Acne-treatment launches YouTube lifestyle content videos to reach millennials
Infomercials have long been a prominent component of the Proactiv advertising strategy, and this YouTube launch repositions that publicity knowhow for the next generation of consumers.
Content first
The content is intended to build brand recognition and trust among prospective Proactiv consumers. The first season’s content is a combination of personal care and lifestyle topics (like, Picture Perfect Hair Tutorial and Winter Skin Care DIY) and seasonally relevant subjects (like Super Bowl(ing) Party Ideas and Valentine’s Day Beauty Tutorial).
"#BeYouTV goes beyond advertising -- we are providing value. We are expanding our storytelling, increasing engagement and providing content that fans and potential customers want in a space that they spend their time in," said Rob Reynolds, SVP of marketing and innovation at Guthy-Renker, the distributor of Proactiv, in the Proactiv press release outlining the series.
Online consumers share data
"By collaborating with popular YouTube creators, Proactiv is bringing a new approach to reaching a group of people that have grown up consuming and engaging with content primarily online," explained Brian McDevitt, Google's industry director for home & personal care in the press release.
Proactiv anticipates that the series will run for multiple seasons. And, the company will use data and insights gathered during this first batch of episodes to shape the content effectively: “Through video engagement, Proactiv's social media team will be able to gauge interest in the videos and then curate the themes for #BeYouTV Season 2, ensuring that the topics and experts featured in the series excite, delight and educate subscribers,” according to the release.
More information
The FDA issued a warning this summer to acne-treatment brands, which meant Proactiv and its competitors needed to update product labelling with fuller information about possible allergic reactions.
“If your company manufactures such products you are hopefully already in full compliance with the final monograph for acne drug products which require specific warnings and statements,” Angela Diesch, an attorney working with the cosmetics industry told Cosmetics Design at the time.
The warning, Diesch explained, included a new recommendation: “FDA is now suggesting that manufacturers also warn new users to first the test acne product on a small are of skin for 3-days before using as directed.”
Ingredients and allergies
The FDA issued the warning in response to reported allergic reactions to active ingredients, namely benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid. The Administration has received 131 reports of adverse reactions to these ingredients (between 1969 and 2013). And, 42% of those reactions occurred within 24 hours of product use—some within just minutes.
