“The most successful partnerships are where two brands come together in unexpected ways,” said … [+]
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It typically involves a heaping dose of television and magazine advertising supplemented with digital advertising, influencer and social media. Zenith estimates beauty companies spent nearly $8 billion in advertising last year.
All that makes it extremely difficult for a new brand to gain traction in a beauty market estimated to reach $91.4 billion in 2023. Overall, the Personal Care Products Council reports 90% of the market is dominated by some 600 established companies that are its members.
Suffice to say, any new skincare line enters an overcrowded market and has to break through the cacophony of noise created by the majors. So the launch of Beekman 1802’s new facial oil in a Jiffy Lube shop, of all places, grabbed my attention.
Knowing the brand’s co-founders, Dr. Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell, I figured it was one of those strokes of genius that they seem to be blessed with but few others. However, company CMO Brad Farrell explained they followed a logical process to hit upon the idea, which even the creatively challenged could learn from.
People’s resistance to using oil on their skin was the first challenge faced in launching the new Oh! Mega Milk product.
“People’s number one complaint about facial oils is they are too heavy and greasy,” Farrell shared. “Through an innovative process of yeast fermentation, we created an oil with a milky texture from goat milk rich in omega fatty acid. It’s totally unlike traditional oil and can be absorbed deeper into the skin because of its different chemical structure.”
They studied the competitive landscape and found other traditional facial oils from luxury players were in the $85 to $150+ price range. The new Beekman 1802 product retails at $54.
“Our original brief was how to give our neighbors all the glow without the grease,” he said, explaining neighbors is what the company calls its customers. “Essentially, we wanted to communicate the message that people should swap their oil for ours that we believe is superior to any other on the market.”
Thus the campaign’s “Time for an Oil Change” theme was conceived, and Jiffy Lube identified as the perfect partner because changing oil is their business.
“The first place you think of when you think of an oil change is Jiffy Lube so that was the impetus of the partnership. What’s more unexpected that going to get an oil change at Jiffy Lube and finding a popup spot for our Beekman 1802 skincare oil?,” he said.
“We build our awareness through collaborations and partnerships and the most successful partnerships are where two brands come together in unexpected ways.”
A cold call to Jiffy Lube’s head of marketing communication Jennifer Friedman ensued, proposing that they do something kind for Jiffy Lube’s customers, since kindness is a core value of the Beekman 1802 brand and company.
“Being the category leader in fast lube, it’s our responsibility to educate consumers about the importance of changing the oil in their vehicle,” she said. “When Brad reached out, I thought what a fun, creative and clever way to surprise and delight our customers because, as a brand, we are consistently focused on the customer experience.”
Being familiar with Beekman 1802 from a popup experience in Boston, she was immediately interested in turning the Jiffy Lube customer lounge into a spa for a day to treat customers to a complimentary hand massage or “oil-change” facial. Now she had to convince local independently-owned franchisees to get on board.
Beekman 1802 popup spa at Jiffy Lube
“I reached out to a Jiffy Lube store in Newton, MA, and the owners’ reaction was what we expected. ‘What does Jiffy Lube have to do with skincare?’ And I said that was the whole point of why we should pursue this. And he got it.”
And the Jiffy Lube customers got it, too, in a big way. “We received an email from a customer who expressed gratitude for the experience and said he sent test messages to all his friends and family,” Friedman shared.
Interestingly, the gender breakdown at a Jiffy Lube store is roughly 50/50 male and female, so they figured at least half of the day’s customers would immediately delight in the experience.
But, then, what man wouldn’t appreciate getting a hand massage while waiting for his car and carrying a goodie bag home filled with Beekman 1802 products along with Jiffy Lube-branded slippers for his significant other?
And the garage crew who get their hands dirty changing oil were also excited by the event and gave word-of-mouth encouragement to reluctant customers to give the spa a try.
“One female customer pulled up and wasn’t too thrilled about waiting 20 minutes for her oil change, but the guys sent her to the lounge, and she was as happy as could be when she left,” Friedman said. In addition, the service center gave all customers a goodie bag even if they didn’t take advantage of the popup spa experience.
Currently, Beekman 1802 and Jiffy Lube are carrying the oil change message forward with all Oh! Mega Milk customers getting a discount code for a Jiffy Lube oil change and the company is sponsoring oil change events in a hundred Ulta stores where Jiffy Lube coupons are also passed along.
“We’re helping with synergistic support outside just the popup,” Farrell said, and Friedman added the company is thinking about taking the spa concept to more of its 2,000 stores across the country.
According to Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, companies introduce some 30,000 new products yearly, and upwards of 95% fail. The reasons for failure are many, but getting enough people to notice the new product, let alone actually buy it, is one of the biggest.
For CPG brands, nothing beats sampling and in this increasingly digital world, IRL (in real life) experiences are priceless. That’s what other brands can learn from the Beekman 1802 and Jiffy Lube collaboration.
It extends both brands to a wider audience with messages that help both brands meet needs that everyone has but might not yet realize. And being unexpected, it locks both brands into people’s memory that will carry both forward into the future.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2023/04/09/jiffy-lube-and-beekman-1802-skincare-are-a-surprising-and-brilliantly-aligned-pairing/