Launching Charlotte Tilbury’s Glow Toner with Strategy-Led Storytelling

Natalie Grover
Jun 14
2 min read

Updated: 7 days ago

How content, community, and clever positioning lit up skincare’s newest essential

In the fast-moving world of beauty, launching a new skincare product requires more than just great formulation. It requires sharp strategy, scroll-stopping content, and a deep understanding of what today’s consumers actually want from their skincare routines.

As Social Media Lead on Charlotte Tilbury’s New Product Development (NPD) campaign, I helped shape the digital debut of Glow Toner—a gentle, acid-free, radiance-boosting toner designed to prep and resurface the skin. This wasn’t just another product drop but a strategic moment to deepen the brand’s skincare presence and spark fresh conversation in a saturated category.

Setting the Stage: A Category-Defining Opportunity

Charlotte Tilbury is globally known for makeup magic, but its skincare line has quietly built momentum. The launch of Glow Toner marked a key moment in that journey, and consumer behaviour backed the timing.

According to Mintel’s 2025 Beauty and Personal Care Report, 71% of skincare users now prefer gentle, non-stripping formulations that deliver visible results without irritation. Consumers are increasingly educated, ingredient-aware, and focused on building longer-term skin health over instant fixes.

Glow Toner perfectly fits this shift: it is a daily-use product promising glow, barrier support, and gentle resurfacing, all without acids.

Creative That Converts: Leading the Social Content & TikTok Strategy

My role as Social Media Lead was translating this product’s story into compelling, platform-native content, driving discovery and desire. That meant:

Leading the social shoot development to ensure the visuals felt rich, modern, and unmistakably Tilbury.
Owning the TikTok strategy, crafting formats designed for engagement, product education, and UGC-style relatability.
Mapping out the campaign journey across Tease, Launch, and Sustain—ensuring consistent amplification and narrative cohesion.

The result?

- 43.3K total TikTok views across eight videos

- 66K average views per TikTok video

- 3%+ average engagement rate on Instagram

The campaign also earned strong internal buy-in, with praise from Charlotte herself and alignment across global brand teams.

Strategic Foundation: Launching Skincare on Instagram

In parallel, I led the strategy for the skincare channel launch on Instagram, which was a milestone moment as the brand formally expanded its skincare narrative to a new audience subset. This involved:

Defining the voice and visual identity for the skincare category.
Differentiating product messaging from makeup content while keeping the core brand essence intact.
Aligning new formats to platform behaviours and audience expectations.

Why It Worked

This wasn’t about pushing a product. It was about building trust, showing proof, and giving the community reasons to care. By combining content planning, platform strategy, and consumer insights, we created a campaign that felt elevated yet approachable, just like the product itself.

Beauty Insight

According to WGSN and Mintel, 2025 skincare growth will continue to be driven by “intellectual” consumers. Those seeking high-efficacy formulas supported by transparency, education, and inclusive storytelling. Campaigns that meet these expectations with clarity and creativity will win.