On Valentine’s Day, Maliao Cosmetics, which works in beauty products, used its new digital visual campaign to introduce the Forever Matte Lipstick collection. The aim is for it to become an essential product for all beauty enthusiasts.
Built on the insight that true love is long-lasting, the campaign demonstrates how authentic love lasts forever by demonstrating that people who stay emotionally devoted to one another will always depend on their makeup products. Maliao Cosmetics uses the #ItsForeverMatteBaby to guarantee that its matte lipsticks will maintain their perfect appearance, comfortable feel, and strong color performance throughout the day, just as love remains unbroken.
The campaign film used storytelling to showcase the search process for finding the one perfect lipstick, being matte, comfortable, and long-wearing. The film uses bold visual elements together with romantic themes to present the Forever Matte collection as an essential product for all occasions that range from casual to extravagant.
Earlier Maliao Cosmetics, had done a campaign, ‘Glow-Off with Maliao Cosmetics’, a celebration of duality in beauty and the multifaceted identities of young Indians today. The campaign blends cultural heritage with contemporary glamour, reinforcing the brand’s commitment to building a community that values individuality and innovation.
Rooted in the philosophy of ‘everyday glam’, the Glow-Off campaign positions Maliao’s product portfolio as approachable, versatile, and designed for consumers who seamlessly transition between multiple roles. From bold palettes to high-performance formulations, the brand aims to empower real-life creativity and self-expression. The campaign’s core message highlights that beauty is multidimensional—and that duality is a strength, not a contradiction.
Medianews4u.com caught up with Arhaan Khan, CEO Maliao Cosmetics
Q. Maliao Cosmetics says that it is more than just a cosmetics brand, it is a community. What is the key difference between just being a great brand and a community?
While a brand is about providing quality products, a community is about creating belonging and identity. For Maliao Cosmetics, investments might produce some immediate results, but conversations get you the results you want in the long run. While a brand usually talks to its consumers, a community listens, interacts, and grows with them.
For instance, while we are active in digital spaces, on campuses, and with influencers, it is not just about reaching them but about actually listening to and understanding their concerns about comfort, longevity, shade range, and prices. It is not just about them listening to the way you are talking; it is about them feeling heard and represented, and that is where real brand growth starts.
Q. The company has introduced the Forever Matte Lipstick collection. The aim is for it to become an essential product for all beauty enthusiasts. What does one need to keep in mind for a product to become essential in an extremely competitive beauty category?
A beauty product becomes essential only when it is capable of consistently addressing a persistent issue. In the context of matte lipsticks, for instance, the fundamental conflict is between wear and feel. A lipstick may excel at either one but fail at the other. In our Forever Matte Lipstick product line, we have been adamant from the start: our formula should offer high color, smooth matte texture, and wear without any irritation.
But high product quality is just half the story. A product needs to be reasonably priced, well-supported with distribution, and reliable from batch to batch. A product is considered essential based on repeated purchase behavior, or a lack thereof. Intuitive repurchase is a sign of trust and trustworthiness.
Q. In the beauty category smarter marketing is replacing higher ad spends. Will Maliao Cosmetics also follow a similar approach?
As far as the marketing industry is concerned, precision will be key to our future, not volume. While others are betting on excessive advertising spending, we are betting on influencer-led storytelling. In fact, our strategy is to connect with the right consumer at the right time with the right message.
In addition to this, engaging with our communities has become a significant marketing strategy, allowing marketers to dive deeper with their audience, as opposed to focusing on mere impressions. In fact, return on attention trumps return on impressions in this ecosystem. Moreover, through the help of analytics and results, every marketing rupee spent is aimed at generating real engagement and growth, not mere visibility.
Q. To succeed in 2026 how important will it be for marketing activities done to clearly articulate the value being provided?
Being crystal clear on value will be non-negotiable in 2026. Consumers are more educated and refined and may dismiss a product if messages lack clarity. Marketing needs to communicate not only emotional benefits but also how they can solve a problem and how that solution is better than another.
Furthermore, with beauty marketing, unclear value is a thing of the past. Brands rely on evidence and transparency with ingredients and product claims. There needs to be clarity between storytelling and measurable results. Hence, a brand that cannot articulate its differentiated value has to fight harder to compete in a digital jungle.
Q. According to predictive analytics, where is the whitespace for growth?
Predictive analytics signal the presence of significant opportunities in affordable premium beauty and long-wear comfort concepts, as consumers demand high-performance beauty without the luxury price point. Moreover, the base of Tier 2 and Tier 3 digital consumers continues to exhibit significant and accelerating growth, with a significant increase in beauty aspirations.
A space for innovation and opportunity exists in ‘performance-led storytelling,’ where brands leverage the use of product performance instead of relying on celebrity endorsements. Hybrid retail opportunities are also on the table through the integration of offline discovery and online shopping experiences.
Q. Will Maliao Cosmetics mostly adopt a digital first approach towards marketing in 2026? Kindly elaborate.
Yes, our approach will be digital-first but not digital-only. Digital platforms offer faster feedback loops, targeted reach, measurable ROI, and scalable community building. They allow us to test, learn, and optimise campaigns in real time. However, beauty remains a tactile category where physical experience influences purchase decisions.
Offline retail visibility, experiential events, and product trials remain critical for building trust. Our strategy integrates digital precision with offline engagement to create a cohesive consumer journey. By balancing both, we ensure efficiency in acquisition while maintaining the sensory and experiential touchpoints essential to the beauty category.
