When Vince Vaughn was recently asked about improvising as an actor, he explained that it begins with a clear understanding of his character.

Great marketing follows the same principle. Successful teams don’t dive straight into creative—they ground themselves in their brand. Then they leap. Here are a few standout examples of brands that master this approach and experiment in ways most others don’t:

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E.l.f. Cosmetics:

Founded in 2004 selling $1 makeup, E.l.f. Cosmetics has grown into a beauty powerhouse. A key factor in its success has been that while many brands treat their community as an afterthought, E.l.f. makes it part of their DNA.

On TikTok, E.l.f. was the first company to create an original song for a hashtag challenge (racking up 7 billion video views) and the first makeup brand to integrate real-world commerce onto Roblox. Now it’s launching an entertainment arm, E.l.f. Made. The first entry, the 16-song “Get Ready With Music, The Album,” drops in October.

This community-driven approach worked. The once dollar-a-pop brand surpassed CoverGirl and Maybelline to become the second-largest cosmetics company in the U.S.

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Duolingo:

Duolingo has a whopping 13 million TikTok followers and has mastered the art of disruption while staying true to its mission: making language learning fun. Their many off-the-wall stunts reflect their values while pushing boundaries.

While they’ve done higher profile executions (like giving their mascot a Brazilian butt lift for the Super Bowl), recently Duolingo changed its app icon so that Duo the Owl looks sick—with droopy eyes and snot running from its beak. “Use this as your streak reminder today,” explained a caption on TikTok a few days later.

When’s the last time another brand briefly changed its icon for fun? It was a smart way to use prime yet underutilized brand real estate—and still in service of their mission.

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Chewy:

Sometimes the boldest moves aren’t the loudest.

Chewy—the online pet retailer—has become well-known for proactively sending customers painted portraits of their pets, including animals who recently passed away.

Co-founder Ryan Cohen (now CEO of GameStop) explained his goal was to merge Amazon’s fast, frictionless delivery with the friendliness of a neighborhood pet store. Paintings were a way to provide a dose of comfort the way a local pet store might, but Amazon couldn’t.

Yet, imagine what a big swing it was in the early days to send someone who was grieving the loss of a pet an oil painting of them? According to the AP, back in the day, there were confused customers who sent the gifts back.

But the surprise gesture took off. Thousands of paintings are now sent out each month by what has become an $11 billion company. It was a risk that worked. Because it wasn’t just a shot in the dark, it was rooted in brand confidence.