Dive Brief:
- E.l.f. Cosmetics is returning to the metaverse with “Express your e.l.f.” on Zepeto, an avatar-centric social gaming platform popular with Gen Z women, according to a press release.
- Players can dress their avatars in digital makeup looks inspired by its Power Grip product line, as well as handbags, jewelry and other accessories. Functionality includes being able to take photos and videos against an E.l.f. background and sharing it in-feed.
- E.l.f. Beauty and its brands have routinely made use of online game-like spaces to engage with young consumers. The company is a favorite among teenage girls, with 60% saying they would ask their parents for its products.
Dive Insight:
E.l.f. Cosmetics is expanding its digital presence after a string of successes on Roblox and Twitch. Zepeto, which has 15-20 million monthly active users, acts as a cross between a metaverse and a social media platform. Users update their avatars more than 14 times per week, giving E.l.f the opportunity to engage with players who are looking to evolve how they present themselves in virtual environments.
Zepeto users are predominantly women and approximately 70% are Gen Z, a major demographic for the beauty brand. Like its previous gaming activations, “Express you e.l.f.” is centered around a product line and allows users to experience the items virtually as a way to increase awareness and purchase intent.
“As a different kind of company, e.l.f. does not see boundaries between where beauty lives and where culture happens,” said Patrick O’Keefe, chief integrated marketing officer, E.l.f. Brands in press materials. “We meet our community where they like to play and give them a platform to fuel discovery, empowerment and self-expression.”
The metaverse has been on a downswing recently. Once expected to hit $900 billion by 2030, the virtual world has so far not come to fruition as planned. Meta, which famously changed its name from Facebook to signal how invested the company was in the technology, considered shutting down its flagship Horizon Worlds product earlier this year. While that didn’t happen, the metaverse survives today largely through gaming platforms tailored toward younger consumers, such as Roblox and Fortnite. E.l.f. has taken advantage of such platforms in the past, with its Roblox game “Glow Up!” being the number one makeup game on the platform, per press materials. In the same release, E.l.f. said it is the number one beauty brand on Twitch.
Zepeto, which is based in Korea, describes itself as an “immersive avatar-based social universe” and has garnered significant attention from marketers. Notably, Walmart partnered with the platform in 2025 to launch Zepeto’s first e-commerce experience.
E.l.f. Beauty saw a net sales of $479.4 million in its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, reflecting a 36% year-over-year increase, according to an earnings release.