Q. Since Maliao Cosmetics positions itself as a community will it be very innovative when it comes to social media marketing in 2026?
The way innovation is done on social media is changing from visually appealing content to interaction. We intend to develop episodic formats that enable continuous conversation, foster user-generated content at scale, and create challenging experiences around community engagement. Short-form stories with commerce integration are an area that is going to be huge.
People respond better to authentic experiences and relatable stories, as seen with advertisements. However, our aim is to provide engaging experiences where users participate in the journey, and that is where we see our role as a community versus a brand that simply delivers messages.
Q. Could you talk about Maliao Cosmetics’ strategy to work with beauty influencers to get the message across?
Our influencer marketing strategy ensures that we prefer credibility over numbers. We prefer to associate with micro/nano influencers who are great at creating connections and communities. Being present in geographies through influencers will help us develop deeper penetration in various markets, especially in the smaller geography beyond metropolitan cities.
The goal is advocacy and not awareness. Influencers are more powerful when they not just believe and own the message but are also using our product. Influencers are always more effective when they own a product and are not just using it as a way to promote.
Q. A lot of beauty brands use celebrities, some of whom have launched beauty products. Will Maliao Cosmetics also go down the celebrity route in 2026? Kindly elaborate.
We cannot question that there is significant value to be found with celebrities, but we do understand that conversion is also dependent on credibility. If we decide to work with celebrities, it will definitely be strategic and align with our brand values.
The emphasis of the collaboration will have to be on authenticity, not on creating confusion about the narrative of the product. Also, community creators are our primary focus. We have seen how consumers have become increasingly interested in real experiences, away from just endorsements.
So, even when we work with celebrities, it will be along with the emphasis on community creators. We are considering that engagement is what is most important, not just publicity stunts.
Q. Could you talk about the brainstorming with the creative agency that led to the Valentine’s Digital Campaign? What separates it from the plethora of Valentine’s Day marketing initiatives?
The Valentine’s campaign was born from the idea that consumers are always in search of “the one,” whether in love or a product. What we wanted to show was a love story that wasn’t a cliche, but a lipstick that would be a long-lasting partner.
It would be reliable and comforting. The idea was to take the creative idea and mix the storytelling aspect with the benefits of the product. What was unique about the campaign was the juxtaposition of the romantic and the functional. It wasn’t a campaign about love; it was a campaign about dependability.
Q. What other campaigns and marketing innovations can one expect in the coming months?
Some things that consumers can look forward to in the coming months are festive-led storytelling campaigns that connect cultural milestones with the importance of the festival or product launch. Campus-based activations will be taken to the next level to better engage the youth directly through experiences.
There will also be increased narratives on regional/culturally inspired storytelling on beauty, which takes cognizance of the cultural diversity of the Indian market.
We will look at opportunities to experiment with a form of commerce-enabled content that essentially brings entertainment and the ability to shop together. At the heart of all this is the need to ensure campaigns are immersive yet informative and fulfilling from a commerce perspective, all of this while keeping the authenticity of the community at the core of the positioning.
Q. During the crucial festive season will retail media play a prominent role for Maliao Cosmetics?
Yes, retail media will play a crucial role during festive periods. High-intent shoppers are already in purchase mode during these times, making strategic visibility essential. Retail media networks on e-commerce platforms allow precise targeting at the point of decision-making.
Enhanced product placements, sponsored listings, and festive bundles can significantly improve conversion rates. In-store visibility through end-cap displays and promotional units further strengthens impact. By combining digital retail media with physical store presence, we can maximize festive ROI. The focus will be on capturing intent efficiently and converting interest into measurable sales growth.
Q. Since they value authenticity, are Gen Z and Gen Alpha forcing marketers in the beauty category to rewrite the playbook?
Absolutely. Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers require transparency, actual results, affordable luxury, and quick trend responses. They seek engagement with the brand and require marketers to be participants in a conversation, not controllers. Marketing has to be participative and authentic, not just aspirational.
Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers read ingredients, reviews, and values before engaging with a brand and making a purchase. For us, this filters back to our community model. By being attuned to our consumers, we know that our marketing strategies stay on track with our changing consumer behaviors.
Q. What role will experiential marketing play in 2026 through a presence in places like malls for Maliao Cosmetics and the category?
Experiential marketing will be of high importance because, quite simply, beauty is a very ‘tactile’ business. Product trials, shade matching, and purchase upon seeing form the basis of various activations at malls, colleges, and as pop-up installations. These experiences build confidence in formulation and finish that digital platforms alone cannot match.
Furthermore, it usually means organic social media amplification since consumers love sharing such experiences on social media. These initiatives ensure the creation of moments for the brand, and memory strengthens recall.
We seek to integrate experiential efforts with digital storytelling to create an interlinked ecosystem where offline discovery seamlessly translates to online engagement and repeat purchase.
Q. How will Maliao Cosmetics approach B2B marketing to strengthen relationships with retail distributors, online platforms?
Robust relationships with distributors and platforms are essentially the foundation of growth and sustainability. Margin structures, sell-through support campaigns, and festive promotions are areas of priority in the proposed B2B strategy.
The mutual exchange of data insights and market forecasts will help promote more efficient inventory management and reduce stock availability gaps.
Separate training modules are also proposed to be included in the strategy, focusing on retail sales personnel to ensure effective communication of the products at the retail end.
Building trust-based relationships with distributors and/or the platform will only help create a robust retail ecosystem. A well-constructed B2B network ensures not only efficient presence but also scalability of the brand.
