The Glossy 50 celebrates individual changemakers. They include executives who took their companies into new, competitive categories, industry newcomers who disrupted age-old processes, dealmakers who led groundbreaking partnerships and creatives whose work managed to cut through the noise. More from the series →
The Accelerators: These drivers of a growth-fueling change made a big impact in-house.
Neutrogena spent 2023 focusing on what it does best: “making science simple and accessible to everyone,” said Natasha Haubrich, the brand’s head of equity and strategy. It’s done so with bold campaigns and activations.
In April, it became the first brand to bring sunscreen dispensers to Coachella, stationing waste-free units throughout the festival grounds. The activation was a “labor of love,” fueled by her team’s desire to “torture test” the brand’s products in the desert, which it had deemed “the most brutal environment,” Haubrich said.
Also this year, the brand went back to its roots by strengthening its relationships with dermatologists and other healthcare professionals. It has always worked with medical professionals and valued their expertise, Haubrich said, calling them an “integral part of what allows us to succeed in creating products that are science-backed and consumer-centric.” Neutrogena aims to be known as an authority and source for credible beauty information, particularly as it courts new, younger customers on social media.
“We’re one of the few longstanding brands that is still relevant and grounded in the DNA we’ve had since day one,” Haubrich said.
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She added, “One of the biggest challenges the industry is facing today is skin misinformation. So [Neutrogena] is trying to cut through the clutter.”
To do so, it’s working with influencers, including “derminfluencers,” to create content that serves as “edutainment.” In June, Neutrogena hosted a Derm Camp, where it brought its in-house scientists and community of derminfluencers together. The idea was to familiarize the influencers with Neutrogena’s science and what makes it different, and to help them translate it, Haubrich said.
“In a given day, if they’re lucky, these [influencers] can reach 40 patients. In a given week, maybe 200. But on social platforms, they’re able to speak to so many more. So even if they only have hundreds of thousands of followers, that’s still a ton of people,” she said.
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Of course, Neutrogena can’t rely on dermatologists alone. Its ambassadors include Chloe and Halle Bailey, Jenna Ortega, and Kerry Washington. This year, it added track-and-field Olympian Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone to the list. She was a timely pick; athletes have recently emerged as a buzzy new go-to for fashion and beauty ambassadorships. McLaughlin-Levrone became the host of Neutrogena’s new social series, “The Great Face Race,” in which teams of derms and influencers compete to have $25,000 donated to the Melanoma Research Foundation in their name.
Though Neutrogena does not comment on its earnings, Johnson & Johnson’s Consumer Health division, which includes Neutrogena, saw a 7.7% increase in adjusted operational sales for the third quarter of 2023 largely driven by over-the-counter products.
“The first thing younger customers do [when they’re curious about something] is search it on TikTok, and we know that it’s important to be where consumers are,” said Haubrich. We also know that we can’t just be a brand speaking at you; we want to capitalize on folks who already love our products by having them tell our stories for us. So we’re equipping people with the resources they need to make their skin its best ever so they can share that for us. That’s the new way to tell stories.”
Click here to see all 2023 Glossy 50 honorees.
