A concerning social media trend has emerged recently, where young children, influenced by TikTok, primarily girls between 3 and 13, are adopting adult skincare routines, with harmful ingredients and useless numerous steps.

Kiehl’s is one of the largest skincare brands in the world and is available at Sephora. With the mission to “protect and heal our communities”, the brand had to stand up against this scourge via a purpose-driven brief with the objective to raise awareness, especially among parents, about this social issue that jeopardizes children's skin health.

To raise awareness on the “Sephora Kids” phenomenon, Kiehl’s launched a campaign starting on Instagram, where this target is. Instead of promoting products, Kiehl’s delivered a bold message denouncing excesses into the skincare category, and reminding everyone of what a child's routine should truly be. Through four impactful visuals, the campaign urges people not to let children miss out on the beautiful and innocent moments of childhood.

The campaign going viral on social media, Kiehl’s decided to go further and to support its message on OOH and DOOH with flyposting and trucks driving and passing by schools and famous beauty retailers like Sephora and Ulta Beauty. These tactical locations were an opportunity to better catch the attention of the “Sephora kids” parents. The brand also maximized its reach by publishing its prevention message into newspapers, including the The New-York Times.

Childhood innocence is at risk as children, aged 3 to 13, and influenced by TikTok, mimic adult skincare routines, involving ingredients like peptides, retinol, and collagen. This trend has resulted in these children being called "Sephora Kids" as they purchase pricey products from top cosmetic retailers. 
Dermatologists’ studies have warned against the damage these ingredients can inflict on young skin, reflecting the broader issue of social media's impact on children's self-image massively proven through data.

As parents have control over children's purchases and social media uses, Kiehl’s launched a direct response. A viral campaign on Instagram, near schools, and beauty retailers targeting parents. The campaign rapidly gained traction worldwide through other local brand accounts sharing the visuals. Without any social media ad spend, Kiehl’s exceeded expectations, gaining support from beauty and lifestyle influencers, and crucially, the medical community, who shared the campaign within their networks.

The campaign was launched on Kiehl’s USA Instagram account, organically reaching nearly 1 million people, including parents, in addition to the dozen Kiehl’s worldwide accounts. The content quickly went viral on social networks. As the conversation momentum continued to rise, including the support of beauty influencers but also doctors, Kiehl’s spread this needed statement. Flyposting, and trucks equipped with screens displaying the campaign visuals. OOH assets were strategically located in front of schools and beauty retailers to effectively reach parents. Meanwhile, Kiehl’s prevention message was published into newspaper for maximum reach.

Initiated on Kiehl’s social media organically, the campaign swiftly gained momentum, resonating with many expressing their own disapproval of “Sephora Kids”. Globally echoed from the US to Mexico and Italy, it became Kiehl’s most shared campaign. As the #sephorakids trend is a real danger, L’Oréal decided to turn Kiehl’s message into a group movement.

On social media, it exceeded average engagement by +90%, with +256 stories, 42,700 total interactions, and 99%+ positive sentiment, marking a +3600% engagement increase. Top markets for interactions were the US (60%), Mexico (17%), and UKI (12%). OOH & DOOH garnered 14.7M impressions in New York.

The campaign earned acclaim from beauty influencers and medical professionals :

· "As a holistic pediatric nurse practitioner (and mom) I can't thank you enough for promoting such a sound message. Bravo @kiehls."

· "As a pediatrician and allergist, I can only thank you for such an amazing message!"