Beauty brand Benefit cosmetics is wielding an innovative tool in which users on mobile can create their own videos featuring different shades of its new lipstick and then purchase.

The trendy cosmetics brand is connecting with its consumers through an online tool it hopes will be deemed cool by users in which they can choose various levels to a video that feature lips talking. Users can select the shade of lipstick they want and see the pair of lips say a phrase of interest and strike a pose.

“It’s safe to say that today’s generation is as concerned with appearances as were previous generations — if not more,” said Carrie McIlveen, U.S. director of marketing at Metia. “The desire to look picture perfect in today’s camera-ready culture of selfies (cue those duck lips) seems to have fueled this obsession.

“Many are willing to go further to alter their facial contours,” she said. “Resulting in various over-the-top approaches including the use of Botox and lip injections.

“However, many women are wary of needles and can’t afford this expensive form of grooming. Plus, the look still has to be realistic.”

Fuller lips
To promote the new They’re Real! Double the Lip lipstick line, Benefit has launched the Real Full Lips video generator. The video generator lives on mobile and desktop.

Users go through a series of steps to choose various outcomes for their video. The first step requires them to pick a shade, which is then featured on an image of lips.

Next users select the type of “attitude” they want. For instance, “kiss” features the lips puckering up along with a traditional kiss noise.

Users then select what they would like the mouth to say in the video. They can either select from a list of premade options such as “hello, gorgeous,” or they can type in their own phrase.

The final step allows them to pick a voice to go along with the set of lips they have created. Once complete, the video will generate the full version of their creation.

Benefit’s video generator compiles the shade, motion, phrase and voice all together in the completed piece.

Beauty brands
The beauty industry has been one of the most innovative sectors for mobile technology and forward-thinking consumer-facing platforms.

For instance, as one of the first beauty retailers to institute the use of chatbots, Sephora continued its streak with some extra features for its chatbot service aimed toward improving consumer experience both at home and in-store.

The two features focus on different areas of the consumer experience. One will help customers book appointments with a Sephora beauty specialist and the other will give customers help with making purchasing decisions on their own (see more).

Hair color manufacturer Clairol leveraged mobile technology to bring CPG brands closer to the consumer by allowing users to virtually try on hair colors before purchasing.

Beauty fans can now test out hair colors to see what they look like before making the big commitment to dyeing their hair with Clairol’s new augmented reality application. Created by the technology developer behind Sephora’s augmented technology, the new MyShade app allows users to browse various colors from Clairol by integrating the hair colors onto their photos (see more).

“The lip generator is compelling—making beauty enjoyable and quite visual,” Ms. McIlveen said. “To maximize profitability, the campaign needs to be properly structured to keep the audience engaged and encourage prospective buyers.

“In this multichannel and social-media-driven world, showing a real-life example becomes more effective than telling and can influence purchasing decisions,” she said.