case study
pat mcgrath labs
The legendary makeup artist needs no introduction. In 2015, when Pat McGrath dropped 1000 units of her Gold 001 pigment, it sold out instantly. PAT McGRATH LABS was born. Three years later she made literal gold when her brand became valued at $1 billion. Don’t get it twisted, we live for aliengelic* skin, but that voice. LABS is a master class in the addictive power of an unparalleled persona. It’s like a drug trip, as hallucinogenic as the pigments it describes — illicit and ethereal, dripping with excess. When the rule is, “there are no rules,” the true potency of words unfolds.
Antonym works with PAT McGRATH LABS to maintain the authenticity and consistency of the brand voice, and communicate the mystique of Pat’s formulations. Product descriptions, shade and product names, website copy, in-store and retailer copy, press releases, and packaging copy are illuminated by her profound pop culture lexicon and the iconic techniques developed throughout her twenty-plus years in makeup artistry.
*No one does wordplay like Pat. #QWEEN
THE ANTONYM EFFECT
“We worship at the altar of storyteller extraordinaire Taffy Brodesser-Akner, who says that every story possesses three layers. What it’s about. What it’s really about. And what it’s really, really about. It’s a genius philosophy for crafting celebrity profiles, and it is equally brilliant for writing product descriptions. With Pat, the subject may be an eye shadow, but that’s never what it’s really about.
We approach writing about Pat’s products like we’re directing a film. A very salacious film. There is what’s revealed to the audience, onscreen, but then there are the miles of backstory that you never see, but are informing and elevating every moment. It’s called complex character development, and it works for movies, books, and lipstick. ”
THE LEXICON
Ravishing, Iconic, Legendary, Tantalizing, Ultimate, Indulge, Gild, Divine, Major, Beyond, Sublime, Seductress, Scintillating, Erotic, Cult Covetable, Bacchanal, Extraterrestrial, Ritual, Obsessive, Opulence, Lavish
