Opella believes everyone should have their health in their hands. We elevate creativity and cut complexity, helping people take charge of their health. Health is no longer a set of symptoms to be treated in isolation – it's inextricably linked to the world around us. Therefore, our approach to care must evolve to working together, making self-care as simple and sustainable as possible. We’re challenging the conventions of care and defining a whole new way to think about health – for our people, communities, and planet.
In the summer of 2023, through our purpose-led brands, Opella North America became the first, large, pure consumer Healthcare company to earn B Corp certification. We’re now part of a community that’s transforming business into a force for good. It’s one of the most well respected – and difficult – certifications to earn. While this certification isn’t an end goal, it’s a key enabler of our Sustainable Care Pledge and a milestone on our journey of transparency and continuous improvement.
The communications objectives for our certification announcement included:
Generate positive sentiment around Opella’s B Corp certification.
Enhance global growth and brand-love by establishing select Opella brands as ESG leaders, accelerating a global movement to transform healthcare.
Make tangible connections between Opella’s certification and the company/brands’ ESG initiatives on consumers’ priority topics (e.g., affordable access, planet care) .
Most importantly, to drive awareness and consideration for Opella’s products to expand consumers’ understanding of the role the healthcare industry can play in creating positive impact.
Achieving B Corp certification helped us measure and improve our impact on society and the environment, align with our values and mission, and differentiate ourselves as a purpose-driven company – we also enabled our millions of customers to take part in transforming business as a force for good. Studies show that 66% of consumers will pay more for sustainable products and 88% of consumers want brands to help make a difference.
From a corporate perspective, we leverage our B Corp certification as a differentiator to underscore Opella’s commitment to sustainable business. The goal was to enhance trust and credibility, meet consumer expectations for purpose-driven brands, enhance leadership differentiation, and drive responsible business growth and positive impact.
We focused on making Opella’s primary audiences – customers, consumers, and colleagues – more aware of what it means to be B Corp certified, connecting those ideals and principles with our brands (led by Allegra, Xyzal, Dulcolax, Unisom and Icy Hot). Key strategies included collaborating with key external validators to scale awareness and reach priority audiences. Opella also leveraged media and influencers to drive consumer awareness of what it means to be a B Corp and help enhance brand preference, including a partnership and pop-up event with Well+Good.
The first phase of the Well+Good partnership featured an article educating readers around B Corp, while highlighting different Opella products, also shared across W+G’s social platforms. To build on the momentum, the second phase included an immersive event where influencers created content explaining what B Corp means, why it’s important to purchase from B Corps, and highlighted Opella’s sustainability journey.
Opella worked to boost broader awareness of what B Corp certification means and why it benefits everyday consumers. Impacted consumers were eager and engaged quickly to learn more about Opella and its efforts around sustainability and eco-conscious shopping – exceeding KPIs and benchmarks. The House of Good was created in partnership with Well+Good to create an immersive and educational experience to inspire creators, bolstering awareness around Opella’s sustainability efforts. More than 28 attendees joined the event, featuring custom décor and signage to reinforce Opella’s Sustainable Care Pledge to create a healthier society and planet.
Designed as an interactive and educational gallery-inspired lab, Opella showcased its numerous products that are part of the B Corp certification, alongside vignettes demystifying the meaning of B Corp. As guests entered the space, they were greeted by eco-inspired décor that incorporated grounding copy, as guests were encouraged to venture through the space and view brand-focused moments.
Highlights included a product boutique, Instagram-worthy immersive rooms highlighting the environment and need to prioritize sustainable packaging, high-resolution projections to mimic a basketball game to highlight Opella’s Combaq Court initiative with the Shaquille O’Neal Foundation, and a disco-inspired room to surprise and delight on behalf of Dulcolax.
Influencers engaged with Opella in a unique and creative way, which inspired content focused on the rigorous process and impact of Opella’s B Corp certification and sustainability efforts.
Organic metrics from influencer programming include:
Partners: 16 paid influencer partners and 3 unpaid
Posts: 36 (across TikTok/Instagram)
Impressions/Views: 892K
Engagements: 19.7K
Engagement Rate: 2.44%
Initial Article: 169K views
Through select paid optimization, impressions increased to 6.6M+ and 408.3k+ video plays; Opella achieved a cost-effective cost per mille (CPM) that outperformed the planned CPM by 9%. The content and event brought Opella’s commitment to sustainability to life in an engaging, easy-to-digest way that resonated with consumers who are looking to support brands that reflect their values and do good, highlighting Opella and six products across the four experiential vignettes.
Opella North America’s B Corp announcement generated over 43 million impressions, including 849,608 unique impressions via eight original, positive articles. Recognizing the passion within the organization, the company identified almost 40 internal B Corp ambassadors eager to share content via their personal LinkedIn channels to further amplify sustainability news. Qualitatively, we also received positive feedback from some of our key retail customers and suppliers inspired by our certification and sustainable care pledge.
