the brief
Reimagine Madison Reed’s paid social creative to better break through crowded feeds, improve messaging focus, and create a scalable system for testing and iteration. The goal was to evolve paid social beyond one-off executions into a more intentional, elevated creative framework aligned with the brand’s premium positioning and target demographic.
challenges
Existing paid social creative had become visually repetitive with plateaued performance. Many assets felt outdated and cluttered. The challenge was to modernize the visual system while simplifying layouts and messaging to improve scannability, elevate the brand, and balance product understanding with performance.
my role
Art Direction • Design
Collaborators: CRM and Design Team
Paid social design system
the process
the outcome
Design partnered with the Growth team to review inspiration from a wide range of brands, and discussed what resonated and why. Those conversations were organized into four focus areas — new customer acquisition, subscription, value, and social proof — which we then distilled into a small set of creative concepts to design, refine, and test collaboratively.
The new creative system enabled us to test multiple new ideas and design approaches across the funnel. Some concepts scaled quickly while others fell flat, creating a collaborative learning environment. These insights allowed us to iterate with confidence and identify true top-performing concepts and designs to build on moving forward.
top of funnel
Because brand awareness has been a known challenge for Madison Reed, this bucket focused less on selling and more on positioning. The creative was designed to clearly articulate our value and differentiation at a glance, establishing brand authority, setting expectations, and giving new audiences a compelling reason to engage with the brand for the first time.
thumb-stoppers
This bucket was about catching eyes and pushing creative boundaries. We intentionally tested more social-first, unexpected concepts, experimenting with bold visuals, humor, and riskier, unconventional ideas. While some ideas performed better than others, the approach allowed us to learn quickly, identify standout directions, and expand what felt possible within our paid social system.
testing & learnings
To validate the new paid social system, we tested concepts across audiences and platforms. This approach allowed us to evaluate not just what performed, but why certain ideas resonated — and where they fell short.
Some concepts scaled efficiently and became repeatable top performers, while others surfaced learnings around messaging, format, or audience fit. Both outcomes were equally valuable.
Together, these results validated the new design system and helped refine our creative approach, prioritize winning directions, and build a more informed, flexible framework for continued iteration and testing.
social-proofing
Built to feel buzz-worthy and culturally relevant, these concepts used social proof and FOMO to create instant intrigue. Customer quotes, cult-favorite framing, and bold proof points worked together to signal that Madison Reed isn’t just hair color — it’s something people talk about, recommend, and don’t want to miss.
focus on subscription
To drive subscription adoption, we explored multiple creative entry points, from highly relatable, everyday moments to more premium, curiosity-led concepts designed to stop the scroll.
This allowed us to test how convenience, prestige, and intrigue could work together to drive subscription adoption.
