The skincare brand The Ordinary is widely known for being transparent with its consumers. The company straightforwardly communicates pricing and ingredients, and its branding follows a minimalist aesthetic to emphasize that consumers should pay for the formula, not the marketing behind the products. Earlier this year, the brand delivered “truth drops” to the audience, aiming to unlock a series of scientific papers that are typically restricted to paywalls.
According to Uncommon Creative, the agency behind the campaign, “The Ordinary is known for being transparent with ingredient percentages, packaging labels, the non-use of celebrities within marketing, and putting facts in the hands of the people.” In line with the statement is the company’s latest initiative, called “The Secret Ingredient.” Also developed with the help of the creative studio, the campaign is aimed at pointing out the impact celebrity endorsement has on consumers. While the brand admits that celebrities bring value to a company, their presence in a marketing campaign shouldn’t influence the value of the products they are promoting.
“With some celebrity endorsements raising product prices by 30-100% or more and some A-list stars charging up to $10 million for a single post,” the skincare company revealed how much money it will need to add to its products if an A-list star were to promote its products. Designed to spark conversation around the topic and reveal the actual cost of influencer marketing, The Ordinary launched an “expensive” event in the heart of New York City, where a huge pile of cash was exhibited in the windows of a store in Soho.
The store featured a stack of fake US dollars, totaling the equivalent of $10 million. The sum is a visual representation of how much the brand would have to raise the price of its products if a celebrity were to promote the skincare items. The stunt was aimed at revealing the real prices of the products associated with influencer marketing; costs that would be passed onto the consumers.
“Working with a brand like The Ordinary that is so committed to driving real, positive change in the industry is an absolute joy. They are the type of brand we built the studio to partner with. This experience is all about stopping people in their tracks, sparking conversation with a vulgar power, an iconic visual that lands an important and timely message. The Ordinary aren’t playing a role in a category, they are turning it on its side,” commented Nils Leonard, Co-founder of Uncommon Creative Studio.
“Whilst we acknowledge that promoting products with celebrity ambassadors can add value to beauty brands, most people don’t realise just how expensive this ‘ingredient’ can be, so we’ve decided to show them in the most visceral way possible. We believe effective skincare should be accessible, and that these costs shouldn’t be passed onto the consumer, particularly when prices are already rising. We’re excited to bring this message to life in the heart of New York,” a spokesperson from the brand added.
The store attracted thousands of fans, many queuing for over two hours to see the installation. The experience included informative displays as well as goodie bags containing The Ordinary products. Despite not working with celebrities, the campaign still caught influencers’ attention, generating hype on social media. Brooke Yoakam, whose community consists of 72.7K followers on Instagram, described the initiative as a “genius way to communicate what makes you different to your customer.”
CREDITS
Brand: The Ordinary
Creative Studio: Uncommon Creative Studio
