A category launch that broke even on paid in nine weeks.
A Parisian beauty house wanted to enter the US. We built positioning, brand expression, and a creator-led launch program that hit profitable paid in nine weeks — almost unheard of for prestige beauty.
The brief
Atelier Prima had two boutiques in Paris and a forty-year heritage. They wanted a US launch that didn't feel like every other heritage-brand-enters-America campaign. Their previous agency had pitched them a Sephora endcap. We pitched them a story.
What we built
A category narrative built around restraint — the opposite of where US prestige beauty was moving — anchored by a creator program targeted at editors, makeup artists, and beauty's quietest power-brokers rather than reach influencers. A direct-to-consumer site optimized for the long conversion windows luxury demands. A paid program structured around incrementality, not last-click.
What changed
Paid hit breakeven in nine weeks. Earned media in T Magazine, Vogue, and Allure inside the first quarter. By month six, Atelier Prima was the fastest-growing prestige brand in their category in the US. The Sephora deal they didn't take in launch month is now a 2026 conversation — on their terms.
We came for a launch and got an argument we'll defend for ten years.
Groundline · 2024
A B2C fintech, rebuilt for B2B, without breaking trust.
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