e.l.f. Heads Back to the Metaverse to Play Dress-Up With Gen Z
TL;DR: e.l.f. Cosmetics has launched 'Express Your e.l.f.', its first virtual styling experience on the avatar-based platform ZEPETO, doubling down on the metaverse as a way to reach Gen Z through play rather than traditional ads.
While many brands quietly abandoned the metaverse, e.l.f. Cosmetics keeps showing up there — and on purpose. Its latest move lands squarely where young audiences actually spend their time.
'Express Your e.l.f.' is a virtual styling experience on ZEPETO, the avatar-based social platform, letting users dress up their digital selves with e.l.f.'s help.
Meeting Gen Z in their world
ZEPETO's audience skews young and is deeply comfortable expressing identity through avatars. For a brand built on accessible self-expression, giving those avatars a beauty toolkit is a smart fit rather than a gimmick.
e.l.f. has a long record of being early to the platforms its customers love — from TikTok to gaming — and treating them as creative spaces, not just ad inventory.
Why play beats interruption
The experience invites participation rather than demanding attention. Letting people play with your brand — styling an avatar, creating, sharing — builds a relationship that a skippable ad cannot.
It is also a cheap form of reach: when the activity is fun, users do the distribution for you by sharing their creations, turning marketing spend into earned attention.
The takeaway for brands
You do not need a metaverse budget to apply the principle: go where your audience already is, and give them something to do rather than just something to watch. Participation is stickier than impressions.
e.l.f.'s consistency matters too. It has stuck with emerging platforms long enough to understand them, which is why its activations feel native rather than tourist-like. Showing up once is a stunt; showing up repeatedly is a strategy.
Quick FAQ
What is 'Express Your e.l.f.'?
It is e.l.f. Cosmetics' first virtual styling experience on ZEPETO, an avatar-based social platform, letting Gen Z users style their digital avatars with the brand.
Why is e.l.f. investing in the metaverse?
Its young audience expresses identity through avatars and play. e.l.f. reaches them natively through participation rather than interruptive advertising.
Most brands treated the metaverse as a stunt and left. e.l.f. treated it as a place its customers live — and kept showing up. Give people something to play with, not just something to watch, and they'll do your marketing for you. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Participation is stickier than impressions — give your audience something to do, not just something to watch.
Does your marketing invite your audience to play and create, or just to sit and watch?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Marketing Dive, e.l.f. Beauty investor relations, Glossy, Cosmetics Business.
Related reading
Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
