Data from audience insight tool Helixa showed that Cetaphil users (Millennials and Gen Z) have more than two times more interest in fashion than the average consumer, with 50% considering themselves fashion lovers and enthusiasts.
Qualitative secondary research also showed that fabrics are top a concern for sensitive skin, which affects 70% of people globally. Studies indicate that certain fabrics can significantly irritate the skin of individuals with conditions like eczema and overall skin sensitivity.
These insights led us to identify Fashion Week as a prime cultural moment for education and engagement to drive brand relevance for Cetaphil.
Additional audience research in Helixa and StatSocial identified the most relevant partners, influencers and attendees as 40% of Cetaphil's core demographic overlaps with followers of campaign brand collaborators such as Wilhemina Models, Alice + Olivia, and Highsnobiety. In addition, compared to the average global consumer, followers of the influencers and attendees of NYFW displayed a 101 times greater interest in dermatology.
Key Insight: There is a powerful intersection between NYFW and our core customer base. Cetaphil consumers over-index in fashion, and fashion and beauty are top triggers for sensitive skin – a phenomenon that makes New York Fashion Week an ideal event to reach a highly engaged fashion-conscious audience that is more likely to have interest in purchasing Cetaphil’s products.
Objectives:
Drive brand relevance and global awareness for Cetaphil.
Elevate the brand message around sensitive skin by illustrating the intersection between sensitive skin and the tribulations of Fashion Week.
Strategy
New York Fashion Week (NYFW) is one of the world's biggest events, with countless skincare and beauty brands sponsoring backstage beauty or adjacent parties. Because users of Cetaphil®, the leading dermatologist-recommended sensitive skincare brand, are also fashion lovers, Cetaphil sought to connect with the event to drive brand awareness and relevance on a global scale. To show up differently, it created an authentic, immersive experience that not only delighted media, influencers and consumers, but also validated a key scientific brand claim: that its moisturizing cream and lotion hydrate for 48 hours.
Execution and Tactics
Cetaphil launched its first global activation, #FaceofCetaphil, to share how stressful Fashion Week can be for your skin with 22 influencers from 14 countries across the globe. As the “Faces of Cetaphil,” the content creators served as ground correspondents for the brand during NYFW. They were joined by five contest winners from Brazil, US, Canada, UK and Australia, who won by sharing the best video on Instagram/TikTok showing how they’d get ready for 48 hours of fashion with Cetaphil, including their skincare and beauty routines, plus how they’d style their outfit.
The 48 hours of activities gave attendees a true taste of fashion week with festive events, backstage beauty access, tickets to a fashion show, consultations with brand R&D, a brand pop-up and an immersion with Wilhemina models. Each event was primed for content creation and infused with skincare education to reinforce the brand RTBs. The influencers shared their experiences in real-time bringing their 20.4M collective followers along for the journey.
The red-carpet treatment at the welcome dinner and happy hour provided branded backdrops for bonding among the influencers and 1:1 time with the Cetaphil brand team.
Leading social dermatologist Dr. Lindsay Zubritsky led an engaging conversation with Cetaphil R&D where influencers learned about the science behind the brand, how the products can keep skin healthy during an experience like fashion week that could compromise skin and received a personalized regimen with the AI Skin Analysis Tool. Following this informational session, each influencer was pampered with a facial or massage where they experienced the Cetaphil products first hand.
Influencers experienced a ‘day-in-the-life’ of a fashion week model during an immersive morning at Wilhemina Models. Influencers received exclusive access to a celebrity runway coach to perfect their own walk. These experiential, behind-the-scenes moments with leading models gave our influencers an insider’s look at fashion week, seeing how it impacts skin, through the eyes of a model.
Cetaphil hosted a consumer pop-up with Highsnobiety and NYC spa Chillhouse which gave influencers a moment to rest and relax amidst the hustle of fashion week.
The 48-hour experience culminated in a partnership with alice + Olivia. Dr. Zubritsky was backstage to prep models’ skin with Cetaphil to ensure a hydrated base for makeup application and influencers were granted coveted backstage access to see just how models’ skin is prepped. Influencers later attended the presentation.
In the brand’s first global influencer experience, Cetaphil put the science behind its formulas to the ‘ultimate skin stress test,’ sponsoring influencers from five continents who served as on-the-ground correspondents to bring to life how the skin can be challenged during Fashion Week. Over 48 hours, influencers and guests learned just how effective Cetaphil can be when going through the very real, yet unseen ordeals that working models experience – taking off/putting on make-up, quick changes, travel, stress and impacted sleep.
The event resonated with influential voices and our target audience and beyond and inspired attendees to share their new knowledge, trust and advocacy in Cetaphil beyond expectations.
The campaign far surpassed its objective of enhancing brand visibility on a global scale, amassing an impressive 1.4 billion impressions, demonstrating success and impact in promoting the brand's presence worldwide.
Partners and attendees created and shared 47 pieces of curated content surrounding NYFW and inspired partners to share an additional 1,153 pieces of content.
The campaign catalyzed a 52% increase in daily global mentions of Cetaphil within fashion contexts relative to the previous year and a 435% lift in overall brand engagement during Fashion Week.
According to Google analytics, the campaign led to the highest ever interest peak both globally and in the US.
Following Fashion Week events, the brand's Fashion Week store page drove 8.8K views and became the most-visited page on the site.
