A futuristic digital science lab, Billboard-charting original songs and a computer-generated brand ambassador are just a few of the strategies major beauty brands have adopted recently in hopes of winning over Gen Z. The generation, known for its rapidly evolving nature, expects marketing innovation as a baseline, which has forced legacy giants to pull from a new playbook.

While younger consumers have long been a target for the beauty industry, the spending power of Gen Z is expected to overtake that of millennials by 2031. This spring, the cohort’s spending on makeup, skin care and fragrance rose 19% from the year prior, according to Piper Sandler. As the incentive to court the generation escalates, older, iconic beauty conglomerates like Estée Lauder and L'Oréal have changed the way they do business. But ever-changing trends and flashy new entrants have made keeping up that much harder.