On Wednesday, Unilever’s head of beauty marketing, Jessica Grigoriou, arrived at “Hotel Nexxus” — a multi-level, two-day, custom-built activation in Los Angeles to promote the brand’s new styling range. She was facing a hurdle: Spokesperson Sofia Richie Grainge was sick and unable to attend the event centered on kicking off her new partnership.
Grigoriou, who oversees marketing, performance and engagement for Unilever’s hair portfolio, had less than two hours to pivot the Nexxus activation, which included programming with Grainge designed for influencers, media and NYC-based beauty editors in town on a corresponding press trip. All were expecting to meet and interview Sofia, as well as watch a masterclass with her and her longtime hairstylist.
“It was a bit of a hectic moment,” Grigoriou told Glossy. “Everyone was, of course, understanding. I shared she was unwell and unfortunately couldn’t join us. We were fortunate that we had her stylist and close personal friend of hers, Kathleen Riley, [who still] led the masterclass. And, surprise! I got to be the model [instead of Sofia].”
While an unexpected turn of events, Grigoriou told Glossy she was still thrilled with the results of the two-day event, which saw more than 100 media and influencers explore various activations. They included an educational booth explaining the line’s new ingredient technology, as well as styling stations, a content studio and cocktail bar.
Event content captured by Nexxus, as well as tutorials and other promotional materials made by attending influencers, will hit social media in the coming weeks, in both organic and sponsored posts. The latter includes paid partnerships with influencers Marianna Hewitt, Brittany Xavier, Eloise Dufka, Skyelar Chase and Chriselle Lim, a rep from Nexxus told Glossy.
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Nexxus signed Grainge to a one-year spokesperson contract earlier this year and announced the partnership last week on Vogue.com through a Nexxus media buy. Grainge, who got married last year in France to internet fanfare and announced her first pregnancy in January, will be the face of the brand. The role’s focus is promoting the 11-piece, TikTok-inspired capsule collection, which includes a hair wax stick, a heat defense spray and an anti-humidity spray, among other products.
Distribution will be strictly through retail partners, including CVS, Ulta Beauty, Walmart and Target. The average price point for the products is $15.99.
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Glossy sat down with Grigoriou to discuss the partnership with Grainge, including the brand’s strategy behind the contract, the dissemination of the involved marketing materials, the ad buy supporting them and the ways Nexxus will leverage Sofia’s changing hair needs through her motherhood journey.
Congratulations on a beautiful event and the agility you showed, amid the last-minute changes.
“Thank you! I had to exercise my ‘go with the flow’ [laughs]. But honestly, the event went so amazing. [Hairstylist Kathleen Riley] showed everyone how to get Sophia’s iconic back bun and shared her own anecdotes with Sofia, including how she styled her for her wedding and after party. Having Kathleen there brought Sofia’s presence to life in a really great way. And then, of course, we had so many other stations. We received great feedback, so I left feeling good about everything.”
Let’s start by taking it back to the beginning. How did you select Sofia as a partner, and how did the partnership come about?
“This goes back to the inspiration behind our Nexxus styling collection. We launched a range of 11 stylers all about giving you effortless style while protecting your hair health — but what’s really unique about this range is the inspiration came from a lot of the styles we were seeing trending on TikTok.
Styling, historically, can be a very intimidating thing for people to do. We often hear it’s too complicated: ‘I don’t know what looks to do,’ and ‘I don’t know what products to use to achieve those looks,’ [are two anecdotes we hear a lot]. And over the past years, we’ve suddenly seen on TikTok so many tutorials coming up and by people of such diversity. So you can identify with different creators or different hair types or different styles that you feel fit with you.”
What kind of TikTok styles inspired the line?
“Some big styles [that are] trending, like glass hair, which [includes] high shine or sleek looks, and the ‘90s volume that’s having a moment now. As we designed this product collection and curated the products, all of the products tied to one of these trends.
What was then important to us was showing how easy the products are to use. We thought about how we would drive awareness, excitement and engagement around the line at launch, and we saw a role for talent. We looked for someone who authentically and naturally was already doing this in social spaces, and of course, Sophia Richie Grange was the perfect person for that.
