Challenge
How do you get a generation of women to engage with a brand that doesn’t seem relevant to their lives? By tapping into their dire need of a break from the daily grind, the World of St. Ives campaign successfully reinvigorated a 30+-year-old brand. Kaplow created a virtual destination that beckoned these young women to come out and play. Through a fully integrated effort, the World of St. Ives campaign drove fan growth and engagement and heightened purchase consideration.
Solution
A cult-favorite, St. Ives had lost traction with millennials. On the brink of launching a new product line, St. Ives needed to find a way to connect with its target audience. With competitors launching new product offerings and many relying on celebrity power, it was critical St. Ives reinvent itself to stand out and regenerate the love it once had. The key was providing an escape from the everyday. We hypothesized that young women about to embark upon a bright future were in fear of their lives becoming dull. They longed to travel, experience nature and rekindle the excitement they had come to enjoy just a few years earlier. Homing in on this insight that millennial women want to be mature, but cling to college adventures and their need to escape, Kaplow created the World of St. Ives, a travel-inspired Tumblr page supported by Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Execution Developed as if it were a real tourism site, The World of St. Ives provided users with a customized destination, going beyond the simple design of the typical Tumblr interface. It represented a vibrant locale, where each part of the World came to life in its own way. The world was separated into four sections — Fresh Hydration Lotion Falls, Shea Butter Pool, Apricot Orchard and Even & Bright Beach — each highlighting a different aspect of the St. Ives product line while putting ingredients and colorful nature at the forefront. With a simple click, millennials could travel to a place that enveloped them with natural imagery, enlivening content and sometimes, a little humor. The World of St. Ives featured original content sprinkled with creative from Tumblr’s most notable influencers. From lush still imagery to eye-catching animated GIFs, there was something for every type of millennial woman to enjoy. We also incorporated an organic reblogging strategy, ensuring all content reflected the St. Ives state of mind — vivid views of nature through the eyes of the brand’s core consumers. Content that was reblogged also came from influential millennial women; those who shared the same view of the world and longed for that elusive break in their day. This shared experience served as a catalyst for deeper engagement and loyalty among consumers. Kaplow went a step further by building out The World of St. Ives for the media through a highly interactive event, targeted creative deliveries and customized pitches.
Results
Millennial women everywhere received a consistent and impactful messaging that related to their individual lives — and they fell in love all over again with the brand. The World of St. Ives campaign significantly drove fan growth —increasing the brand’s core audience in its two key demographic groups by 22% and 35% respectively — and ballooned engagement rates by 132%.
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