How does CeraVe, a clinical skincare brand developed by dermatologists, become a global cultural phenomenon? By creating an internet conspiracy that the brand was actually created by actor Michael Cera. To make things harder: Michael isn't on social media. So we orchestrated a social and influencer-plan to spark a global debate. Then, the internet ran with it. For four-weeks, we were front and center in culture. 400+ influencers organically weighed in about the skincare conspiracy. While most Super Bowl commercials are the hero, ours was the culmination of a worldwide conversation with 15.4B impressions BEFORE the spot even aired.

Skincare Context: CeraVe is a clinical skincare brand developed by dermatologists. But more and more celebrities are entering the skincare space, exceeding $1B in beauty sales in 2023 (Nielsen). And competitors are copying CeraVe’s claims about being developed with derms and having three ceramides)

Celebrity Context: Michael Cera is a cult favorite actor known for Juno, Arrested Development, and “Allan” in Barbie. He plays unassuming, awkward and lovable characters. Cera doesn’t fit the typical beauty spokesperson (Rihana, Selena Gomez...) or have any social media. But his famously youthful face, shared name with CeraVe, and mild manner made him the perfect unexpected antagonist to get everyone talking.

Super Bowl Context: CeraVe has a niche audience on TikTok. The Super Bowl provided a unique opportunity to bring it to the masses.

CeraVe is the #1 dermatologist-recommended skincare brand in the US. But competitors were stealing CeraVe's core claim that they are developed by Dermatologists.

So CeraVe was headed to its first ever Super Bowl to (1) mint CeraVe as THE brand developed with Dermatologists and (2) elevate CeraVe from a cult, niche social following into a cultural phenomenon all around the world.

But people watching the Super Bowl want celebrities and comedy. Not dermatologists and ceramides. And CeraVe wanted to become a cultural icon without compromising their core values.

To achieve this, CeraVe set the following KPIs: 1B impressions, 50 articles, 74k website traffic, +3% audience growth, and Top 10 share of voice during the game.

(All of which the campaign achieved and then some).

A traditional campaign about dermatologists and ceramides would be ignored. We needed a way to use a celebrity while hero'ing dermatologists. So we created a social and influencer-led conspiracy that CeraVe was developed by Michael Cera (same name.. baby-soft skin... you get it...)

This breakthrough idea was risky– especially for a quiet skincare brand. CeraVe couldn't even announce it was in the Super Bowl.

So we changed the game and wrote a new social playbook. We created a four-week first-of-its-kind conspiracy. And because Michael isn't on social media, we orchestrated the conspiracy with social and four hero influencers. The brand committed fully, fighting back with owned-channels.

Then, the idea organically took off everywhere, going viral across TikTok, Instagram, X, and Reddit. It was meme'ed, debated on podcasts, there were 'Cera-spiracists'. It resulted in 15.4B impressions BEFORE the commercial even aired, with 400+ influencers organically joining in and 195M+ Influencer Video Views

CeraVe has a niche, cult following on TikTok. But the core consumer base was 78% women, average age 40+. To become a cultural icon, CeraVe wanted to grow the audience to have mass appeal including Gen Z and men– while still appealing to their base consumer.

Our strategic insight was that Dermatologists are the celebrities of CeraVe, NOT a celebrity A-List spokesperson.

Our social and influencer led approach was to create content authentic to each channel and influencer. In this way, we successfully allowed creators to “maximize their own creativity” (Glossy) which kept audiences fully engaged in the story. We crossed influencer categories from beauty to gossip, conspiracy theorists, dermatologists and memes to create a fully-immersive, globally viral conspiracy that culminated with the Super Bowl Commercial.

Rather than hero'ing a 30 second commercial, CeraVe’s social and influencer approach made the brand the talk of the internet for an ENTIRE MONTH!

Our conspiracy started 4-weeks prior to the Super Bowl. It rolled out over three acts via social, influencers and PR: (1) fake news campaign (2) public fight between Cera and CeraVe (3) Big Game resolution.

It began when @HayleeBaylee "spotted" Cera signing CeraVe bottles. Then we "leaked" paparazzi photos (front page Reddit / Daily Mail). Michael sent out "bootlegged" PR boxes. He walked off an interview with @BobbiAlthoff. We planted seeds across every social channel (X, IG, TikTok, Threads, Reddit).

Then, the brand used its social channels and an army of dermatologists to fight back. We released an official statement on IG, joined in real-time conversation on X, derm denials on TikTok and released a NYTimes article. The conspiracy was everywhere, with 400+ influencers organically joining in. Which all lead to the Super Bowl, where the commercial settled things in front of a record-setting audience that CeraVe is a dermatologist

Overall objective: Elevate CeraVe to the status of cultural icon.

Result: #1 SB Campaign (GQ, Forbes, Adweek, Adage)

Result: Most moisturizer sales in CeraVe history (*for one-week)

Goal: 1B earned impressions

Result: 32B earned impressions (15.4B BEFORE the Super Bowl)

Goal: Top 10 share of voice (based on earned engagement during game)

Result: #1 share of voice

Result: 2.4X amount of engagements of all other health and beauty brands in the Super Bowl… COMBINED!

Goal: Most talked about brand on social

Result: #1 most effective brand on tiktok (David), trended on X / Tiktok, Reddit front page, highest ever performing brand meme on FJerry

Result: 400+ organic influencers

Goal: 50 articles

Result: 2K+ articles

Goal: +3% audience growth

Result: +5% audience growth (“Dammit it worked…I’ll go pick up a bottle” – @huhzonked)

The month-long “ultra-meta, multipronged campaign” (NYTimes) was hailed as a “masterclass” (Adweek).