The Campaign

Face care in the Philippines has lost its relevance. Women use soap & baby powder because they believe ‘this is as beautiful as I can get’. Ponds realized if women believe they can be more beautiful, they will start using face care products. This inspired the Pond’s #BeautifulStory campaign. Pond’s gathered 17 of the Philippines’ Most Beautiful Faces to demonstrate that beauty transformations are possible. The campaign was launched with a mega PR event which featured these 17 celebrities sharing one stage for the first time. This event was covered live on television across 10 networks, including high-reach shows like TV patrol and cover features in top female magazines. The bigness of the event made Breaking News in itself. The campaign kicked off via a 30 second teaser TVC, introducing the most beautiful faces. It also launched via a roadblock on TV and relevant digital platforms featuring the first full beautiful story of Toni Gonzaga. On digital, Pond’s launched 2-minute digital shorts showcasing the beautiful transformation of each of the Pond’s Girls. Their stories communicated the message: “If it can happen to me, it can happen to you”. These digital executions were also used to build engagement and spark conversations. The campaign became the most viewed campaign in 2014 with more than 1 Billion impressions online, reaching 15M Filipinas. It is the most engaged campaign with 1M USD worth of PR values and 100,000 responses. Pond’s Philippines achieved 22% growth, the highest in the world for the past 8 years.

The Brief

Pond’s #BeautifulStory campaign latched on the insight “this is as beautiful as I can get’. Since celebrity following is popular in the Philippines, Pond’s capitalized on this by using the Philippines’ Most Beautiful Faces. The campaign showcased the transformation of 17 celebrities. Each #BeautifulStory of the 17 Pond’s ambassadors had a unique journey that is relatable across all life stages of a Filipina. These women were not born perfect, but with self-belief, proper care & the right products, each women can blossom into a self-confident beauty, teaching consumers that “If it can happen to me, it can happen to you”.

Results

The campaign recorded 22% growth, the highest ever in the past 10 years in the Philippines and across the world! From a 25% loss of market share in 2012, shares recovered at 300 basis points (bps) cumulative increase. #BeautifulStory has garnered 1 billion cumulative impressions across digital platforms making it the most visible face care digital campaign in 2014. The videos became the most viewed on YouTube and Facebook when they reached 6 million viewers. Ponds got press coverage worth US$ 1 Million with presence in magazines, newspapers and blogs. ROI was more than 400%. There were 100,000 cumulative engagements on digital via likes, comments and shares. More than 10,000 Beautiful Stories were shared online by women. The campaign made face care relevant again in the Philippines, and reminded women that they were capable of having their own beautiful transformations, with proper care and usage of the right products.

Execution

In one celebrated event, Pond’s launched all 17 beautiful faces. We presented them not as celebrities, but as women who triumphed over their struggles and how they, with the help of Pond’s, experienced beautiful transformations. The event was covered by 10 networks with live feed in top shows such as TV Patrol. The bigness of the event is breaking news in itself. We had record breaking attendance from TV, print and digital press: 300 attendees with representatives from each newspaper, magazine, news site and beauty sites. The event was also published LIVE in different news sites, including Rappler, Yahoo, ABS CBN News, GMA News, Stylebible, Cosmo.ph. During the event alone, #BeautifulStory trended with 50 Million digital impressions before even the event ended. The virality of the event did not end on the day as people were talking about the campaign even 3 months after in #BeautifulStory in social media sites.

The Situation

Pond’s has been trusted by many women for over 170 years. Pond’s is present through women’s life stages – from having pimples during their teenage years, to having dark and uneven skin tone during their adulthood, to having wrinkles when they’re older. As the skin care expert, Pond’s inspired Filipinas to look their best by caring for their skin. The Pond’s Beautiful Story Campaign communicated that each Filipina can be more beautiful than they have ever imagined. By sharing the stories of 17 of the Philippines’ most beautiful faces, the campaign aimed to inspire women to become more beautiful, with Pond’s.

The Strategy

The face care market in the Philippines lost its relevance over time. Only 50% of women use face care products. Filipinas were resigned to a glass ceiling on what can be done to enhance their looks. Against this backdrop in 2014, Pond’s #BeautifulStory was launched to change this mindset, and to highlight Pond’s role as the catalyst in beauty transformations. Capitalizing on the celebrity fan following culture, Pond’s shared the stories of Philippines’ 17 most beautiful faces to demonstrate that transformations are possible for every woman. Stars across age segments were chosen to make the stories relatable to all women. Each story was a unique and inspiring journey of transformation, where a simple fangirl became a star or where a conflicted teen blossomed into a confident woman. Pond’s understands that these stories inspire their key audiences, with the message, “If it can happen to them, it can happen to me”.