Campaign Spotlight: The Orange Gelée Revival Project
In March, Vacation, the buzzy-sunscreen brand known for its ’80’s-inspired cult-favorite marketing, launched a new hero product — but it wasn’t exactly new.
Vacation redeveloped Orange Gelée, the iconic tanning gel first introduced by Bain De Soleil in 1925. The original product had no SPF, though a later version had SPF 4. Vacation’s take, which it can’t keep in stock, has SPF 30.
“Our whole mission is to make sunscreen fun,” said Vacation founding partner Lach Hall. “Given our whole idea of leisure-enhancing sunscreen and the original status of that product, it just felt like we should be the ones to bring it back.” When Bain De Soleil’s Orange Gelée was discontinued in 2019, a Change.org petition to bring it back accrued over 11,000 signatures. Tubes on eBay were listed at $400.
Rather than dupe the product, the aim was to “create an updated version of the product that would be loved by fans of the original Orange Gelée, as well as by people who [were] new to it, by [incorporating] the best in modern skin-care and sun-care science,” Hall said.
To get there, the Vacation team developed The Orange Gelée Revival Project, allowing 11 superfans of the original product and beauty experts to consult on the new product’s development and marketing.
“[They weighed in on] the feel and texture of the product, the exact color of the product, the SPF level and the packaging design, to make sure it had the correct bougie look and feel that would fit in in the French Riviera a few decades back,” Hall said. “And, most importantly, they [provided feedback] on the scent, because the biggest slap in the face of nostalgia is always the scent.”
The work of the Orange Gelée Revival Project was documented on orangegelee.com via blog posts, as inspired by a Kickstarter campaign. “We told the history of the product and the background stories of everyone on the advisory panel, and we’d [give] updates at every stage [leading up to the launch],” Bell said.
After amassing a waitlist of over 15,000, the product became Vacation’s fastest-selling launch when it was finally released, outselling its next most popular SKU by six times in the first three days after launch.
“It was also our best performance marketing product,” Hall said, noting that the ads performed 2-3x better than the brand’s typical performance marketing, in terms of ROI.
“We’re offering people a chance to use a product that they miss or missed out on,” said founding partner Dakota Green, noting that the hype surrounding the brand’s Orange Gelée is unusual for a body-specific sunscreen product. “[We don’t use] the very real risks to motivate people [to use sunscreen]; we use the fun parts to motivate people.”
Notably, The Orange Gelée Revival Project is just one example of Vacation’s impressive storytelling. Starting at launch, through its marketing, the brand has established an imaginary world — set in a 1980s resort —for its followers to immerse themselves in. In addition to launching Orange Gelée, since the start of the year, the brand has introduced six new products, expanded into the bronzing category and continued to grow its presence in fragrance — all with its signature wink that has made its branding a standout since day one.
