Case study · Commerce & Retail
Editorial-First Pitching Turns Prime Day Noise Into Record Brand Visibility
Real-time commerce strategy and authority-building pitching helped five client brands, eltaMD, WavyTalk, Laifen, Ulike and Dr. Althea, break through retail's most saturated shopping event, earning a combined 548 placements and 9.99 billion-plus impressions.
548
Total earned media placements
9.99B+
Total impressions
Overview
The brief from Amazon Prime Day
Prime Day is the most crowded moment in retail. Hundreds of brands compete for the same handful of editorial roundup slots and gift-guide mentions, and most of them lose. 5W runs an always-on Prime Day program built to win that competition, and this cycle it ran simultaneously across five client brands, eltaMD, WavyTalk, Laifen, Ulike, and Dr. Althea, spanning sun care, hair tools, hair removal, beauty tech, and skincare.
Discover
Every Prime Day cycle starts the same way: editors are buried in pitches, and the outlets that drive action- the “best deals” roundups, and the expert-vetted gift guides—close their lists early. With five client brands competing for space in that same compressed window, 5W's team immersed itself in how those lists get built: which editors own the right categories, how far in advance they lock coverage, and what makes them choose one product pitch over another when they see hundreds every week.
Define
“If it's not proving itself, it's not making the list.”
The insight that shaped the program was simple: editors curating high-traffic roundups are seeking products that resonate with consumers and experts. 5W built its Prime Day pitching around evidence, not promotion, leading with sales momentum, category expert commentary, and consumer demand signals instead of product specs, a strategy applied consistently across five brands despite their different categories.
How 5W ran the program
Drive
- Tracked the deal cycle in real time. 5W monitored pricing, competitor visibility, and editorial calendars throughout the lead-up to Prime Day, adjusting pitches as roundups opened and closed.
- Led every pitch with proof. Sales momentum, category experts, and consumer demand data anchored outreach, product features were secondary.
- Recruited category experts as validators. Beauty, wellness, and tech specialists lent third-party credibility to client product recommendations.
- Ran the program across five client brands simultaneously. eltaMD (SPF and suncare), WavyTalk (hair tools, hair removal, and beauty tech), Laifen (hair tools, electric toothbrushes, and hair removal), Ulike (IPL hair removal and beauty tech), and Dr. Althea (skincare) each competed for space in the same compressed news cycle, with a dedicated pitch angle built around what made that brand's product worth including.
Results
548 total earned media placements · 9.99B+ total impressions
All five brands landed placements in top-tier consumer and commerce publications, with Laifen leading on impressions and eltaMD leading on placement volume.
- eltaMD (SPF / Suncare): 285 placements, 1.9B+ impressions. Featured coverage: Forbes, Vogue, The Cut, Good Housekeeping, NewBeauty.
- WavyTalk (Hair Tools, Hair Removal, Beauty Tech): 92 placements, 1.4B+ impressions. Featured coverage: People, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Who What Wear.
- Laifen (Hair Tools, Electric Toothbrushes, Hair Removal): 76 placements, 3.99B+ impressions. Featured coverage: Glamour, New York Post, Marie Claire, USA Today, Who What Wear.
- Ulike (IPL Hair Removal, Beauty Tech): 63 placements, 1.2B+ impressions. Featured coverage: InStyle, Elle, Women's Health, Us.
- Dr. Althea (Skincare): 32 placements, 1.5B+ impressions. Featured coverage: Glamour, New York Post, Marie Claire, USA Today, Who What Wear.
- Multiple client brands achieved record Prime Day visibility within their categories.
Coverage included
