Maybelline Marketing Strategy: The 2026 Playbook

The Maybelline marketing strategy runs on one repeatable sound: the 1991 "Maybe It's Maybelline" jingle, rebuilt for social media in 2024, fronted by Miley Cyrus in 2025 and remixed country by country in 2026.

What Is the Maybelline Marketing Strategy?

Maybelline New York is a drugstore makeup brand owned by L'Oréal. Its own press release of September 24, 2025 says it sells in more than 120 countries. The Maybelline marketing strategy keeps prices accessible and spends its effort on recognition:

•       One sound: the Maybelline marketing strategy puts the jingle in TV, social and in-store work.

•       Famous faces: Gigi Hadid, Storm Reid, Peggy Gou and Shay Mitchell in 2024, then Miley Cyrus in 2025.

•       Local versions: the Maybelline marketing strategy gave Canada, India and China their own take in 2026.

A pattern across competing guides: they list tactics without dates, so readers can't tell which parts of the Maybelline marketing strategy are current.

How Does the Maybelline Marketing Strategy Use the Jingle?

The jingle first appeared in a 1991 Finish Matte commercial, according to Happi (September 4, 2024). Maybelline relaunched it in September 2024 with a new melody from the sonic agency Sixième Son and, per its release of September 3, 2024, an 84% brand recall claim.

The table shows how the Maybelline marketing strategy keeps reusing that one asset. Reuse is cheap compared with inventing a new slogan, and the 1991 tune already has decades of recognition behind it.

Date	Move	Channel	Source
1991	Jingle debuts in a Finish Matte ad	TV	Happi, Sep 4, 2024
Sep 2024	Modern jingle with four ambassadors	Social media	Maybelline release, Sep 3, 2024
Sep 2025	Miley Cyrus named global spokesperson	TV, digital, social, in-store	Maybelline release, Sep 24, 2025
Jan 2026	Teens in Times named China ambassadors	Social	PR Asia release, Jan 20, 2026
Sep 2026	Four Canadian artists remix the jingle	Instagram, TikTok, YouTube	Retail Insider, Sep 17, 2026
Sep 2026	Instant Eraser global social-first campaign	Streaming, Instagram	Ads of the World, Sep 2026

 

Each step in the Maybelline marketing strategy changes the face, not the tune.

Who Does the Maybelline Marketing Strategy Target?

•       Younger shoppers first: PR Asia (January 20, 2026) quotes the brand describing a digital-first, youth-centric approach worldwide, which shapes the Maybelline marketing strategy.

•       Market-specific faces: in India the ambassador is Suhana Khan, per Exchange4media (October 9, 2024).

•       Older fans too, probably: a jingle from 1991 with 84% recall likely reaches adults, though the release doesn't break the number down.

The Maybelline marketing strategy therefore targets by market and platform rather than by one fixed age band.

What Does the Maybelline Marketing Mix Look Like?

•       Price: the Maybelline marketing strategy sits at drugstore level, per Glossy (September 24, 2025).

•       Product: hero lines include the Sky High mascara, which the 2025 release calls viral, and Instant Eraser concealer.

•       Place: more than 120 countries, with each launch in the Maybelline marketing strategy adapted locally.

•       Promotion: before the Cyrus reveal, Maybelline ran ice cream trucks in New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Miami, then a remix contest from September 29 to October 27, 2025, according to Glossy.

The Maybelline marketing strategy treats promotion as the main spend and price as a fixed promise.

How Does Maybelline Localize Its Marketing?

•       Canada: Retail Insider (September 17, 2026) shows the Maybelline marketing strategy in action with The Power of Maybe, where Nicolina, Liz Lokre, Naomi and Tia Wood wrote songs inspired by the jingle. Lokre's song is paired with SuperStay Lumi-Matte Foundation.

•       India: Medianews4u (September 22, 2026) covers a community-driven Sunkisser launch, another example of the Maybelline marketing strategy, with creator Malvika Sitlani. General manager Jessica Rode framed it as a move from brand-led to consumer-led storytelling.

•       China: PR Asia (January 20, 2026) calls Teens in Times a voice for Gen Z and names them brand ambassadors and global partners.

In each case the Maybelline marketing strategy ties a local creator to a specific product, not just to the brand.

What Happened in the September 2024 Relaunch?

•       Happi (September 4, 2024) lists four global ambassadors in the campaign: Gigi Hadid, Storm Reid, Peggy Gou and Shay Mitchell.

•       The brand's September 3, 2024 release says Sixième Son translated its visual identity and tone of voice into sound.

•       In the brand's words, the jingle was built to capture New York energy while paying homage to the 1990s original.

•       Exchange4media (October 9, 2024) shows India joining within weeks, with ambassador Suhana Khan and general manager Jessica Rode backing the revival.

