Vaseline Brand Purpose
Developing a brand purpose and impact strategy that center equity and save lives.
We partnered with Vaseline to help them develop a targeted brand purpose that centers equity and aims for systemic change — and an impact strategy to set it in motion.
Overview
47% of dermatologists claim their training is inadequate on skin conditions for skin of color.
Black Americans are 4x more likely than white patients to be diagnosed with melanoma after their cancer has spread.
Vaseline’s efforts have created over 3M equitable skin care experiences for patients and dermatologists.
Strategy
In conversations with the Vaseline team, we learned that Black women over-index as Vaseline consumers, which opened the door for Vaseline to address racial inequities in skin healthcare. We had found a potent direction that had strong brand connections.
After defining some near-term brand actions, we turned to identifying key partners and defining how citizens could participate — and translating all of this into clear, actionable plans for a consumer-facing launch campaign about equity in skin healthcare.
Strategy
In conversations with the Vaseline team, we learned that Black women over-index as Vaseline consumers, which opened the door for Vaseline to address racial inequities in skin healthcare. We had found a potent direction that had strong brand connections.
After defining some near-term brand actions, we turned to identifying key partners and defining how citizens could participate — and translating all of this into clear, actionable plans for a consumer-facing launch campaign about equity in skin healthcare.
Creative
As Vaseline prepared to launch the campaign, we brought a racial equity lens and social impact expertise to the strategy and creative, including advice on authentic community engagement, influencers and partnership, and storytelling.
Our partnership advice considered every stage of the systemic breakdown in skin healthcare equity — from funding curriculum for post-grad dermatologists to partnering with Hued, a relatively unknown platform matching potential patients of color with dermatologists who can treat dark skin.
Campaign
As Vaseline prepared to launch the campaign, we brought a racial equity lens and social impact expertise to the strategy and creative, including advice on authentic community engagement, influencers and partnership, and storytelling.
Our partnership advice considered every stage of the systemic breakdown in skin healthcare equity — from funding curriculum for post-grad dermatologists to partnering with Hued, a relatively unknown platform matching potential patients of color with dermatologists who can treat dark skin.
Impact
Vaseline now has a brand purpose and holistic equity impact approach that are closely aligned to their core product and competency, provide tangible interventions at diverse systemic points, and build awareness of a real life-or-death social challenge.
As a result, Vaseline’s subsequent initiatives have successfully advanced training for dermatologists in treating diverse skin types, connected people with culturally competent specialists, and provided educational resources about the importance of accurately treating and diagnosing skin.
