The Challenge

In 2015, biotechnology giant Amyris tapped Elle Communications for the forthcoming launch of their direct to-consumer skincare line Biossance, founded on the company’s biotechnological breakthrough that produced a clean, sustainable version of the mega-moisturizing squalane. While Amyris was known within the beauty industry (their squalane was sold in a B2B capacity to top name beauty brands around the globe), previous consumer knowledge of the company was nonexistent. Biossance offered consumers the first access to the purest form of their squalane through a line of clean skincare that maximized the benefits of ingredient, while committing to the highest standards of clean beauty. Elle was tasked with introducing the brand and this biotech-backed approach to skincare to the masses via a targeted earned media strategy coupled with a strong influencer component.

Our Approach

The launch of Biossance began with the launch of their pure squalane product, The Revitalizer, in 2016, followed by a steady cadence of products that integrated squalane dropped throughout the following year. To generate media, influencer and consumer awareness and buzz, Elle developed a multi-tiered strategy that included:

• Developing a brand story and key message points that reflect Biossance’s value propositions, key differentiators and science-backed approach to beauty via its parent company Amyris

• Generating industry buzz and setting the brand up for key accolades via target outreach to dermatologists, makeup artists, aestheticians, and other skincare industry influencers

• Crafting an influencer campaign to increase social media presence and awareness

• Building a tribe of media and influencers who supported the brand via creative campaigns, imaginative events, storytelling, desksides, product seeding, and ongoing newsworthy updates

• Ensuring high-level and strategic coverage of product launches, paired with inventive stories and campaigns during slower moments to ensure a steady drumbeat of press throughout the year.

• Developing Biossance’s first celebrity relations program, opening relationships with ladies such as Emma Watson, Rosario Dawson, Cate Blanchett, Zoe Saldana, Nikki Reed, and many others.

Sephora Launch

In February 2017, Biossance entered Sephora as their first EWG verified skincare line. Elle worked alongside Biossance to aid in the public-facing communication of their rebrand. To maximize the brand’s widespread availability in the beauty retailer, Elle conceptualized and enacted a strategy that included:

• Targeted media mailings paired with frequent in-person meetings to introduce media to the rebranded product and new packaging and fostering brand relationships with key editors

• Development of media and influencer events that drove awareness and sales to Sephora

• Event ideation for bringing the brand to life with media and influencers.

• Individualized strategies for all product introductions into stores to ensure a steady pulse of new attention to the relationship

• Media stories that generated traffic to Sephora brick-and-mortars and .com

• Widespread media and influencer coverage that tapped into key brand position points and trendy ingredients

Our Impact

Through our three-year relationship with Biossance, the brand grew from a startup into an industry and consumer darling. Media came to love Biossance for its efficacious, clean and simple formulations just as the clean beauty trend was reaching mainstream awareness. Streamlined messaging focused on the products’ versatility, nontoxic ingredients and science origins, cultivating a strong following of media editors and influencers who followed the brand from inception through to a heavy-hitting roster of six squalene-based skincare essentials. Following the launch in Sephora, the brand quickly became one of the retailer’s best-selling skincare brands overall, with the Squalane + Eye Gel rising to the top of Sephora’s most popular eye products, selling out within a month of its introduction and several times following. With a steady cadence of community development and impactful media coverage, the Elle Communications team was commended by Sephora for its unprecedented PR launch.

Throughout the relationship, Elle generated more than 200 placements resulting in more than one billion media impressions. Elle also secured 111 influencer placements on social media, resulting in a reach of more than 30 million impressions with key figures like green makeup artist Katey Denno, Aimee Song, Wendy’s Lookbook, Chriselle Lim, Lauren Scruggs, Michelle Rose, and more.

Key Placements