While women are behind many ground-breaking discoveries across STEM fields, and make up 50% of the workforce, they comprise only 27% of STEM field positions - women of colour only fill 5%.That’s largely down to a vicious cycle of lack of representation and mentors, leading women – particularly women of color – to believe that STEM careers are ‘not for them’.More than half of girls count themselves out of STEM careers by the time they reach college.

Being a science-led skincare brand, OLAY saw a need to change that. But we faced a problem. A media problem.Young women of color needed to see themselves represented in STEM in the media so they’d feel inspired to pursue careers in the field.

So, our campaign not only had to provide a platform for inspiring role models in a way that would reach our young female audience. It also had to recruit them.

OLAY wanted to reach young women of color, specifically Black women. We needed another way to break through their saturated day-to-day.

We employed a two-pronged approach. Using HBCUs, we could connect directly with students of color through an institution they trusted, while immersed in STEM studies. EBONY provided us a chance to reach them in their downtime, on a personal level. We took to digital, social, and email, as well as more traditional print and TV channels to reach a wide range of ages and build hype.

Then, we dropped a physical magazine. But not just a piece of print – this revival of the iconic EBONY print magazine would grab headlines, because it was making history. Having been out of print since 2019, EBONY was brought back to its full glory thanks to OLAY’s STEM Queens campaign.

OLAY launched the STEM Queen competition online through EBONY’s social, digital and email-channels. The public voted. Ten winners were selected in October 2021.

The winners received an all-expenses-paid trip to LA to attend EBONY Power 100, receiving their scholarship checks onstage, and attended a virtual mentoring session with OLAY scientists, creating ongoing relationships.

OLAY and EBONY arranged a photoshoot for the Queens, for the cover of the special edition print issue, released in February 2022 to align with International Day of Women and Girls in Science Day, and featured dedicated edit highlighting Procter & Gamble’s (OLAY’s parent company) women executives across beauty and STEM.

EBONY CEO Michele Ghee announced the partnership and magazine release on Entertainment Tonight! OLAY supported the campaign via digital and social, posting about STEM achievements by women of color, and a 360-degree media and socials blitz, including custom digital banners and EBONY homepage takeovers.

Reviving EBONY’s print-magazine successfully raised awareness of OLAY’s efforts to promote women of color in STEM, affirming to young women that STEM careers are ‘for them’ by showcasing ten inspiring role models.

The STEM Queens’ competition received 70 entries in just 48-hours and a whopping 95K votes in 72-hours.

50,000 copies of the special editions featuring our STEM Queens on the cover were printed, with sales numbers on par with industry standards for newsstand sales.

Most importantly, the special EBONY print-issue created relatable role models where there were none, using a media solution to work towards solving a huge media problem.