Case study
Few makeup artists can claim Mario Dedivanovic’s mastery.
His groundbreaking methodologies for shaping and contouring the face created the defining trends of 21st-century beauty.
After 20 years as a coveted celebrity makeup artist, Mario tapped Antonym to develop the messaging strategy, product and shade naming, and copywriting for the launch of his industry-defining beauty brand: MAKEUP BY MARIO.
The messaging challenge
The beauty world largely knew Mario to be the king of contour — and Kim Kardashian’s makeup artist.
But he wanted MAKEUP BY MARIO to be an expansion of his legendary work and to show the world something new, pushing what we knew of him.
Our messaging challenge was to elevate Mario’s historic equity in complexion while honoring his long-time, diehard core audience. And, we had to prove to new audiences that his nuanced approach to beauty went beyond contouring, and that he had the techniques to prove it.
We lept in nearly a year before launch to help strategize and build all messaging for the brand, including all names for Mario’s iconic, technique-based products.
Building award-winning campaigns
Once MAKEUP BY MARIO launched, we helped concept and message award-winning product campaigns including SoftSculpt™, Master Blade™ Brown Pencil, Master Hold™ Brow Gel, and Ultra Suede™ Lipstick.
And we supported MAKEUP BY MARIO’s epic Sephora launch, crafting messaging for all launch assets, including events, ecomm, and in-store visual merchandising.
Branding voice & tone: Style guide, tagline development, brand editorials
Product launch & naming: Product naming, product descriptions, technique naming, shade naming, packaging copy
Website copy & strategy: Bios, About copy, product overviews
Social content & strategy: Social account/campaign work, image captions, strategic direction
In-depth content: Blog posts, newsletters, artistry education assets
Media: Interview prep and ghostwriting, video scripts, press releases, copy for influencer and PR kits
Marketing collateral copy
Emails, brochures, proposals, in-store signage, direct mail, event copy
Pro and rewards: Copy for the MAKEUP BY MARIO Pro program and Rewards by Mario
Deliverables
The Antonym Effect
We developed a voice strategy, defining the nuance between Mario’s voice and his company’s. We operated as MAKEUP BY MARIO’s de facto editorial team, building an editorial framework that allowed the brand to scale tremendously in just 5 short years.