Cetaphil

The objective

Empowering beauty routines with a TikTok twist

Cetaphil, the sensitive skincare brand that dermatologists recommend and beauty enthusiasts trust for gentle and effective products, embarked on a mission to boost brand love and skin confidence. With the goal of enhancing awareness and sparking UGC participation, Cetaphil aimed to inspire users to integrate their products into daily beauty rituals, reinforcing authenticity and aligning perfectly with TikTok's spirit of true self-expression.

The solution

Sparking conversations with an exclusive beauty challenge

Cetaphil's strategy was a masterclass in engagement, blending Branded Mission with a Branded Hashtag Page. The #FaceofCetaphil campaign marked North America's first Branded Mission contest, which allows brands like Cetaphil to directly crowdsource video content from creators on TikTok, in exchange for an incentive. In this case, winners were invited to share their fashion forward beauty transformations using the hashtag for a chance to attend Fashion Week in New York. In-Feed Ads were also leveraged to boost overall reach for the hashtag amongst female audiences aged 18-44.

The creative, which relied heavily on UGC, mirrored Cetaphil’s tone of voice in an authentic way as users shared their different runway ready looks using the brand’s products. By tapping into the power of UGC and region-specific creators, Cetaphil amplified its reach and authenticity, particularly in the Canadian market, which saw the highest submission rates globally. The campaign's second phase maintained the momentum and impact by leveraging TopView mid Fashion Week and Max Pulse post Fashion Week, which provided an intimate look behind the scenes.

Lastly, a Brand Lift Study was conducted to measure incremental lift in Ad Recall, and provide further insight into the campaign’s effectiveness.

The results

Unveiling confident beauty with flawless upper-funnel results

The #FaceofCetaphil campaign finished strong with 223 creators producing over 426 TikTok-first videos. The videos resonated and generated a stream of engagement, amassing 28.8 million video views. According to the Brand Lift Study, Cetaphil saw an increase of 11.2% in Ad Recall and a 3.4% lift in Brand Association, both significantly higher than benchmarks. These standout figures are just the tip of the iceberg, as Cetaphil's strategic foray into TikTok resulted in a surge of brand recognition and leadership in the market, setting a high bar for the future. Cetaphil left the beauty community feeling fresh and ready to take on the world, one TikTok at a time.