On the heels of its award-winning Michael CeraVe campaign, L’Oréal-owned CeraVe is continuing to lean into content it deems “edutainment,” said Kelly Buchanan Spillers, global head of digital and social at CeraVe.
On Monday, the brand launched a new campaign, “Cleanse Like a Derm – a CeraVe Soap Opera.” It stars the actor Xochitl Gomez, who starred in the 2022 Marvel movie “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and was the winner of Season 32 of “Dancing with the Stars.” The campaign also features “derminfluencer” Dr. Dustin Portela, who has 558,000 followers on Instagram and 2.4 million on TikTok. CeraVe reached $1 billion in sales in 2021.
The campaign’s rollout will follow the brand’s go-to playbook, which includes creating story-based content and asking content creators to iterate on it on social media. “We’re continuing on a tradition of telling really great stories, while simultaneously educating consumers on how to take better care of their skin,” said Buchanan Spillers. She noted that, via third-party research, CeraVe found that 43% of consumers cleanse their faces with hand soap, rather than a designated facial cleanser. In addition, it found that 71% do not seek out cleansers with ingredients that help repair the skin barrier. The campaign’s film focuses on CeraVe’s bestseller, its Hydrating Facial Cleanser.
For Dr. Portela, the short film marks his acting debut. “In everything I do, I ensure it is authentic,” Dr. Portela told Glossy. “Having worked with CeraVe since 2020, when the opportunity arose to test my acting skills in such a fun and creative way, I had to say yes. Plus, when I saw the brand’s [hand soap and skin barrier] statistics, I realized how crucial this campaign is.” Prior, Dr. Portela had worked with CeraVe as a spokesperson and paid partner, including for campaigns.
In the new film, Gomez, who plays Xochitl Cleansington, finds that her cleansers have all been replaced by hand soap. Playing on classic soap opera tropes, the villain turns out to be the evil identical twin brother of dermatologist Dr. Portela, portraying himself. He has conspired to disrupt the skin barriers of Cleansington and her family, and her husband must save the day. The film was produced by ad agency 72andSunny.
Back in April, CaeraVe released another campaign film, which spoofed the romantic comedy genre and was dubbed “The One Under the Sun.”
“We’re attempting to blur the lines between educating our audiences and entertaining them through advertising,” Buchanan Spillers said. “This time, we chose a soap opera as the vehicle to tell the story because people love dramatic stories about intertangled relationships.”
She added, “We’re educating consumers about how to take better care of themselves through skin care by telling them the stories and educating them in an entertaining way.”
The brand has tapped 30 influencer partners to react to the content including Charli D’Amelio, Brigette Pheloung (@acquiredstyle, 1.1 million TikTok followers), Dr. Muneeb Shah, Bobbi Althoff, Golloria George and, of course, Gomez and Dr. Portela. In a TikTok that is already live, Pheloung pranks her sister, saying that she is cleansing her face with hand soap before whipping out her CeraVe and sharing why it’s better for skin. The brand’s “derminfluencer” partners will create content that debunks the notion that hand soap is an acceptable facial cleanser. Hand soap and other cleansers not designed for facial skin are too stripping for the face, according to the brand. The CeraVe ad emphasizes that the product is made with three essential ceramides and developed with dermatologists.
In addition to promoting the campaign on social, the brand is embarking on a mobile tour. Its 32-foot trailer features games, photo ops and expert advice from Dr. Portela and other dermatologist partners. It will first hit Hudson Yards in New York City on August 1, before making stops in Chicago, Nashville and Atlanta throughout August. Visitors will get to take home a free CeraVe cleanser, as well as other product samples and exclusive swag.
