Case Study · Brand · Product Launch
Cymbiotika
× Ulta × Something Dope
The Lillian, Los Angeles. March 2026. Cymbiotika launched into 1,000+ Ulta Beauty stores, and Something Dope produced the night that carried it. Concept, venue, build, lighting, staffing, vendor curation, and specialty talent. The brand showed up to a finished room.
- Impressions
- 1B+
- Earned media value
- $20M
- Editorial coverage
- Vogue
- Ulta stores · the launch
- 1,000+
The Brief
A launch that would not read as a launch.
Cymbiotika was rolling into 1,000+ Ulta Beauty doors with four hero formulas: NAD+, Magnesium Complex, Vitamin C, and Glutathione. They needed a launch moment that would move press, social, and the tastemakers who set the tone for wellness and beauty.
The ask was simple. Produce a night that looked like editorial. Make every detail intentional. Handle the logistics invisibly so the brand could show up and host.
What we delivered
End to end.
No holes, no handoffs.
Eight disciplines, one team. This is the shape of every brand production we take on.
- 01
Creative direction & concepting
From the first mood board to the night-of walkthrough. We built the idea that carried every other decision.
- 02
Branding & visual identity
Event-specific branding, custom signage, on-site touchpoints. The guest experience reading as one coherent world.
- 03
Venue sourcing
We matched the brand to The Lillian in Los Angeles. The space became part of the story, not just a backdrop.
- 04
Custom fabrications
Bespoke builds and immersive activations built around each hero formula, so NAD+, Magnesium Complex, Vitamin C, and Glutathione each had their own walk up, touch, and post moment.
- 05
Lighting design
Every room lit for mood and for camera. The event looked as good on an iPhone at 2 a.m. as it did live.
- 06
Specialty talent hiring
Calligraphers hand-finishing guest takeaways. Live sketch artists capturing the room. Talent chosen to make the event feel unrepeatable.
- 07
Vendor sourcing & curation
Florals, hospitality, print, food, rentals. Every vendor vetted and managed by our team so the brand never touched a logistics thread.
- 08
Event staffing
Hosts, check-in, production runners, on-site leads. The whole operating crew that makes a big night feel effortless.
The Room
Tastemakers in. Press in. Talent in.
The room filled with tastemakers the night earned. Emily Ratajkowski, Jasmine Tookes, Shanina Shaik, Najma Jama, and Orey Orey in attendance. Chantel Jeffries and Charly Jordan on the decks.
Press, editorial, and social were all working the same moment in parallel, which is how one night turns into weeks of coverage.
The Outcome
One night, one footprint that keeps compounding.
Cymbiotika × Ulta launched at The Lillian and the coverage compounded from there. Over 1 billion impressions across press and social. Roughly $20 million in earned media value from a single evening.
Vogue ran it as editorial. WWD picked it up around Emily Ratajkowski's appearance. Getty filed it as news.
Inside the night
What it looked like.
Six frames from the Cymbiotika × Ulta launch at The Lillian.
We don't produce events. We produce cultural footprints. One night, covered by Vogue, a billion impressions, twenty million in earned media. That is the room we build around a brand.
Ready to produce the next one
If your brand needs a night
that prints the footprint.
We build experiential events end to end. Product launches, retail activations, editorial moments. Same team that handled Cymbiotika × Ulta is the team that takes on your brief.