eos broke into the UK with #GirlsWithBalls, a campaign shaped like its balm

eos was investing in the UK market and needed a debut that disrupted lip balm conventions; TBWA\London, which picked up the business in March 2017, developed the campaign over the summer and early autumn.

Name the campaign #GirlsWithBalls: the spherical balm becomes a badge of boldness for confident women in a category of boring sticks.

A TV spot directed by Burning Reel's Sarah McColgan ran with VoD, YouTube and Facebook film, high-profile digital OOH on escalator panels across London Tube stations, influencer toolkits giving creators the (spherical) tools for their own content, and a 'Winter Lips Party' at Jimmy's Winter Lodge on 14 November hosted by Maya Jama, Daisy Lowe, Danielle Peazer and Ella Eyre.

The campaign put the sphere — and the hashtag — at the centre of eos's UK entry, with social content mirroring the TV ad and guests sharing party snaps under #GirlsWithBalls. No results were reported.

eos Lip Balm launched in the UK in November 2017 with '#GirlsWithBalls', a campaign by TBWA\London built to disrupt the conventions of the lip balm category — overturning the notion that the cure for winter lips comes in traditional tubes and sticks, and celebrating the spherical format that makes eos instantly recognisable.

eos Products' GM UK & Eire Adelaide Sharples framed the insight: women want moments of delight that transcend mundane routines, translated into the iconic spherical shape. 'In a sea of sameness, eos stands out, just like the bold, confident, assertive-with-a-side-of-sass consumers that use eos.'

The media plan stacked formats around the TV spot by director Sarah McColgan (Burning Reel): VoD and online film on YouTube and Facebook, digital OOH escalator panels across London Tube stations, social carousels, gifs and short videos, influencer content built on the sphere, and a Winter Lips Party at Jimmy's Winter Lodge on 14 November hosted by Maya Jama, Daisy Lowe, Danielle Peazer and Ella Eyre, with guests sharing snaps under the hashtag.

The name does double duty: it describes the product's shape and flatters the buyer's temperament in one phrase.

Category disruption is literal — eos attacks the tube-and-stick format itself rather than rival brands.

The launch stacked owned, paid and earned formats around one shape, so every touchpoint repeated the same visual signature.

Timing was engineered for the problem the product solves: the campaign landed just in time for dry winter lips.

A product's odd shape can be a campaign's whole vocabulary: name the difference, then hand it to the audience as a self-description.

The campaign ran through winter 2017 with TV, digital OOH and the 14 November party as its anchor events. No market-share or awareness results were reported in the coverage.