Objectives

Clinique is a recognized global leader in the beauty industry. While trust in the brand's products remains strong, the 48-year-old brand needed to shift consumer perception towards being a modern, joyful brand that resonates with women globally to increase brand relevance.

We introduced #StartBetter, Clinique's first global digital equity program and first-ever social media-centric campaign, based on the insight that women equate feeling beautiful with the confidence to change themselves for the better in all aspects of life. #StartBetter was designed to empower female consumers to start whatever they were starting, better.

We launched the campaign on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter with the #StartBetter manifesto — an inspiring mantra encouraging fans to share what they would #StartBetter. Responses poured in, and in return, we surprised respondents in real-time with designed, personalized messages. To expand our reach beyond the owned community, we partnered with bloggers and social media influencers.

#StartBetter struck a chord with women everywhere. The campaign garnered nearly 10 million impressions and 284,000 total engagements. More than 1.4 million total video views and glowing consumer feedback helped make Clinique's manifesto one of the top beauty brand videos of all time.

#StartBetter delivered on the objectives of improved brand perception, increased resonance among consumers and heightened stimulation of brand intent amongst our target. Of the women exposed to the campaign, 97% indicated they felt the brand was more relevant to them, and Clinique saw a 240% increase in social brand advocacy. Moreover Clinique saw a 33% rise in purchase intent.

Strategy and Execution

Since its founding, Clinique has become a recognized global leader in the beauty industry, known particularly for its strong equity in science and product development. While trust in the brand's products remains strong, the 48-year-old brand was facing a need for reinvigorating brand love and its relationship with its consumers. Changing brand perception and increasing relevancy would be integral in this effort.

As one of the world's largest beauty brands, Clinique's consumer target includes affluent female consumers at every life stage and every age. Crucial to the Clinique target is a unique mindset: social research showed that in contrast to a more trend-driven consumer, the Clinique woman is looking for high performing solutions that give her long-term control over her beauty routine. We call this mindset "Smart Beauty," and, through in-depth social listening and multiple consumer focus group sessions, we found that this mindset goes deeper than a woman's beauty purchase decisions. We found that the "Smart Beauty" mentality was also reflective of a woman's life choices: rather than taking a "thrill-ride" approach to life, she feels best when improving herself in substantive ways. For every Clinique woman, leading a beautiful life is about leading a smart one.

We knew that in order for Clinique to connect with a range of women of different ages, locations and interests, we needed to create a message that resonated with the universal "Smart Beauty" mindset of these women. The objective was to shift perception of Clinique towards being a modern, joyful brand that resonates with women of all ages. Building upon our discovery of the "Smart Beauty" mindset of the Clinique consumer, we uncovered a key insight: Clinique women equated feeling beautiful with the ability to become the best versions of themselves in all aspects of their lives.

#StartBetter, Clinique's first global digital brand campaign, and first-ever social media-centric campaign, was designed to engage female consumers on a personal level by asking them what they aspire to start better – and then celebrating their vows to do so.

We knew digital content – specifically videos and social media – were essential to how our female consumers discover brand and beauty information, and that they heavily rely on Influencers, such as bloggers, to guide their perceptions of brands. With this in mind, we developed a digitally focused cross-channel approach leveraging a video, real-time social activation and an Influencer partnership program.

We launched our campaign with the #StartBetter manifesto — an inspiring mantra meant to empower and encourage female consumers to share what they would #StartBetter in their lives. The manifesto video was released on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and carried a simple call-to-action for women everywhere.

The responses poured in across social media from women of all ages. In return, we surprised respondents in real-time with designed, personalized messages of encouragement celebrating their pledges to #StartBetter.

This two day call-and-response activation was followed by a range of strategic partnerships with bloggers and social media Influencers to lend authenticity to the message and expand its reach beyond the owned community. Each Influencer was encouraged to "remix" the words of the #StartBetter manifesto, and create unique pieces of content to share on their own channels and across brand-owned channels.

A strategic paid social media plan ensured that we were reaching women with whom our message would resonate the most. Targeting was based on location, demographic, age, interests (which included competitive considerations) and keyword targeting. And to this day, our campaign is coming to life in in-store displays and events around the world.

#StartBetter struck a chord with women of all ages and all types. The top adjective used to describe the campaign was "Inspirational," highlighting how the effort resonated with our audience, contemporizing and evolving the brand in their eyes.

#StartBetter delivered on the objectives of improved brand perception, increased resonance among consumers and heightened stimulation of brand intent amongst our target. Of the women exposed to the campaign, 97 percent indicated they felt the brand was more relevant to them, and we saw a 240 percent increase in social brand advocacy. Moreover we saw a 33 percent rise in purchase intent.

Media