A marketing campaign that promotes minority voices & representing (diversity and inclusivity)

Figure 1: Screenshot of the AWPxBABOR campaign video (Barr, 2018)

In 2018, the AWPxBABOR campaign was hailed as the ‘most diverse beauty campaign ever’ as it was the first ever untouched luxury skincare campaign using non-traditional models. Instead, it featured a variety of inspiring women from activists to mothers, designers, editors, and more including 58-year-old model Nicola Griffin, the oldest model ever to appear in a Sports Illustrated shoot (Reid, 2019), and model, activist, and mother Denise Bidot (BABOR, 2018).

The brand BABOR was established by chemist Doctor Michael Babor, beginning a new era for beauty cosmetics as it combined scientific research with skin care, a true revolution for the industry (BABOR, 2022). To this day, the family-owned company have innovation as part of their DNA.

The Campaign

The campaign was promoting the launch of their new beauty ampoule set where 50% of the sales went to their partners the ‘All Woman project’ (All Womxn Project, 2021) – an organization dedicated to empowering women through self-love and showing that size, age, and colour do not limit a woman (BABOR, 2018).

What makes this campaign particularly noteworthy was not only the diversity featured in it, but that the entire campaign wasn’t retouched or photoshopped – illustrating to women everywhere that they should feel positive about themselves “no matter how old they are, how they look or where they’re from.” (Barr, 2018).

In the year that Meghan Markle became the first mixed race woman to join the British monarchy (Royal UK, 2017) and women in Saudi Arabia were allowed to drive for the first time (BBC News, 2018), conversations around equality for women were in the headlines in the wake of the #MeToo movement (Erickson, 2018). Women across the world were speaking out about the experiences they have had, in multiple industries, at the hands of men. It forced industries everywhere to re-evaluate how they are empowering women, both in the workplace and in everyday life.

In the fashion and beauty world, conversations began around empowering women of all shapes and sizes, from all backgrounds and all ethnicities so all women feel represented by the advertising they consume.

While the Miss America Pageant announced the end of its swimsuit competition to “make the event more inclusive” (Bennett, 2018) not every brand was as willing to make changes. Supermodel Ashley Graham began a campaign for Victoria Secret to show more body diversity in their infamous Victoria Secret Show, after their CMO claimed he still refuses to use women larger than a size eight in the shows because the public has "no interest in it" (Alexander, 2018).

However, Graham, one of the most popular models in the industry at the time, argued that “'[Diversity] is something women have wanted for a long time; to see themselves in campaigns, in magazines and to be seen as normal, not a token or 'the one'” (O’Malley, 2018) and those consumers are demanding diversity, with 38% stating they are more likely to trust brands that show diversity in their ads (Thompson, 2020). This sentiment was reflected in the launch of Rhianna’s inclusive beauty range at the end of 2017, that exposed how much work the industry had to do to be truly equal and inclusive.

In 2018, the global beauty industry was worth around $86.9 billion, up $3 billion from the previous year (Statista, 2021). Skin care specifically is one of the most profitable product categories, as its revenue is projected to generate roughly 177 billion U.S. dollars in 2025 (Statista, 2022). Competition is high in the industry and knowing the context in which the campaign would be viewed and releasing it at the beginning of ‘fashion month’ (Beauty Packaging, 2018) the AWPXBABOR collaboration was poised to make an impact.

AWP co-founder Clementine Desseaux claimed that this campaign was created to set an example to European beauty brands that “have been very conservative with their casting choices and messaging” (BABOR, 2018). This was echoed by Benjamin Simpson, SVP of Marketing at BABOR who claimed the campaign captured "empowerment, strength, inclusivity, imperfections, and true beauty, while provoking an important conversation that is at the forefront not just of the beauty and fashion world, but within every part of a woman's life today." (BABOR, 2018).

In 2018, the whole industry was looking to move away from the sexualised images that were seen, and promoted, prior to the #MeToo movement. Instead, the focus was on inclusivity and empowerment…. But to be successful and not viewed as virtue signalling, this needed to be authentic to the brand (Biron, 2018).

Is it authentic? Babor’s corporate structure

Women are at the core of BABOR - A company created to give women the “most beautiful skin they can have” and who claim that empowering women as a part of their corporate philosophy is only “logical” (BABOR, 2020). This isn’t simply just lip service either, 62% of the employees in the company are women and 50% of management positions are held by female professionals (BABOR, 2020). Furthermore, employees have access to a day care facility for children under three years of age in addition to flexible working hours and work-from-home options to help them balance family and career. BABOR also offers coaching for women in leadership positions and funds training and development programs (BABOR, 2020).

