On Wednesday, body care brand Flamingo will make its debut in the podcast world with a new series called “Unruly.”
The Flamingo-developed “Unruly” premieres with eight episodes published every Wednesday, covering a broad spectrum of women’s modern lived experiences, including egg freezing, menopause and intentional “body neutrality,” which is accepting and respecting your body even if it isn’t the way you’d prefer it to be. The idea is to tackle subjects related to how women’s bodies are currently regulated in modern society. Whether there will be future seasons will be based on performance, including episode downloads and engagement.
“Flamingo has always liked the idea of choice and having options for how to engage with your body,” said Maggie Hureau, head of social impact at Harry’s Inc., which owns Flamingo. “In the past year and a half, the brand wanted to talk more about body neutrality and body autonomy. These are themes we’ve seen in the world and were already [addressing], but we wanted to talk about it more; we wanted a finer point on it.”
Five-year-old Flamingo has, indeed, woven bodily autonomy and body-neutral concepts into its branding and marketing. Flamingo initially launched with hair removal products like at-home wax kits, razors and shaving cream, before venturing into body-hair-care products like a pubic hair conditioning spray called Mons Mist in 2019. The brand later had a digital and OOH marketing campaign for Mons Mist called “The Bush 2020,” which it described as a “grow choice movement.”
Venturing into podcasting could be viewed as a natural step, given the popularity of the media channel. The share of Americans who listen to podcasts has substantially increased over the last decade. As of 2023, 42% of Americans ages 12 and older have listened to a podcast in the past month, according to “The Infinite Dial” report by Edison Research. This has remained relatively constant since 2020, when 37% had listened to a podcast in the past month.
Ad position: web_incontent_pos1
To add a unique spin to its approach, Flamingo bought back the ad airtime from Spotify that otherwise would have been sold to an advertiser. Flamingo already donates 1% of its profit back to non-profit organizations. Flamingo ultimately donated $24,000 of ad space to organizations like Girls on the Run, Black Girls Smile and Exhale to Inhale, among others. Flamingo declined to state the overall investment into the “Unruly” podcast series, and also declined to share its overall sales figures and growth. According to a 2022 story from Bloomberg, Harry’s Inc. grew sales by 47% to $547 million in 2021 amid broader diversification efforts, including acquiring DTC brand Lume.
Hureau pointed out that the brand’s past social campaigns and other marketing tied to body neutrality and similar issues covered by the podcast have elicited a positive response from social followers. In 2021, a campaign with educational charity The Female Lead had an average reach on Instagram of 63,000 people, which is 420% higher than Flamingo’s overall social average that year. The average engagement rate was 0.16%, on par with the rest of the brand’s social posts that year. In 2023, its Mother’s Day campaign featuring mother-daughter duos discussing body image and autonomy had an average reach of 10,600 people, which is 110% higher than Flamingo’s average this year.
Promotion for the podcast includes paid and unpaid media, as well as out-of-home activations. Flamingo will advertise the podcast through The Skimm newsletter. In addition, in December, it will work with the Matchaful beverage location in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood to offer themed items to target commuters.
Ad position: web_incontent_pos2
“Whenever I am tackling issues that impact people or people who are curious, I want them to leave with more information, including better ways of living,” said Kimberly Drew, a writer and activist who is hosting the podcast. She referenced examples within the podcast, like a segment on asking better questions at a doctor’s office. “The hope is that the podcast [plays into] the radical possibilities [we can achieve] when we can focus on women’s issues. There is so much empowerment possible when we have the right tools.”
