On October 15, ColourPop Cosmetics released a ColourPop x NBA collection. The release focuses on six different teams: Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks. Each team has an eye shadow palette, two gel liners, a glitter gel, makeup bag and face stickers that represent the team.
I love brand collabs, particularly this one. Makeup and sports are complete opposite industries. I can see this collab offering a quirky option for non-sport-fan makeup lovers and a fun go-to for sport fans that wear makeup.
The 9-pan eyeshadow pallets align with ColourPop’s typical pallet layout. The gel liners are a vibrant pair with the shadow and the glitter gels are super fun. I actually enjoy the face stickers as well. As a college student, face tattoos are a popular accessory for college game days. Face stickers are a cute spin off of that in this collection. The makeup bag looks like it would be sold at a dollar store of some sort: It is not something that I would think to purchase on its own.
The collection had a few big wins with the overall idea and the products used for the collection, but dropped the ball in a few major areas. The release date was not horrible, but I would not have released the collection before the start of the official NBA season. The collection was released on October 15 and the NBA season began on October 19. By pushing the release back, the NBA season has time to reach a broader audience. Social media coverage of the NBA picks up as the season goes on. Basketball will begin to be consumed by the media after October 19 and even non-sports fans will get reach that basketball is happening. Jumping on the bandwagon, non-basketball fans could be more inclined to purchase the product when they know that the rest of the nation is consumed by the sport -- The idea of consensus when looking at it from a persuasive point of view.
The main execution flaw, though, was not including the Milwaukee Bucks. I do not say this as a Milwaukee Bucks fan or because I live in Milwaukee. The Bucks won the NBA Championship just three months ago. ColourPop could have taken that accomplishment and ran with it. The Celtics' color palette in this release is green and white to, naturally, match the colors of the Celtics. Boston could have been taken out of the release and replaced with the Bucks and kept the green theme if that is what ColourPop was going for. Additionally, ColourPop could have turned the team colors into a green and gold palette to mix the Bucks' color scheme with gold to commemorate the championship.
Milwaukee is commonly known as Cream City. A ColourPop "Cream City" palette could have intensified the collection. The Cream City branding consists of white, blue and green. The palette could have had bold, yet detailed, packaging including colors of off-whites, neutrals, a few blue shades and a few green shades.
Stamped into the pans could have been Bucks logos, prominent Milwaukee architecture and even the letters “MKE.” The nickname Cream City comes from the cream-colored brick first introduced in Milwaukee in the 19th century, so even some brick stamps would have been intricate.
The execution details of this launch could have been thought through a bit more. It is the best of both worlds for sport-loving makeup users. It then brings together two extremely different target audiences from two different industries. Releasing the collection a few weeks into the NBA season could have allowed time for more people to get a reach of the basketball season. Incorporating the Milwaukee Bucks’ NBA championship could have allowed for a more sensible green-themed team, however; that raises the next question of honoring the 2021 NBA champions in a new NBA season. A Cream City pallets could have been a great option for a less-flashy makeup user. The idea was there for Team ColourPop — honestly, I love it — but the ball was dropped when looking into the details and special additions to the collection.
