In today’s fragmented media landscape, where attention is fleeting and consumer skepticism runs high, beauty brands are under increasing pressure to deliver not only eye-catching campaigns but emotionally resonant ones. This has led to a surge in both futuristic, CGI-driven content and grassroots, guerrilla-style activations. While these approaches seem worlds apart—one grounded in digital fantasy, the other in real-world spontaneity—they’re proving most effective when used in tandem.
As digital culture continues to evolve, beauty brands are learning to balance imagination with authenticity, reach with relevance, and spectacle with connection. The question isn’t whether computer-generated imagery (CGI) and guerrilla marketing can replace each other; it’s how these tools can be wielded together to build more immersive, multi-touchpoint brand worlds.
The Rise of CGI: Storytelling Without Physical Boundaries
CGI has exploded in popularity across beauty marketing in recent years, fueled by demand for viral social content and the ability to push visual boundaries without the constraints of time, location, or physical materials. What was once limited to Hollywood and gaming now fuels everyday campaigns on TikTok and Instagram Reels.
“CGI has a time and place—it can be incredibly engaging, especially when we want to inject a sense of fun, creativity, or fantasy into our content,” says Jaimee Lupton, founder of MONDAY Haircare and the Gen Z- and Gen Alpha-focused brand DAISE Beauty. “For a brand like DAISE, CGI gives us the perfect canvas to build out our playful, immersive brand world where beauty meets play.”
The power of CGI lies in its ability to transcend realism. Brands can showcase mascara that trails stars, lip glosses floating through galactic dreamscapes, or skincare ingredients interacting in surreal, hypervisual animations. These moments aren’t just visually arresting, they’re made for the scroll. For young consumers, especially digital natives who live on Snapchat, TikTok, and emerging platforms, this kind of visual spectacle can be magnetic.
Robyn Grant, Creative Director at SEEN Group, highlights CGI’s limitless potential, “CGI allows for limitless opportunities to visualize and communicate brand messages in highly imaginative and innovative ways … Beauty brands can craft unique, visually compelling experiences that truly resonate with their audience.”
But while CGI opens up new creative dimensions, it isn’t a catch-all solution.
The Ground Game: Guerrilla Marketing and Real-World Resonance
In contrast to CGI’s digital dazzle, guerrilla marketing leans on in-person surprise and cultural resonance. Think pop-up installations, bold street advertising, or unexpected brand activations in high-traffic areas. The goal? Interrupt the everyday and spark authentic conversation.
NYX Professional Makeup’s (PMU) recent Face Glue campaign offers a masterclass in guerrilla disruption. Partnering with British drag star Ella Vaday, the brand launched a cheeky, pun-filled billboard campaign in London, with the drag queen herself stuck to the advertising board. “Our aim was to really disrupt the saturated cosmetics market while being culturally relevant,” Rachel Easterbrook, NYX Cosmetics Brand Business Director. “We implemented our billboard guerrilla strategy across a broader 360 campaign … getting people laughing on their way to and from work with British humor.”
The result? The Face Glue Primer became the #1 product in NYX’s brand portfolio and the #2 primer in the market year to date. The campaign didn’t just drive sales, it boosted brand sentiment and consumer buzz across social media.
Guerrilla marketing works because it engages people in the real world—in their neighborhoods, on their commutes, or in surprise moments that feel “found” rather than fed through a feed. These experiences foster a sense of community, excitement, and authenticity that’s hard to replicate through digital-only campaigns.
As Grant puts it, “If a brand's consumer base craves direct, personal interaction and hands-on experiences, real-world activations offer a deeper, more meaningful impact … You really get to be a part of that. CGI could never offer that kind of tactile, human connection.”
Strategy by Audience: Knowing When (and Where) to Play
The decision to lean into CGI or guerrilla marketing (or both) hinges largely on understanding your audience. For beauty brands like MONDAY and DAISE, this requires a highly tailored media strategy.
“Our media strategy is never one-size-fits-all,” says Lupton. “Each brand speaks to a very different consumer, and we tailor the media mix accordingly. DAISE, for example, is focused on Gen A and younger Gen Z audiences, who primarily live on platforms like Snapchat and TikTok. That opens the door for us to be more experimental, use CGI creatively, and really lean into digital-first formats.”
For MONDAY, which targets slightly older consumers, the media mix includes both social content and elevated out-of-home (OOH) advertising. “MONDAY speaks more to older Gen Z and millennials who are still highly engaged on TikTok but also value the aspirational quality of OOH placements in premium locations.”
At NYX Cosmetics, Easterbrook believes in the synergy of both formats. “We don’t believe CGI marketing and guerrilla marketing need to be mutually exclusive … It’s the combination of the two that creates the perfect bread and butter recipe to expect the unexpected.”
In other words, knowing your consumer isn’t just about age or platform preference—it’s about anticipating their needs, emotions, and how they want to experience your brand.
Building Cohesion Across Channels
Blending CGI and guerrilla marketing isn’t just a tactical decision—it’s a creative challenge. How do brands maintain consistency when one element exists in a fantastical digital universe, and the other plays out in city streets or underground tunnels?
“It’s definitely a balancing act,” says Lupton. “We always keep the consumer at the center and work hard to build campaigns that are cohesive, even when executed across different mediums. That means making sure the core brand identity and message stay strong—whether someone’s seeing us on a CGI billboard in NYC or scrolling past a routine video from their favorite influencer.”
Grant agrees that cohesion is key, but emphasizes the importance of creative diversity: “Consistency doesn’t mean uniformity. We believe in creating a wide array of content to meet people where they are—some trend-led, some evergreen, some hypervisual, some grounded in education. The key is to stay agile, culturally in tune, and always evolving with your audience.”
That range—grounded yet experimental, digital yet tangible—is what builds emotional stickiness. It gives consumers multiple entry points into the brand story, each touchpoint adding a layer of understanding, delight, or trust.
CGI vs. Guerrilla? Try CGI and Guerrilla
The ultimate takeaway isn’t to choose between CGI and guerrilla marketing, but to understand what each uniquely offers and how they can serve broader brand goals in concert.
CGI:
Guerrilla:
Used together, the two offer a full-spectrum strategy, appealing to both imagination and intimacy, driving reach and relevance, and meeting consumers where they are, both physically and emotionally.
“We always start with the consumer,” Lupton reiterates. “Where they spend time, what content they engage with, and how they want to interact with our brand—and build from there.”
As the lines between physical and digital continue to blur, beauty marketing isn’t about choosing fantasy or reality, it’s about creating a brand universe where both coexist. In the hands of smart, culturally attuned marketers, CGI and guerrilla marketing aren’t competing tools, they’re complementary forces.
From dreamscapes to street corners, beauty brands that master this blend won’t just grab attention. They’ll earn it. In an industry where loyalty is hard-won and easily lost, that makes all the difference.
