Vaseline campaign builds on holistic trend

The new campaign from Vaseline features actresses, musicians and athletes who reveal the stories of their skin, which are then accompanied by photos that display a skin attribute meaningful to the celebrity. The campaign has already been launched on the company's website and the images are to appear in the October issues of national magazines. Minnie Driver is featured in the campaign accompanied by photos of her freckled skin that 'reveal her Irish heritage'. Photos of the musician Dave Naverro show his extensive tattoos and are accompanied by the words "my skin is my canvas. The artwork on it represents something that is very powerful and meaningful in my life".​ In addition, the campaign invites consumers to share their own thoughts on the relationship they have with their skin. A contest, accessible via the company's website invites consumers to submit a photo - their skin portrait - that expresses everything their skin does for them and their unique skin story. The winner of the contest wins a trip to New York for a professional photo shoot, the images from which will appear in the next Vaseline campaign. Consumer participation appears to be becoming more popular in marketing projects, as is this wider approach to beauty that takes into account well-being and personality rather than simply focusing on physical characteristics. Prominent examples include the long running Dove's 'Real Women' campaign, and the recent 'Beauty is….' campaign from Nivea. Dove's Real Women campaign invited consumers to nominate someone special in their life, who, if chosen, would then appear in a billboard campaign. Consumers were asked to give reasons as to why they felt the nominee was beautiful, Reasons cited often centred on qualities such as smiley and full of life rather than concentrating on physical beauty. Similarly, Nivea's recently launched Beauty is… campaign attempts to convey Nivea's 'holistic' understanding of beauty through statements such as 'Beauty is Love' and 'Beauty is a Moment'. This 'holistic' concept of beauty was inspired by a number of workshops, run by the company, where women in Germany, France, the USA, Russia, Brazil and China were interviewed about their understanding of beauty. The result of the interviews - that beauty is a holistic interaction of looks, well being, personality, and interpersonal experience - has been incorporated into the concept of the new campaign. In addition, a global internet project, 'Share what beauty is for you' has been launched, where consumers are invited to send in their personal experience of beauty in words and images via the campaign website.