Heritage in a Bottle: Beauty Then, Beauty Now.
Estée Lauder Marketing Case Competition
The Case Challenge
Ready, Set, Market (RSM) is one of the University of Toronto Mississauga’s flagship marketing case competitions, where teams compete for cash prizes and the opportunity to present their solutions to a panel of industry judges. Delegates are challenged to solve a real-world brand problem under time pressure, blending research, strategy, and creativity into a compelling business recommendation.
For 2025, the case asked: How can Estée Lauder reposition itself as a credible leader in modern skincare while preserving its luxury heritage?
Our team identified a core tension shaping the beauty landscape: consumers still value luxury, but they now demand knowledge, transparency, and proof. We proposed “Beauty Then, Beauty Now.” Our repositioning campaign that fuses Estée Lauder’s generational elegance with modern scientific credibility through multigenerational storytelling, experiential pop-ups, and a redesigned personalized skincare quiz, our strategy modernized the brand without compromising its heritage.
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Reposition Estée Lauder as a credible leader in modern skincare while preserving its luxury heritage.
The case asked for a strategy that blends luxury storytelling with ingredient transparency and a science-led identity to regain trust among younger, highly informed consumers -
Or research focused on market shifts, consumer tensions, and category perception gaps. Our key findings:
Luxury is being redefined.
Modern consumers prioritize knowledge, personalization, and trust over status cues .Estée Lauder under-indexes on ingredient transparency.
Competitor mapping shows ELC brands clustering in the “luxury + opaque” quadrant, while modern prestige winners blend luxury with scientific proof.Gen Z + Millennials are research-driven.
They compare ingredient lists, seek derm-backed explanations, and rely on digital communities rather than celebrity campaign.
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Our campaign focused on the modernization of Estée Lauder’s heritage through a dual focus on: (1) Generational storytelling (emotional luxury) and (2) Scientific transparency + personalization.
The campaign pillars:
Social Media Kickstart: Celebrates generational beauty, honoring legacy while introducing a new science-led identity.
Time Capsule Pop-Up: A luxury experiential activation bridging nostalgia with modern skincare education, featuring photo booths, ingredient kiosks, and personalized recommendations.
“A Formula For You” Quiz: A redesigned digital experience offering personalized routines with clear ingredient explanations, solving the opacity challenge.
Our customer journey moves from emotion → experience → evidence, aligning with evolving luxury expectations.
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Brand Fit
Retains Estée Lauder’s legacy of elegance and femininity.
Modernizes the brand by integrating scientific rigor and transparency.
Consumer Fit
Gen Z gains the ingredient clarity and personalization they expect.
Older consumers feel seen through multi-generational storytelling.
Market Fit
Repositions ELC from the “heritage + opaque” quadrant into “luxury + proof.”
Business Fit
Revenue projections from pop-ups, digital funnels, and quiz conversions estimate ~$1.94M incremental lift.
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I applied my industry research skills to analyze shifting beauty trends — including the rise of science-first brands, ingredient transparency, and Gen Z’s demand for credibility over traditional prestige. This work revealed a core tension: luxury still matters, but trust matters more.
Working with my teammates, I helped develop the messaging for our big idea, “Beauty Then, Beauty Now.”
This project helped sharpen my strategic thinking but also helped me discover my growing interest in the luxury beauty and skincare space.
Campaign Proposal Deck
