OGX, a beloved shampoo brand, needed to join the hair care conversation on TikTok and Instagram as a leader. But when research showed people knew the iconic blue bottle shape, but not the OGX name (due to a forced rebrand over a decade earlier from Organix to OGX), we needed a creative solve.
The brief: “Shock, awe and excite people into remembering us.” So, instead of being held back by the lack of name recognition, we leaned into it tapping into the “OG” in OGX to create our “OG Who?” campaign. A disruptive influencer-led campaign that not only put our name in people’s mouths, but also their heads.
With an audience made up of hair-conscious women aged 25-34, TikTok and Instagram seemed to be obvious places for a brand like OGX to show up. However, as we dug deeper, it became clear that the sheer volume of haircare content on these platforms (3.6 billion views on #HairTok alone!) would not be easy to break through for any brand, let alone one with a name recognition issue. We knew we had to show up differently. Tutorials, get ready with me, and reviews would not work hard enough.
In response, we conducted a thorough insights audit which unlocked multiple major opportunities; one of which was to tap the power of sound in setting OGX’s proposition apart.
Enter “OG Who?” — a campaign that leveraged the notion of OGX being the “OG” in hair repair, to get the internet not only saying but singing the OGX name. We co-created an anthem with Demi Lovato, another OG, to show we’re a true original in the space. The song launched across TikTok and IG on July 10, 2024, and quickly gained viral status — with consumers begging us to release the song on streaming platforms and many, including the likes of Elle and Vogue, deeming the anthem a ‘bop’; even assigning it ‘song of the summer’ status. The OGX anthem smashed through the clutter with over 200 million social media video plays and followed with a live performance at our launch event.
The anthem continued to be our red thread throughout the 4-month campaign as we incorporated it into subsequent hair challenges, influencer activations, bespoke dances and competitions, a dance video, and more. In the OG Hair Challenge we activated an army of influencers to help us show people that OGX could help them get back to their healthy hair. The OG Dance competition let followers audition (and be judged by Demi herself) to be in our official “OG Who?” Dance Video. Everything was aimed at connecting our name to the products people already know and love.
Our campaign broke through into culture. Podcasts were talking about it, people were using the anthem to make their own before-and-after hair videos with OGX products, one couple even celebrated their engagement by dancing to the anthem on Instagram. Most importantly, people finally knew our name and were even singing about it in the shower — the very place they use our products.
The campaign produced 1.4 billion impressions (43x the goal) and garnered 7.4M in EMV. Brand awareness went up 11%, and buyers increased by 30%. Now no one has to ask “OG who?” ever again.
