How e.l.f. Beauty has used Super Bowl ads to rocket from 10% brand awareness to 40%

The rising beauty powerhouse, a Gen Z favorite, ran its first Super Bowl Sunday ad in 2023. From a finance perspective, Fields said the company’s confidence in big-ticket Super Bowl investments stems from their long-term impact on brand awareness rather than a focus on immediate dollar-for-dollar return. Brand awareness was a little over 10% five or six years ago, and today it’s over 40%.

With only one in three women currently shopping e.l.f., Fields sees a sizable runway. Each wave of awareness-building activity, she said, gives the brand access to the two-thirds of women who are not yet customers. About 75% of e.l.f.’s portfolio remains priced at $10 or less, even after a recent price increase in August, a stance Fields said resonates with consumers becoming more selective with their spending.

On average, a 30-second Super Bowl ad in 2025 ranged from $7 million to $8 million, with this year’s average estimated at $8 million, USA Today reported. 

As a company, e.l.f. tracks a wide set of performance indicators. The finance and marketing teams monitor sales trends alongside earned media value, impressions, and social engagement to determine whether the creative is resonating and being shared organically. Those metrics are reviewed before and after each campaign, Fields said, helping the company measure halo effects and refine its approach year to year. (I sat down with Fields and Kory Marchisotto, SVP and CMO, in 2024 to talk about their partnership.)

That evolution has played out on screen. In its first year, e.l.f. produced a Jennifer Coolidge–led Super Bowl commercial, followed in 2024 by its “Judge Beauty” ad. Last year, the brand skipped a broadcast ad in favor of a live watch-party experience.

Overall marketing spend for e.l.f. is expected to be higher this year than last, with the Super Bowl as just one component and increased investment behind international markets and strategic collaborations also contributing, said Fields, CFO since 2019. The company is targeting marketing outlays of roughly 24% to 26% of sales for the year, consistent with its recent pattern of reinvesting heavily to fuel awareness and customer acquisition.

This Sunday’s Super Bowl LX commercial will feature Glow Reviver Lip Oil, e.l.f.’s best-selling product for the past two years, in a telenovela-inspired campaign starring Melissa McCarthy, Nicholas Gonzalez, and Itatí Cantoral. Hispanic households account for 18% of e.l.f. buyers, 29% higher than the category average, according to the company.

The ad will air on Peacock and Univision in Mexico during the Big Game, then will expand across linear TV and streaming, including both English-language and Spanish-language platforms. The campaign is also expected to reach fans of Grammy Award–winning artist Bad Bunny, who will headline the halftime show.

The ongoing strategy continues to translate into results. For the quarter ended December 31, e.l.f. posted GAAP diluted EPS of $0.65, beating estimates, as net sales rose 38% to $489.5 million. The addition of Rhode contributed $128 million in net sales, prompting the company to raise its full-year outlook, with projected net sales growth of 22% to 23% and higher adjusted EBITDA guidance.

Sunday’s Big Game will feature the New England Patriots vs. the Seattle Seahawks. Fields said she’s not rooting for either team. “I wish the San Francisco 49ers were there,” she said.

Have a good weekend.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

Leaderboard

Fortune 500 Power Moves this week:

Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah, CFO of  Uber Technologies (No. 101), will step down from his role on Feb. 16. He will be succeeded by Balaji Krishnamurthy, vice president of strategic finance. Mahendra-Rajah, who joined the company as CFO in November 2023, will remain with Uber as a senior finance advisor to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi through July 1.

Jamie Miller, chief financial and operating officer at PayPal (No. 137), was appointed interim CEO. After two and a half years, Alex Chriss stepped down as CEO. Enrique Lores, CEO of HP Inc., is set to take over as the permanent CEO on March 1. At PayPal, Miller’s remit had already expanded in 2025 to include the chief operating officer role. Appointed CFO in 2023, she previously served as global CFO of EY and CFO of Cargill, and spent more than a decade at General Electric, including as CFO and CEO of GE Transportation.

Loek Beckers was promoted to SVP and CFO of McDonald’s USA, (No. 165), effective March 1. Beckers will report to Ian Borden, McDonald’s global CFO. Beckers started at McDonald’s in April 2024 as SVP of corporate finance, and oversees the corporate controller group, financial planning and analysis, and global tax, treasury and insurance teams. He came to McDonald’s from General Motors, where he held segment CFO roles for GM’s International operations and GM’s China joint venture operations, as well as several corporate finance roles.

Every Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column tracks Fortune 500 company C-suite shifts—see the most recent edition.

More notable moves this week:

Karen Chan Chi Yin was promoted to CFO of Deswell Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: DSWL), effective Feb. 2. Chan succeeds Herman Wong, who has resigned from the position to pursue other interests. Chan brings over 20 years of financial experience. She first joined Deswell in 2004, serving as finance and administration manager for a key subsidiary for four years. She previously held the position of CFO at SIM Technology Group Ltd.

Eric Shultz was promoted to CFO and principal accounting officer of SIFCO Industries, Inc. (NYSE American: SIF), a maker of components and machined assemblies for aircraft and engine manufacturers, effective February 20. He will succeed Jennifer Wilson, who has resigned, according to an SEC filing. Shultz is currently director of strategy and administration and has more than 25 years of finance experience. He was formerly the CFO of Bowden Manufacturing Corp.

Sundip “Sonu” Singh Johl was appointed EVP, CFO, and treasurer of Ring Energy, Inc. (NYSE American: REI), effective Feb. 27. Johl brings more than 20 years of experience. From 2020 through January 2026, he was managing director, co-head of energy investment banking at Raymond James & Associates, Inc. Before that, he was managing director, co-head of E&P at UBS Investment Banking Global Energy Group.

Matt Horvath, CFO and treasurer at Stoneridge, Inc. (NYSE: SRI), an electronic systems provider, has resigned, effective March 31, to pursue an opportunity in a different industry sector. Stoneridge has initiated a search to identify a CFO. Until a permanent replacement is appointed, Robert Hartman, chief accounting officer, will work closely with Horvath over the next two months. 

William H. White was appointed CFO of Quantum Corporation (Nasdaq: QMCO), a technology company that provides solutions for unstructured data. White brings more than two decades of experience. Most recently, White served as CFO and head of revenue operations at Emotive, a venture-backed SaaS company. Earlier in his career, White was managing partner at Goldblum Lentz & Co.

Big Deal

Gallup has released its first-ever global survey of national priorities. The firm asked people around the world what single issue matters most to their countries in 2025, and the answer was the same nearly everywhere: the economy. A median of 23% of adults across 107 countries named the economy as their country’s most important problem. That figure is more than double the proportion naming work, politics, or safety—the next most-cited topics, according to Gallup.

Going deeper

Here are four Fortune weekend reads:

“Tech stocks go into free fall as it dawns on traders that AI has the ability to cut revenues across the board” By Jim Edwards

“Goldman Sachs leads $75 million funding round for Fieldguide, an AI-native accounting and audit platform” By Leo Schwartz

“Meta’s Hyperion AI data center will sprawl to four times the size of Manhattan’s Central Park” By Sharon Goldman

“Nestlé’s CEO drinks 8 coffees a day, but says Gen Z staffers are his secret to staying sharp by ‘learning constantly’” By Emma Burleigh

Overheard

“We are ready to show off our restaurants, our small businesses, our parks. There will be a lot of traffic this week, but with the economic impacts coming, I think it’s going to be well worth it.”

—San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said at a press conference on Monday, Fortune reported. Sunday’s Super Bowl LX will take place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, and the entire Bay Area is preparing for a possible major economic windfall.