Olay on uniting celebrities and influencers for 'Face Anything' makeup-free push
Olay has unveiled a new purpose-led push, 'Face Anything', investing in a 10-page spread in Vogue's September issue to launch the campaign alongside a makeup influencer drive.
Kicking off today, the initiative from the skincare brand wants to put an end to the idea that women are "too" anything — whether that's "too ambitious", "too emotional" or otherwise.
The campaign was founded on the insight that 54% of women prefer a "natural look" but 84% feel pressured to conform to the beauty standards set by social media and selfie-culture.
To tackle this pressure, the Procter & Gamble brand has created what it is calling the 'Face Anything Movement'.
The strategy is centered around the the idea that having confidence in your own skin is a starting point for women who want to be "unapologetically bold and true to themselves".
The launch is being marked with an extensive spread in Vogue's coveted September issue. A series of print ads in the magazine will feature high-profile figures like USA gymnast and Olympian Aly Raisman and comedian Lilly Singh, as well as model and diversity campaigner Jillian Mercado.
In the advertorial, each woman will discuss the quality they've been told they have "too" much of and discuss how they've navigated a specific challenge in their own life.
Alongside the nine women from the Vogue spread, additional makeup influencers will take part in an Olay '28-day challenge' which will see them use a custom bundle of the company's products for the duration and share ongoing progress and results with their followers on Instagram.
The goal of the challenge is to prepare 10 influencers to walk a New York Fashion Week runway for the first time ever, makeup-free, alongside some of the celebrities.
The brand will also be running a series of ads in New York's Times Square and Grand Central subway station, as well as hosting content on its own microsite.
Purpose has proved profitable for FMCG brands, but Sara Diepenbrock, Olay's senior brand manager, explained to The Drum the latest effort from the advertiser would be more than just be a one-off investment.
"This is the start for us... but we really see this brand spirit as something that carries on and we want to make sure that we explore what's possible moving forward," she said.
Amid calls from P&G rival Unilever for the industry to come together to tackle influencer fraud, and a digital efficiency drive from Olay itself, Diepenbrock asserted this was something the brand was working on.
"Rooting out fake followers and bots is an industry-wide issue and Olay has systems in place to root out those influencers that have a high percentage of fake followers," she said. "That is something that is top of mind and we’re paying close attention."
Recent data from Points North Group placed Olay in the top 10 brands using paid influencers with fake followers, estimating that 19% of followers on its sponsored influencer Instagram posts were fake.
It's understood that Olay works both internally and with external partners to identify bot followers. Part of how it does this is by examining influencers' engagement levels.
Diepenbrock didn't eloborate on what other methods or tools Olay used.
The 'Face Anything' campaign will run on social, print and OOH.