The brand's New York identity has corporate roots too: according to Wikipedia, its headquarters moved to New York City in 1996. Within a month, one global idea had a local face in India. The same pattern repeats later in Canada and China.

How Did the Miley Cyrus Launch Work?

•       Cosmetics Business (September 24, 2025) says the reimagined jingle is the core of the campaign, and Cyrus also fronts upcoming launches, including Sky High and a new color.

•       Marketing-Interactive (September 2025) describes a short music video: Cyrus arrives at a photoshoot, puts on mascara and sings the jingle in a studio.

•       Glossy (September 24, 2025) quotes Samantha Steinberger, head of brand engagement, saying the brand first sought an ambassador, and Cyrus's voice came as a bonus.

Most coverage treats the singer as the starting point. By the brand's own account, the face came first and the voice second.

What Did the Instant Eraser Campaign Add?

Ads of the World (September 2026) lists a global social-first Instant Eraser campaign by the agency forceMajeure. The brief, per that entry, was relevance rather than awareness, because the concealer is already well known.

•       Production: a one-day shoot in New York, chosen to anchor the brand's hometown identity.

•       Rollout: streaming platforms and Instagram, with room to adapt locally.

•       History: Mi-3 (September 19, 2024) says the product had been on the market for nearly 15 years when Naomi Campbell and RuPaul fronted its earlier ICONS campaign.

Legacy products get refreshed, not replaced.

What Does the Canadian Campaign Show Up Close?

Retail Insider (September 17, 2026) gives the clearest view of how a local version runs. Marketing director Catherine St-Pierre said the word "maybe" has always meant more than a question mark.

•       Each artist's original song is paired with a Maybelline product.

•       Content ran on the artists' own Instagram, TikTok and YouTube channels, with song edits, behind-the-scenes Jingle Capsules and Product Capsules.

•       The full campaign sits on Maybelline Canada's YouTube channel and a campaign hub, and the featured products are sold through its Amazon.ca Brand Store.

My read: the Amazon.ca store links the song directly to a sale.

What Results Has Maybelline Reported?

•       84% brand recall for the jingle, from global brand president Trisha Ayyagari in the September 3, 2024 release. It is the headline number behind the Maybelline marketing strategy.

•       26 million TikTok views, 82% brand recognition and a 5% lift in awareness after the reworked jingle launched, per Sixième Son's own case page (undated). Recognition and recall are different measures, so the two percentages shouldn't be compared directly.

Both numbers come from the company or its agency. I found no independent sales data tied to the Maybelline marketing strategy, and "number one makeup brand in the world" is the brand's own wording. The figures measure attention, not sales.

What Can Marketers Copy From It?

These points are my reading of the evidence, not company statements.

•       Reuse a recognized asset before inventing a new one.

•       Attach each creator to a product so results can be tracked later.

•       Localize the format, not the tune.

•       Date every figure you cite and name its source.

Which Claims About the Maybelline Marketing Strategy Are Unconfirmed?

•       Monkey Ads (February 2023) credits the Maybelline marketing strategy with partnerships with Puma, Girls Who Code and TerraCycle. I couldn't confirm any of them from a brand or press source, so treat them as unverified.

•       TheBigMarketing (updated February 2026) says Maybelline was founded in 1991 and gives both 200 and 2,000 as its product count. The brand dates to 1915, and the count is unconfirmed.

•       ReferralCandy (June 2016) covers a 2006 MySpace campaign and 2015 Snapchat ads. That's history, not the current Maybelline marketing strategy.

The common thread: confident detail with no named, dated source.

Conclusion

Watch how the jingle travels. Check the brand's country pages around the holiday launches, and compare any recall or view counts with independent data before repeating them. That habit keeps your read of the Maybelline marketing strategy honest.

FAQs

What is the Maybelline marketing strategy in one sentence?

The Maybelline marketing strategy reuses one jingle across celebrity, creator and local campaigns while holding drugstore prices. The brand's releases from 2024 to 2026 describe a digital-first, youth-centric approach.

Who is Maybelline's global spokesperson?

Miley Cyrus, announced on September 24, 2025 in a long-term partnership. The brand's release says she also fronts launches, including the Sky High mascara, which makes her central to the Maybelline marketing strategy.

Does the Maybelline marketing strategy rely on TikTok?

Heavily for the jingle: Sixième Son reports 26 million TikTok views for the reworked version. Instagram and YouTube carry later work, such as the 2026 Canadian campaign.

How big is Maybelline?

The brand says it sells in more than 120 countries and calls itself the world's number one makeup brand. Treat that ranking, and any claim about the Maybelline marketing strategy built on it, as company-reported.