Winner of the CPRS Bronze ACE Award for Best Use of Influencers Campaign

Since 1952, consumers have trusted Olay for their deep understanding of skin science, as well as their utilization of superior ingredients in their formulations and their ongoing investments in product innovations. From face creams, to cleansers, to serums – to name but a few of their many products – Olay products are grounded in science, perform as promised and are available to everyone.

According to Olay, many women start to see their skin change during their late twenties with the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and sagging. The brand’s research shows the 25-to-45-year-old demographic appreciates products that offer multiple benefits with many hunting for a single product that can effectively address many skin concerns at the same time – in other words, the holy grail of skincare. Olay’s research also shows the same demographic tends to follow beauty trends and uses various social media to conduct thorough research before making beauty product purchases, which can include reading reviews, watching online video demonstrations, and seeking recommendations from influencers or peers.

Influencing with impact

Olay enlisted the help of MSL to launch the Olay Super Serum as the “holy grail” product women have been searching for. MSL knew their target customer and understood that launching the Olay Super Serum required content that was eye-catching enough to grab the attention of women between the ages of 25 and 45 – women who are often inundated with beauty and wellness posts. To ensure Olay content cut through the noise, MSL developed a multi-phased, paid, and organic campaign featuring beauty influencers who had the trust of their followers, could inspire them to try the Olay Super Serum, and were willing to work with the brand’s key messaging strategy.  

Using MSL’s proprietary influencer tool, Fluency, MSL strategically recommended influencers for each phase of the campaign to achieve different goals. Phase One included influencers who would focus on the newness of the product to build excitement and Phase Two would be a wider, paid approach to expand reach and impact in the market.

Phase One  

To generate authentic excitement and buzz for the upcoming Canadian launch of the Super Serum, the team flew seven top tier Canadian influencers and media to the US launch event in New York City, resulting in KOL content focused on the new product, its benefits, and Olay’s science-led approach to innovation.

Once the product was officially available in Canada, the team sent out targeted, curated mailers to drive trials and partnered with select KOLs to create launch content.

Phase Two  

A few months later, the team hosted an official Canadian launch event for Olay Super Serum in Toronto, resulting in organic social media posts from some of the 50 Canadian KOLs and media in attendance.

During this phase, the Olay team also partnered with KOLs across relevant channels to produce paid content showing how they insert Olay Super Serums into their unique skincare routines. . The KOLs were chosen for their unique differences that appeal to distinct lifestyles (i.e. working professional, mother, beauty geek, etc.), their reach into the target customer demographic and their ability to demonstrate how Olay’s 5-in-1 serum works for them.

Proven results

The Olay team’s comprehensive influencer campaign was an unmitigated success.

The NYC pre-launch event earned 715,700 impressions with 56 posts and the mailers earned 934,938 impressions, mainly through Instagram story content. The Toronto launch event resulted in a whopping total of 6,395,118 social media impressions, which surpassed the expectation of 5M social media impressions. 

Further, the collective paid partnerships with 17 KOLs on social content across Instagram and TikTok generated 9,913,700 impressions. 

The campaign’s biggest indicator of success was the fact that Super Serum became the #1 serum innovation and #1 Olay product in Canada*.

Finally, thanks to their hard work and careful planning, the MSL team won a 2024 CPRS Bronze ACE Award for its work with influencers on this campaign.

*p6m period ending Feb 2024 Nielsen mass skin care sales