Maybelline South Africa set out to maximize brand awareness and organic reach for its Sky High Mascara, solidifying its presence in the South African market. The challenge was to break through the noise of traditional beauty advertising and create an organic viral moment that would generate mass attention, social shares, and engagement.
Instead of a standard product showcase, the goal was to use hyper-realistic CGI and a bold creative idea to turn the product’s key benefit — long, lifted lashes — into a visually striking metaphor that would instantly capture attention and spark curiosity. By leveraging digital culture and creating a highly shareable, immersive experience, the campaign aimed to elevate product visibility, drive conversations, and position Sky High Mascara as the must-have beauty product in South Africa.
To bring this vision to life, we created a mixed-reality video that seamlessly blended CGI with real-world footage. The campaign centered around a billboard featuring an eye with lashes being brushed by a mascara wand, while an airplane in the background appeared to be “lifted” by the wand — playing on the Sky High name and the product’s core benefit.
Key execution highlights:
1. Hyper-realistic CGI – Every element, from the billboard and mascara brush to the airplane’s motion, was meticulously crafted to look completely real, ensuring a seamless blend with the real environment.
2. Seamless integration – The video was shot from a moving car, incorporating natural motion blur and perspective shifts, making the CGI elements feel embedded in reality.
3. Authentic interaction with CGI – To heighten realism, the actor in the car reacted naturally to the scene, even dropping her sunglasses in awe — subtly reinforcing the “unbelievable” effect of the campaign.
4. Flawless physics and lighting – Special attention was given to reflections, shadows, and aerodynamics to maintain realism, ensuring viewers questioned whether the scene was real or digitally altered.
5. Strong product focus – Unlike traditional beauty ads that often fail to engage due to a lack of perceived value, this mixed-reality video created an immersive and shareable experience while keeping the product at the core.
The campaign was launched on Maybelline South Africa’s social media platforms, designed to organically fuel engagement, shares, and UGC (user-generated content) discussions. By leveraging a bold creative idea, precise execution, deep consumer psychology insights, and a strong product focus, the project successfully drove organic engagement and brand visibility at scale.
The campaign achieved outstanding results, setting new benchmarks for the beauty industry and creative marketing, driving unprecedented organic reach & engagement.
100,000,000+ Earned Media Impressions – Thousands of user reposts and media mentions fueled massive organic reach.
53,000,000+ Total Reach across owned & partner media – A record-breaking performance in social media engagement for the brand.
1,750,000+ Engagements across owned & partner media – Unmatched interaction levels, including comments, likes, shares, and saves.
$0 Paid Media Spent – 100% organic results with no paid promotions, driven purely by the power of creative execution.
Sky High Mascara sold out in Cape Town within days of the campaign launch, a testament to its immediate impact and viral success. The level of engagement and shareability generated record-breaking demand, turning the product into a must-have beauty essential.
This campaign didn’t just promote a product—it redefined beauty marketing by creating a viral moment that captivated audiences, making Sky High Mascara the most talked-about beauty product in South Africa.
