On May 12, Garnier posted a grid mockup on Instagram featuring imagery of a moose and the caption “moose_campaign_v4.” Over the following days, the 122-year-old mass beauty brand unveiled a campaign starring former “Love Island” contestant TJ Palma, who, in the campaign’s fictional narrative universe, had been hired as Garnier’s social media manager to promote its newly repackaged Fructis Curl Mousse — only to misunderstand the assignment and build a campaign around an actual moose.
“Rather than over-architect, we really wanted to lean into social conversation and really have some fun with the community — and sometimes, that’s as silly as a play on words,” said Philip Tabak, avp of U.S. marketing and business operations for Garnier. When asked about the development of the campaign, Tabak said, “We were discussing if a moose was loose in New York, what would that mean? What would social conversation be if people really thought there was a moose loose in New York City?”
In the campaign’s hero video, brand “employees” enact a scene in which a marketing manager initially believes Garnier’s Instagram account has been hacked, only to discover that Palma misunderstood the assignment to create a “mousse campaign” as a directive to create a “moose campaign.” The bit continued in a collaborative post with @subwaycreatures (2.9 million Instagram followers), which features said moose — dressed in a Garnier jacket — riding the subway. In a later post, Palma finally admits his mistake, opening the video by saying, “Apparently, it’s mousse,” before launching into a tutorial using the product.
In addition to running joint Instagram posts with Palma, the brand tapped 22 creators to join in on the conversation, including Harry Hill (83,000 Instagram followers), Jazmyn Smith (574,000 TikTok followers) and Mia Calabrese (232,000 Instagram followers), all of whom posted content with the moose. As a result of the punny campaign, within 24 hours, the actual mousse in question moved from No. 10 to No. 7 on Amazon’s rankings of top 10 styling products, based on on-platform sales. It is currently at No. 6.
Palma was selected, in part, because of his existing connection to the brand, Tabak said. “His mom used Garnier when he was growing up; his first experience [using styling products] was using her Garnier hairspray.” In addition, Garnier wants to increasingly position itself as a unisex hair-care brand and, as such, is intentionally working with more male creators.
The mousse/moose campaign is the latest example of Garnier’s increasingly culture-first marketing strategy, which the L’Oréal-owned brand has been ramping up over the past year and a half. During that time, the company has increasingly built campaigns around internet humor, fandoms, reality television, dating culture and culturally-specific storytelling. It is targeting “Gen Zennials,” according to Ryan Brissenden, Garnier U.S.’s head of brand image and experience, a newly created role.
The shift, Brissenden said, has been driven by the consumer, in a world where traditional marketing is less effective and consumers are influenced by their social communities and cultural conversation. “Consumers today are incredibly savvy — they want brands that understand how they live, what they’re talking about, and what feels entertaining, relevant or meaningful to them in the moment,” he said. “That has challenged us to think less like traditional advertisers and more like cultural participants. As a result, we’ve focused on weaving Garnier into the cultural moments and communities our consumers are already engaging with, in ways that feel authentic, conversational and sometimes unexpected.”
“A brand has to be living — it’s a living piece of culture,” Brissenden. “[Garner has] really been focused on these cultural moments where the brand can show up in a living way,” he said.
That strategy has resulted in an eclectic mix of talent partnerships. Over the past year, Garnier has worked with former “Bachelorette” contestants Greg Grippo, Justin Glaze and Jason Tartick; reality stars including Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and Luann de Lesseps; musical artist Becky G; queer Latinx rapper Young Miko; actresses Xochitl Gomez and Christian Serratos; and, most recently, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, who became the brand’s global ambassador earlier this year. That partnership launched with a cheeky short film dubbed “The Signature,” which has earned over 1.2 million views on YouTube. Next month, the brand will pair Xochitl Gomez with Cher in a new campaign for its Diamond Sleek collection.
The wide range of partners is intentional, Brissenden said. “It’s really about a balance of [using] partners who have a direct connection [with our] community that we can connect with, who also are very much aligned with the brand, but then also [working with] the Giseles of the world to help elevate the brand image.”
“We’ve not had a spokesperson of [Bündchen’s] caliber in some time. Working with her really helps to elevate the brand and to align her value set with ours,” he said.
In addition to being part of a broader effort to modernize how Garnier shows up culturally, Brissenden described Garnier’s recent marketing evolution as a way to reinforce its long-standing positioning around accessibility and feel-good beauty.
“Garnier has historically been a brand [about] joy, optimism and connection, and we’re working on laying the foundation to articulate this at a mega-brand level,” Brissenden said, noting a new marketing platform called “Made to Feel Good” that the brand is starting to roll out. “It really encompasses the [brand’s] unique positioning and its expertise, in terms of leveraging the power of nature and the fact that the brand is vegan and cruelty-free, but also the sensorial, experiential aspects that also make the brand what it is.”
Week in review
- Just a few weeks after its collab with Kenneth Cole, Larroudé is back with a summer-ready collection of six pairs of shoes in partnership with Ciao Lucia, this time filled with colorful beaded sandals and wedges.
- Cara Cara partnered with wedding-focused e-commerce platform Over the Moon on a six-piece collection designed for summer honeymoons and travel. Two dresses feature a citrus print that originally inspired Cara Cara’s name.
- e.l.f. Cosmetics announced a partnership with “Survivor,” which debuted during Wednesday’s live “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans” finale on CBS and Paramount+. The partnership included humorous branded vignettes that aired during the reunion special. In addition, the brand debuted a special bundle of products, available on its e-commerce site.
- Kinn debuted a collaboration with Prince, timed to the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. The collection includes fine jewelry — think: a $4,500 tennis bracelet — as well as a co-branded $95 sweatshirt.
- From May 26 to June 9, The Ordinary will introduce a free bus offering a direct route between Domino Park and Prospect Park to help people get to the park more easily. The initiative is an extension of the brand’s “broader commitment to accessibility beyond skincare,” it said in an email, noting that it has “always focused on removing unnecessary barriers, and making things more transparent and available to more people.”
- Make Up For Ever introduced its new HD Skin Balancing & Perfecting Foundation, a water-based, skin-care-infused formula with hero ingredients like niacinamide and hyaluronic acid to help balance and hydrate.
- New-to-market brand Sluff debuted with the mission to bring Korean bathhouse culture into customers’ showers. Its debut offering includes a $48 set that includes a bar soap, an exfoliating mitt and a body lotion. The brand was founded by Esther Nordlinger and Christina Han. Han formerly worked as a beauty editor at The Cut and W Magazine.
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