Dive Brief:
- Neutrogena launched its new Vitamin C serum with a steamy campaign featuring media personality and content creator Serena Kerrigan, according to information shared with Marketing Dive.
- As part of the campaign, Kerrigan wrote two tantalizing short stories meant to make consumers “glow,” much like the serum. The stories are available for download on Wattpad, a site where users can independently publish works for public consumption.
- The activation takes advantage of the #steamybooktok” trend, which has garnered over 4.7 billion views, according to press materials. The “Bank Your Glow” short stories take advantage of the growing popularity of romance novels and the online community fueling their popularity.
Dive Insight:
Neutrogena is leaning into sex appeal with its newest activation. Kerrigan, who has built her online presence around self-confidence, provides the campaign a sense of self-assured humor. Additionally, Kerrigan claims the short stories are based on her real life experiences, something her over 608,000 TikTok followers may find intriguing.
In one story — which Kerrigan partially reenacts on TikTok — a character is locked outside an apartment, half-clothed after a one-night stand. In the second, a woman bumps into her college crush during a weekend in the Hamptons. Both stories emphasize the “glow” each character feels afterward in a nod to the product’s benefits.
Neutrogena has tapped into TikTok trends in the past. In June, the brand turned to nostalgia with a campaign inspired by “Beverly Hills, 90210” and other ‘90s artifacts to connect with millennials.
The campaign leans into sexually suggestive advertising, an age-old tactic that is currently seeing a resurgence, albeit with mixed results. American Eagle is currently embroiled in a scandal surrounding an ad featuring Sydney Sweeney, while Hawaiian Tropic nodded to the “Kama Sutra” with internet star Alix Earle and Doritos parodied retro adult films with Walton Goggins without the controversy.
Brands have been embracing romance novels for years, especially as print sales of such books have more than doubled between 2020 and 2023. Smoothie King released a novel written with the help of ChatGPT about a watermelon smoothie in May. Way back in 2018, Wendy’s used Wattpad to publish romance novels.
Kenvue, Neutrogena’s parent company, had a Q1 revenue of $3.74 billion, a nearly 4% year-over-year dip, according to an earnings call. However, Neutrogena was a bright spot, with household penetration among Gen Z consumers growing 30 basis points. This was largely attributed to the launch of its “Beauty to a Science” brand positioning in Febuary, which generated significant social media buzz.
