To create behavioral change in male gamers we targeted respected international gaming publications read and revered by male gamers, as well as engaging high-profile male and female Twitch streamers that broadcast to predominately male audiences.

By the campaign’s conclusion, we had an earned media reach of 276.5M+, with 29 of the 109 publications being international gaming news outlets, achieving a cumulative earned media reach of 65.2M+ gamers. The campaign featured in national and international news, including an 8-minute feature on Australia’s national broadcaster, and most notably was organically picked up by UN Women in the lead-up to IWD.

Maybelline New York wanted to engage with Gen Z, in particular the burgeoning gaming demographic, now with a total audience of 17 million in Australia*. The brief was to connect with young female gamers in a meaningful and authentic way and enrich their gaming experiences.

The brand had a clear and long established purpose; ‘give everyone the self-confidence to express their beauty, to play and to make change’. We knew of anecdotal evidence that female identifying gamers were facing constant abuse online resulting in many hiding their identities and playing in silence, or not at all. It seemed the online gaming world was a place where many don’t feel free to express themselves and play.

It was time to change the game.

To change this ingrained behaviour, we set out to show male gamers exactly what it was like to play through a woman’s eyes. Two prominent Aussie male gamers had their real identities disguised with voice modification software and fake female profiles in an online first-person shooter game. They experienced first-hand the level of constant abuse and bullying experienced by the opposite sex.

Shared out by our four gamer influencers, the film quickly resonated with the online gaming community and beyond. Appreciating they’d been heard, female-identifying players shared their stories, many who had been hiding in silence for over ten years, and most importantly millions of male gamers called for others to stand up and say something.

During IWD week 32 top female gamers joined the cause at a live national tournament, playing a custom Fortnite map and telling they’re combined audience of 17M to call out abuse.

Our strategy was not just simply to shine a light on an existing problem, but to amplify the silent voices, and create allies both male and female in the online gaming world.

The core asset was the 3-minute film documenting the social experiment that saw our two male gamers pose as female players in a first-person shooter. And the round table discussion with all four gamers, both male and female-identifying, dissecting the recent events and the importance of making immediate change. It was shared out by our influencers with a combined audience of 13.5M. As well as featuring on the owned media channels of Maybelline New York and charity organisation ReachOut, national and international media outlets and was screened live at the Eyes Up Cup national gaming tournament, streamed to 17M+ Twitch followers of the 32 professional female gamers participating.

Teaser videos alluded to the long form film to come, which piqued the curiosity of our audience. Then Feb 23, 2023 the 3-minute film was simultaneously launched via our social influencers and to the gaming and mainstream press. It also featured on the owned media channels of Maybelline New York and charity organisation ReachOut.

We were aware the campaign also perfectly aligned with the theme of International Women’s Day 2023 with their theme Cracking the Code and designed to address inequality in the digital world. This led to our campaign being organically picked up by UN Women and shared across all their social channels, facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

The Australian-focused campaign dominated local press coverage, but also resonated globally so far being featured in gaming and news publications internationally, including (not limited to) UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Singapore, Malaysia, USA, Mexico, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand.

Most notably the campaign was organically picked up by UN Women in the lead up to IWD and shared across all their social channels, who commented that the film was “... difficult to watch, but shows we still have a long way to go”.

It was also featured in hundreds of high profile publications including, The Sun, Daily Mail, Channel 7 News, Channel 9 News and a 8 minute feature on the ABC. In total it went on to amass 449.9M global impressions and an earned media reach of 276.5M+. Of this, 29 articles featured in international gaming news outlets, achieving a cumulative earned media reach of 65.2M+ gamers.

Through social listening we saw a dramatic gender shift in campaign engagement:

Before: Female 72%, Male 28%

Weeks 1 - 2: Female 61%, Male 39%

Weeks 3 - 4: Female 47%, Male 53%

In terms of brand perception, the campaign positively impacted on the Maybelline brand achieving their highest ever mascara market share 51.93%.

From the results it is clear that this was more than an awareness piece. The campaign aimed to engage the male-identifying community in a way that hasn’t been done before - including them as part of the ongoing conversation, empowering them to call out behaviour when they see it online.

Finally, with respected international gaming publishing the campaign and sharing the film, it’s an issue that has been seen to be taken seriously. And now has the attention of the industry and gaming world.

Maybelline New York believes that everyone should feel free to express themselves, to play and to create. However, the online gaming world is one place where some can’t. Due to the constant abuse faced by female identifying gamers online many hide their identities and play in silence, or not at all. In fact, most do not feel comfortable in this environment to express their true selves, play in an equitable manner or share their experiences through social media platforms - which flies in the face of every aspect of the aforementioned brand purpose.

The evidence that people suffer from skyrocketing amounts of harassment online also links to the brand’s existing platform Brave Together, a global mental health program to destigmatise anxiety and depression, and direct individuals to support services.

We felt it was time to change the game for good, and create safer spaces for everyone to play.