When La Roche-Posay saw all the positive video reviews for their Effaclar Duo anti-blemish cream, they ran TrueView and GDN campaigns to promote the videos and drive to purchase. L'Oreal recognised the importance of independent brand advocacy, and made use of this valuable content to inform their target audience and shorten the path-to-purchase.
Approach
Created TrueView campaign using vlogger content (with permission from the featured vloggers), customised with retail call-to-action
Launched product microsite and dedicated retail landing page to optimise conversions
Used Google Display Network for remarketing to engaged users
Tracked success using Google Analytics
Goals
Engage potential consumers
Drive sales of Effaclar Duo skin cream
Drive brand awareness
Results
TrueView ad view rate was 72% higher than benchmarks
Positive customer reviews increased by 30%
Sales of Effaclar Duo nearly doubled
Recommended by 25,000 dermatologists worldwide, La Roche-Posay Laboratoire develops products using La Roche Posay thermal spring water . Over the past 40 years it has become a cult skincare brand. While historically La Roche-Posay has relied on word-of-mouth rather than traditional media, today the brand is embracing YouTube content creators - particularly beauty vloggers - as a new digital version of word-of-mouth influencers.
Let's face it
La Roche Posay found that many of YouTube's top content creators, such as Tanya Burr and A Model Recommends, were actively recommending its Effaclar spot treatment. In fact, these high-profile creators were in turn influencing more vloggers to create their own reviews of the product. [[quote]] La Roche-Posay obtained the rights for the use of these videos, branded them with a strong retail call to action and then ran them as part of a TrueView ad campaign. The team also created two further video ads, one focusing on the functional benefits of Effaclar and one focusing on the emotional benefits.
For the second phase of activity La Roche-Posay segmented its audience into those who were 'purchase-orientated' and those who were in the 'consideration stage.' Different calls to action were used in the videos to ensure the right message reached the right audience segment. The team launched a microsite for viewers in the consideration phase, and to cater to viewers of the TrueView ads who wished to purchase, it partnered with beauty ecommerce retailer Escentual to create a dedicated landing page for sales.
Above: Leaderboard ads promoted the product and linked to a partner ecommerce site.
It's a beautiful thing
Achieving a view-through rate that was 72% higher than the benchmarks for this format, the campaign won an internal award at L'Oreal for best demonstration of ROI. Sampling through the consideration stage microsite led to 250 new user reviews and enabled the creation of a database for future brand engagement. Over the campaign period, positive consumer reviews increased by 30% and La Roche-Posay saw sales of Effaclar nearly double!
Looking to the future, La Roche-Posay plans to run more video ads, employ further storytelling tactics for engaged viewers and continue to work with YouTube content creators as digital advocates for the brand. With positive, influential content around its portfolio of products already being created by independent vloggers, La Roche-Posay understands that YouTube and TrueView ads provide a golden opportunity to drive brand engagement among valuable audiences.
