In 2018, skin boosters were a novelty on the skin care market. They represented a new step in women’s skin care routines, enabling better absorption for other skin care products. 

The same year, Vichy, as the market leader in skin moisturizers, presented its Minéral 89 skin booster to the Croatian market. The company wanted to maintain the leading position among Millennial women for years to come.

As we were researching the target audience, we realised that women valued their friends’ recommendations and brand strength the most when choosing skin care products. So, our solution to the brief was evident: to keep Minéral 89 on top in the long run, we had to strengthen the brand while connecting it to friendship.

Our way to achieve a memorable, long-term impression was to develop a deep connection with the target group. We wanted to give the brand a purpose, so we explored key consumer insights and realised the only thing that stops Millennial women from feeling confident are the women themselves! But things change when their best friend is by their side. So we gave Minéral 89 a mission to make every woman feel strong and comfortable in her own skin at any moment of life. 

Choosing the right approach

We launched the BFF platform to show how women can become stronger and overcome any challenge when their best friend supports them. The communication was anchored on miss7, a lifestyle media brand positioned as a woman’s best friend.

To get the best insights for the campaign, we tapped into the minds of Millennial women through a two-way communication approach. Throughout the activations and social communication, we wanted to put our users on an emotional journey and encourage them to speak out about their fears, self-confidence, and the role of friendship. 

The core of our campaign was a large online research effort focusing on friendship in Croatia to gain insights and raise awareness about the importance of close friendship, self-confidence, and taking bolder decisions to find your true self.

The survey results were personalised, comparing participants with women in similar situations, while the insights were used to shape topics for native articles and social communication. The answers raised public interest, so we built up the campaign with an analysis of the results through different online formats.

We celebrated friendship with the UGC activation where we invited women to defeat their fears by sending us personal stories with the challenges they would have dared to do only if their BFFs were boosting them along the way. We introduced a special BFF microsite with a complete project overview positioning friendship and Minéral 89 as core confidence boosters.

We also released a special friendship-focused newsletter edition and created an activation where women could send a personalised message to their BFFs to thank them for being their confidence booster in everyday life.

Boosting friendships and product

With audience interaction and two-way communication at every step (from the survey to Instagram activation, UGC messages, UGC dream-fulfillment video, etc.) we were able to create memorable user experiences that interacted with campaign elements, built frequency, and gave audiences constant reminders of our key messages.

The campaign had a significant impact on brand perception, the key for women when it comes to skin care product purchase, with a 51% increase and a 15% increase in brand consideration. Also, we showed women that they can overcome any challenge when their best friend is there, boosting them along the way. 

The campaign delivered great results with 400,000 content views, more than 380,000 Instagram views (45% over miss7’s average), and 32% newsletter open rate. The campaign was a true booster, with more than 11,000 survey participants and more than 1,300 personal stories and messages received. Therefore, Vichy decided to broaden the scope and launch the BFF campaign internationally to two additional markets — Slovenia and Serbia.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .