than last, with the Super Bowl as just one component and increased investment behind international markets and strategic collaborations also contributing, said Fields, CFO since 2019. The company is targeting marketing outlays of roughly 24% to 26% of sales for the year, consistent with its recent pattern of reinvesting heavily to fuel awareness and customer acquisition.
This Sunday’s Super Bowl LX commercial will feature Glow Reviver Lip Oil, e.l.f.’s best-selling product for the past two years, in a telenovela-inspired campaign starring Melissa McCarthy, Nicholas Gonzalez, and Itatí Cantoral. Hispanic households account for 18% of e.l.f. buyers, 29% higher than the category average, according to the company.
The ad will air on Peacock and Univision in Mexico during the Big Game, then will expand across linear TV and streaming, including both English-language and Spanish-language platforms. The campaign is also expected to reach fans of Grammy Award–winning artist Bad Bunny, who will headline the halftime show.
The ongoing strategy continues to translate into results. For the quarter ended December 31, e.l.f. posted GAAP diluted EPS of $0.65, beating estimates, as net sales rose 38% to $489.5 million. The addition of Rhode contributed $128 million in net sales, prompting the company to raise its full-year outlook, with projected net sales growth of 22% to 23% and higher adjusted EBITDA guidance.
Sunday’s Big Game will feature the New England Patriots vs. the Seattle Seahawks. Fields said she’s not rooting for either team. “I wish the San Francisco 49ers were there,” she said.
Have a good weekend.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com