In today’s rapidly evolving media landscape, consumers – particularly millennials – are increasingly seeking out and sharing content in their personal time, raising the bar for brands to deliver not only informative, but also entertaining and thought-provoking content. In fact, 62% of millennials cite content’s “intelligence” as a reason to share with their networks, while 70% cite “humor,” underscoring the importance of content variety and tone to drive engagement across the 11.3 hours 13-24 year-olds spend watching free online videos weekly.

But with great consumer appetite comes great competition. The proliferation of digital media and the ability for consumers to engage in two-way brand conversation across platforms and devices has created an abundance of voices clamoring to engage the teen market, particular skincare and cosmetics companies looking to align its content with an inspiring message of “girl empowerment” – leaving CLEAN & CLEAR® with the heavy task of finding a way to define our brand of confidence among the noise.

Considering our target’s passion for content discovery, YouTube was the perfect platform to serve as our central campaign hub, a space for self-expression to flourish. We produced a comprehensive suite of content featuring over 124 videos, co-created with real teen girls to foster a two-way conversation.

We sustained media buzz by releasing digital content weekly, seeding our stories across the entire CLEAN & CLEAR® social ecosystem – with each channel supporting differentiated content in a peer-to-peer voice (best for maximizing engagement). This enabled us to stay in lock-step with our target and respond in real-time to their ever-changing expectations.

Demi’s STRM episode exceeded the brand’s #1 goal – relevance – with 2.6 million views, 22k YouTube engagements, averaging an unprecedented 72% cumulative retention rate (vs. 15% YouTube Personal Care benchmark).

Demi’s episode influenced teens to adopt #SeeTheRealMe, with thousands commenting and producing their own content, uploading personal responses and using episode stills in support of their own #SeeTheRealMe stories.

CLEAN & CLEAR® closed 2014 sales +1.5% YoY, a major turnaround from -3.5% in 2013 and prior five-year decline.