All these initiatives allow BABOR to create a team that is diverse at all levels. It is often thought that organisations with diverse boards and management systems are best placed to create campaigns, and broader decisions, that are ethical and diverse (Larson, 2017). Studies show that these organisations also make better business decisions and deliver 60% better results than those companies that aren’t as inclusive. Moreover, 57% of consumers are more loyal to brands that commit to addressing social inequities in their actions (Brodzik, 2021) rather than just marketing inclusivity.

BABOR’s brand values outline that they “want to make a positive contribution and take responsibility… You can expect more from BABOR” (BABOR, 2020). This applies to all areas of BABOR, from their workplace policies, support for small and medium sized businesses, scholarship programmes and sustainability practices. Sustainability is part of the corporate philosophy at BABOR focussing on three core areas: C02, packaging and ingredients (BABOR, 2021). They have set targets to ensure that every step of the manufacturing process to the end consumer product is sustainable and ethical.

Looking at this campaign more specifically, the product promoted in this campaign was made with clean ingredients that did not contain any microplastics or environmentally critical synthetic polymers, and only certified goods and alternatives were used where resource-critical raw materials were needed. The product was packaged using FSC-certified paper where possible and uses no plastic fillers. There are still improvements to be made, and BABOR has set a target for their packaging to be 100% recyclable and reduce their plastic use by 30%. Finally, the product was also created using renewable energy, making it C02 neutral (BABOR, 2021).

These sustainable steps suggest that not only are BABOR trying to promote inclusivity and diversity but are also being a truly ethical company.

This campaign also goes beyond just being ‘inclusive’, but also celebrates the achievements of the women involved (Barr, 2018). BABOR believes women feel empowered when they are strong and take charge of their own lives. Simply, they think empowered women empower women and the response the campaign received suggests that this translated successfully to the consumer. Some social media comments included: “I can’t thank you enough for this! Such a joy seeing some real beauty on my ig [Instagram] feed,” (Barr, 2018) and “How wonderful to see different expressions of beauty! So refreshing and inspiring! Grazie" (Barr, 2018). One reporter even claimed the campaign served as a reminder that “all people are beautiful” (Figueroa, 2019).

Areas for growth

While this campaign, and BABOR as a company, have proven to be taking steps towards being ethical and inclusive, there are some steps that can be taken to strengthen this commitment.

81% of consumers claimed it was important for them to purchase from brands that align with their social values (Kohan, 2021). BABOR would do well to listen to consumer needs and take steps to match their values, for example, while BABOR claims to be sustainable and cruelty free (Tümay, 2020), they are yet to be PETA, Leaping Bunny or B-CORP certified (Tümay, 2020). While these accreditations are voluntary, undertaking them would help to build trust with consumers, who feel listened too, as well as solidifying their market position.

Furthermore, this campaign did well to feature women from multiple backgrounds, however the campaign was run in English only. Multi-lingual digital marketing can not only provide a competitive edge for brands but also improves SEO, is cost-effective and can expand the customer base (Visualmodo, 2019). Consumers respond far more favourably to messages they receive in their native language (Powers, 2019) and including the native languages of the women featured could have increased inclusivity as more people feel represented by those in the campaign.

Finally, while BABOR has a diverse management structure, and policies that encourage women to succeed, they are yet to publish any data on their gender pay gap. Having this information publicly available would allow consumers to hold BABOR to account and expose any further potential areas for improvement. This would not only have positive social benefits, but also makes good business sense as over 90% of consumers say brand transparency is a key purchasing factor (Schroeder, 2020).

Due to BABORs history of empowering women, sustainability, and inclusivity within both the workplace and their marketing, this campaign does feel like it is part of their on-going commitment to being an ethical and innovative brand. With these recommendations taken, BABOR could see strengthened consumer trust and loyalty as well as increased business results across each stage of the purchase funnel — awareness, consideration, intent, and sales (Wiese, 2020).

1623 words

Figures

Figure 1 - BARR, Sabrina. 2018. ‘Unretouched beauty campaign celebrating diversity praised’. Independent 28 January [online]. available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/unretouched-beauty-campaign-all-woman-project-awp-babor-diversity-women-a8181831.html [accessed 5th February 2022]

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