80% of people aren’t washing their face right.

How can you do it wrong? Well there are lots of ways, like using hand soap (which 60% of men are regularly guilty of), just tap water (like a third of Americans), or not washing it before bed at all (like over half of us).

OPERATION DEMOCRATIZE SKINCARE.

Most Americans don’t have access to a dermatologist. But they do have access to dermatologist-developed CeraVe Facial Cleansers. So CeraVe wanted to teach not just America, but people around the world—young and old—how they can achieve healthy, glowing skin at home.

STEP 1: Introduce new buyers into the category.

We get it, change is hard. But washing your face isn’t with CeraVe Facial Cleansers.

STEP 2: Increase total volume sales.

We are a business after all.

STEP 3: Become the #1 facial cleanser worldwide.

This one’s for the derms.

Turning a daily routine into a global TikTok sensation.

In the world of skincare, simply washing your face with the right products feels anything but. So we recruited the OG skincare experts, derms, to teach people how to get the healthy skin they wanted with a product they could trust.

Building credibility

with derms.

Developed by dermatologists, we can walk the walk. But to change people’s behavior, we needed to talk the talk—TikTok, specifically. So we launched CLEANSE LIKE A DERM online with the help of other certified dermatologists to teach others how to wash their face like the experts.

Getting into people’s feeds, heads, and faces.

We recruited famous online faces to spread the word by harnessing the power of one of the most influential things known to peoplekind: a TikTok song. People all over the world—young and old—hopped on the trend, washing their faces and posting videos online.

Like everyone else, we’re thinking of Gen Z. …But also everyone else.

Gen Z’s more than broccoli haircuts and bad dances. They're also 40% of the active consumers in the beauty and skincare industry (and the real trendsetters on TikTok). So we couldn’t ignore them in our quest to help the world #CleanseLikeADerm. But we also couldn’t ignore the other 60%.

What do you do when your target audience is anyone with a face?

You get other people with faces like theirs to tell them about CeraVe, obviously. #CleanseLikeADerm content featured dermatologists and influencers who represented different skin types, ages, genders, and countries from around the world.

Go where everyone has gone before: TikTok.

With over 1.9 billion users, TikTok is one of the most popular platforms not only for Gen Z, but for older generations too, with 14.6% of its user base being Gen X and older.

CLEANSE LIKE A DERM came to life through four pillars:

Paid media: Derm-lead tutorials and interactive billboards.

Derms posted tutorials on how to CLEANSE LIKE A DERM on TikTok, and interactive OOH intentionally brought the two channels together, featuring TikTok videos on the billboards, then having TikTok influencers create content featuring the boards.

User-generated content thanks to a super catchy TikTok song.

Partnering with The Gregory Brothers, we created a custom song about how to wash your face with CeraVe Facial Cleansers. It was used by over 30 dermatologists and countless others.

A pop-up event for access to derms.

In-person events gave real people the opportunity to ask certified derms tips and questions about cleansing, and create custom content for social.

Testimonials: you didn’t hear it from us.

Influencers that spanned generations, genders, skin types and ethnicities shared their unfiltered thoughts on CeraVe Facial Cleansers on TikTok, furthering our reach.

Turns out when a wide range of people from all walks of life and countries around the world support your product, people pay attention.

The #CleanseLikeADerm campaign:

- Received 900 million views across 60+ countries around the world.

- Increased market share around the world:

- Latin America: +128%

- Europe: +104%

- South Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa: +72%

- North America: +30%

- Increased YoY sales +32%

- Became the #1 Facial Cleansing Brand worldwide.

- Was the reason everyone’s skin looked so healthy in 2023. (Okay, we can’t 100% confirm that, but we like to believe it.)

Not bad for a facial cleanser made by a bunch of nerds.