Maybelline New York and Essie, each owned by L’Oréal, are bringing in a single company to run social for the primary time.
VML has been named lead U.S. social company for the manufacturers following a aggressive assessment, the company instructed ADWEEK, with a remit spanning social technique, content material manufacturing, and neighborhood administration. The scope doesn’t embody influencer advertising and marketing.
The pitch started in November 2025, consolidating what had been a patchwork of inside groups, in line with VML.
The transfer displays a broader reckoning in magnificence, the place discovery and buy are more and more taking place on TikTookay and Instagram, making social a key commerce channel. For manufacturers like Maybelline and Essie, within the make-up and nail polish sectors, respectively, that shift calls for a extra built-in strategy to content material.
“It wasn’t just content creation,” Leo Madden, world consumer associate at VML, instructed ADWEEK. “It was strategy, production, real-time community management, listening, performance measurement—all working together as an engine.”
The assessment, which ran via early 2026, was managed internally by the model reasonably than via a search consultancy. Madden mentioned he didn’t have visibility into what number of businesses competed.
Maybelline spent roughly $60 million on media in 2025 and Essie spent round $10 million, in line with COMvergence estimates.
While the 2 manufacturers will share a social workforce, their voices will keep distinct, Madden mentioned. Work is already underway, with content material dwell since January and VML groups actively offering neighborhood administration, although the company declined to share particular examples.
The win comes as VML is pulled into a brand new group referred to as WPP Creative as a part of CEO Cindy Rose’s $676 million value chopping plan. Longtime VML world CEO Jon Cook was promoted to steer the division as CEO.