Women basketball players are more popular than ever. And as they gear up for this year’s WNBA season, beauty brands are proving eager to help them glam up their look.
In July 2023, textured hair-care brand Mielle announced its multi-year partnership with the WNBA as its official textured hair-care partner. And in March, Glossier shared it was renewing and expanding its marketing-based WNBA partnership. This week, Urban Decay announced it has renewed its partnership with the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks after one year of collaborating with the team on social content, doing makeup for the players and partnering on giveaways.
“[This partnership] is about expressing our passion for women empowerment and women in sports,” said Arnaud Kerviche, vp of marketing at Urban Decay. “[It reflects] our values around diversity, inclusivity, performance and self expression.”
In a statement shared with Glossy, Sparks president Christine Monjer said, “[Urban Decay’s] commitment to championing women aligns perfectly with our mission as a team. With Urban Decay’s support, we aim to elevate the WNBA experience for our fans while inspiring the next generation of athletes and makeup enthusiasts.”
As with last season’s partnership, Urban Decay will be present at every Sparks home game this season, offering samples to attendees and doing the players’ makeup before press conferences. Throughout the regular season, which launched on May 14, Urban Decay’s social content will include video of the players’ gameday arrivals, plus Sparks logo inclusion and mention within in-feed posts, IG Stories posts and Reels. Last season, the deal resulted in 318,000 views, 3.15 million impressions and 74,075 engagements across Urban Decay’s social platforms.
However, Kerviche says that this season will look slightly different as the Urban Decay team is expanding its and partnership with the Sparks. “This year, we want to build a true relationship with the WNBA community,” Kerviche said.
For starters, the tunnel through which players enter and exit the court will be branded with both Urban Decay and Sparks logos. Plus, there will be a booth at the entrance of the Sparks’ Crypto.com home arena where consumers can interact with Urban Decay brand ambassadors and makeup artists. Later this season, Urban Decay will host a giveaway that includes a free makeover and game-day experience with the Sparks. Urban Decay will also host creators and ambassadors at home games with the hope that they will create organic content. Finally, Kerviche said, consumers can expect to see more makeup content, including tutorials and GRWMs, across the players’ social media accounts.
Following the launch of the Face Bond Triple Power foundation in March, 30% of Urban Decay’s marketing and community building investment has been going to its LA Sparks partnership. Urban Decay’s top priorities this year include doubling its social audience, acquiring new customers, innovating in product development, and expanding to new categories. To accomplish those goals, its remaining 70% of marketing resources will go to sending more mailers to macro- and nano-creators and hosting more local events. Earlier this month, Urban Decay kicked off a multi-city promotional tour in Houston. The brand will host pop-ups in Miami, Los Angeles and New York City later this summer.
Urban Decay is owned by beauty conglomerate L’Oréal. The parent company’s first-quarter 2024 earnings report in April revealed $12.24 billion in sales, up 9.4% from the same period last year.