When she debuted that most beautiful bun at her wedding, it became one of the most sought-after hairstyles. So many people tried to recreate her look. She’s done her own ‘how to get the look’ video, which has amassed over 32 million views [on TikTok]. She’s known for her hair tutorials, which are simple and easy to follow. And she’s such a style icon, too. And so we just saw her as a natural fit.”
In this type of work, do you have any fears about choosing a celebrity and then the celebrity taking on a lot of different partnerships around the same time? Do you worry that Sofia is a little overexposed right now?
“We always look for someone who is an authentic fit for the brand and the category. Sofia, for us, is so authentic in who she works with and the brands she uses. We were styling her, with Kathleen [Riley], for her events at the Grammy’s and New York Fashion Week before we even officially launched the partnership.”
Nexxus announced the partnership through a Vogue.com media buy this week. Talk to me about that project.
“[Sofia] created what we call a ‘hair wardrobe’ [using the Nexxus collection], where she created three of her go-to looks ranging from elegant glass waves to a relaxed pony and, of course, her slick back bun. She paired those with three of our hero products from the range: our Epic Shine Spray, the Repair and Nourish Hair Oil and the Slick Stick.
We shot with her in her own very authentic, engaging style, showing how she creates these looks in a self-tutorial style and then how she wears them from day to night. She had a cute showing date night as a mom, where she was on a couch eating popcorn and enjoying a night in. These social pieces were produced and launched in partnership with “Vogue”.”
Why link with Vogue for the announcement?
“We wanted to not just rely solely on Nexxus’s social channels and Sofia’s own social channels, which of course have a ton of reach. We also wanted to leverage a very trusted media partner that’s done a lot of work with Sofia already. She had that relationship with them — she announced her pregnancy with Vogue — so that was another way for us to expand the reach of our partnership and [showcase] the products and the benefits in a way that’s engaging. The content series follows a similar format to other content series from Vogue.”
And how will Sofia promote the line on her socials?
“She’ll be creating her own TikToks and Instagram content, as well, showing how she’s using the product and creating a ‘get ready with me’-style . As she embarks on a new journey into motherhood, we’re looking forward to being there with her as her hair needs evolve. She’s spoken about how, when she first became pregnant, she noticed some of her hair fall out. And so, for her, focusing on hair health has been more important than ever.”
The new Nexxus line also features some hair technology called “Style Protect”. How did you approach educating consumers about the science?
“Hair [shoppers] default first to look and benefit, especially when it comes to styling, so those had to be No. 1. But at the same time, understanding the science behind the products, the reason to believe and the core benefit is so important, too. [At Hotel Nexxus] we had what we called the Locks Lab, where we brought in our Nexxus R&D scientist team to show very hands-on, simple-to-understand demos of how the technology works. There’s heat protection, there’s anti-humidity — there are so many benefits in the product that focus on hair health.
[In terms of Sofia, we thought], ‘How can we be a partner with her to meet her evolving hair needs? There will be more to come throughout the year as she goes through this exciting new chapter of her life.”
Are you using the assets with Sofia for digital customer acquisition?
“Yes, we’re definitely planning a full-funnel media [campaign]. There are assets we’ll use and we’ll buy against awareness, plus we’ll invest in paid media to amplify our influencer content. Usually we do that against an engagement metric, which helps us drive through the full funnel. … There will be different messages along the different parts of the funnel to drive conversion and focus content around key promotional periods.”
With Sofia about to become a mother, when will you refresh the assets?
“Right now, we’re really focused on H1 with full paid support; it’s a big focus and priority for the brand. And then, as a partnership evolves with Sophia as she enters motherhood, that will shift into a new content refresh in H2. We’re still actively planning what our H2 looks like for the year.”
How will you measure the success of this partnership?
“From a pure business standpoint, we’re looking at the sales of the styling range. We have business case targets for any new innovation that we [launch], but we’re also looking at the engagement around our content. We partner with [influencer marketing tracking software company] Traacker, where we measure our influencer effectiveness through a measure called VIT, which is visibility, impact and trust. We especially look at that when we have large influencer marketing campaigns. And then we’re constantly tracking brand equity and different brand attributes and understanding which content and partnerships impact that, too.”
