Generation O: a more skin-involved Filipina – thanks to Olay

by Ronald Jabal

Gone are the times when Filipinas look to beauty products as luxuries- looking at facial creams and moisturizers as vanity run amuck. The modern Pinay no longer sees skin whitening and anti-ageing solutions as the playground of the elite. Now more than ever, the Cosmo Pinay looks at beauty products as a basic necessity – a staple in daily living inside and outside homes.

What we have now are the Generation O Filipinas – women who turn to Olay products to pamper themselves by availing of the best skin care products aimed at enhancing and improving their natural beauty.

It is not difficult to believe, therefore, that thousands of women lined up in the recent launch of Procter & Gamble’s newest addition to the boutiques of Olay products – the Olay Regenerist.

The Olay Regenerist regimen consists of five products Regenerating Serum; Regenerating Cream, with SPF 15; Night Firming Cream; Eye Lifting Serum, and Regenerist Cleanser.

And since the launch women continue to make a beehive to these products thanks to the very successful highly targeted campaigns of P&G.

Paulo Tirol, Assistant brand Manager of P&G said they programmed and implemented a highly targeted campaign for Olay Regenerist to differentiate this new anti-ageing product from another boutique called Total Effects which was launched two years ago.

While Total Effects combated multiple signs of skin ageing in just one bottle which appeal to women “on the go”, Olay Regenerist is a laser less option that reduces lines and wrinkles at a fraction of a cost of laser treatments thereby appealing to a different Pinay consumer.

“Total Effects are most appealing to women who wish to prevent seven (7) signs of skin ageing by just using one product as this is not only economical but friendly to busy women as well” Tirol said.

“On the other hand, Olay Regenerist are for women who are more skin involved; who really like to pamper skin; who know about lasers; who know about standards; who look for products that will make her more beautiful without hurting the purse too much,” he added.

The science behind Olay Regenerist
Olay Regenerist represents a revolution in anti-aging as it utilizes the science behind laser treatments to give women dramatically younger-looking skin.
Laser anti-aging treatments actually make use of the skin’s wound-healing ability to reduce lines and wrinkles.

They deliberately create micro-wounds in the skin cells, triggering the production of amino-peptides, which instruct the skin to produce proteins like collagen and elastin that result in firmer, smoother skin.

Olay Regenerist contains an exclusive Amino-Peptide Complex that includes pal-KTTKS, an amino-peptide potent enough to stimulate the production of structural proteins and trigger a boost in collagen levels all by itself, thereby mimicking the effects of laser therapy.

Together with Carnosine, a powerful amino-peptide antioxidant, and a potent combination of proven anti-aging ingredients such as Niacinamide (Vitamin B3), Allantoin, Pro-Vitamin B5, Vitamin E and Green Tea Extract, Olay Regenerist can be a woman’s laser-less anti-aging solution.

“For women who aren’t quite ready for clinical treatments, Olay Regenerist can be an option because it harnesses the same science of cell regeneration behind laser treatments to reduce lines and wrinkles.

Imagine if you could have the power of laser at your fingertips,” says Tirol, adding “With Olay Regenerist, you get the similar benefits for a fraction of the price of laser treatment. It’s also non-greasy; it absorbs very easily; the scent is very gentle and subtle so it’s something that woman will really love”.

Demand for anti-ageing
Despite Pinay’s apparent obsession with skin whitening, there remains huge unmet need for anti-ageing products such as Olay Regenerist.

Anna Legarda, P&G Brand PR Manager discloses that P&G research shows that there was good number of Pinays demanding for anti-ageing products. However, prior to the launch of P&G’s anti-ageing products, there was a dearth of this type of products in the local market.

Hence, in the absence of very good anti-ageing products, a number of consumers resort to using other beauty products even skin whitening solutions to solve signs of skin ageing.

“So when we entered the market, our strategy was to grow the anti ageing category and to create educational awareness programs relevant to the need of the market,” Legarda said.

Growing the anti-ageing consumer base
To grow and further expand Olay Regenerist’s market, P&G rolled out a highly strategic campaign programming. Responsive and sensitive to the needs of Filipinas, the campaign zeroed in on the benefits and value of using Olay Regenerist.

“Our products are designed around women’s needs – that’s how we innovate our products. And because we have intimate knowledge of what women wants and needs, we are able to develop products such as Olay Regenerist that truly responds to needs of our consumers” Tirol said.

“We don’t use age ranges or economic status as primary drivers of our campaigns. We promote end-results and outcomes of continued patronage of our products to show that Olay Regenerist really works to reduce lines and wrinkles,” Legarda added.

In rolling out its campaigns, P&G focuses on the creative peg that Olay Regenerist is the “laserless option” to reduce lines and wrinkles.

“We had to give a lot of emphasis on advanced technology and the science behind Olay Regenerist because we know our consumers are very intelligent. They are widely read on beauty technologies and cannot easily be fooled by mere gimmickry. What we did was just to deliver the right message to the right audiences", Tirol stressed.

Multi-platform, multi-channel strategy
P&G used a variety of channels in their media mix to achieve their goal of increased awareness and consumption. It was indeed a multi-media campaign spectacle.

To create big bang, TV advertisements, using its brand Ambassador Tweety De Leon, were utilized. Placements in newspapers and magazines provided major consumer pulls. Even web technologies were utilized to generate leads and inculcate Olay Regenerist brand consciousness. “We needed to use several channels and points of contact as we cater to highly evolved skin connoisseurs. These are women who read a lot on skin care; who read magazines, websites, newspaper, watch particular TV shows and cable programs,” Tirol said.

However, what made Olay Regenerist a huge success was its adoption of interpersonal medium to push products to consumers. Store activities remained the biggest activity. P&G gave Olay Regenerist more premium store location and spruced up the location to have the look and feel of prestige.

The legions of beauty consultants and the throngs of beauty ambassadors coming from major fashion and sports circles, business community, political arena and other top-level society influencers clearly also spelled the difference for the brand.

“The buzz generated from endorsements from key opinion-makers on top of our carefully selected media placements made Olay Regenerist a byword in anti-ageing treatments in the country,” Legarda said. “Our highly trained beauty consultants who intelligently and sensitively respond to our consumers provided the tipping point,” Tirol stressed.

“And when our beauty consultants talk to them, they will not talk about Olay Regenerist fighting seven (7) signs or multiple signs of skin ageing. They will always talk about advance technology; benchmarking the product with advance technology such as lasers. On top of this, they will talk about dramatic results without dramatic measures,” Tirol added.

Legarda beamed, “this is what we call holistic marketing – targeting audiences with the right audiences and meeting the needs of our consumers. We intimately know who they are and we simply cater to their needs through strategic campaigns that we know will produce effective results, hence it is not very difficult to believe Olay has been the number 1in the market since its re-launch”.

Generation Olay through the years
And the current crisis has not produced major impact on the brand. While there is a felt slow down in the skin care industry, P&G believes its Pinay consumers remained loyal and has continued to patronize Olay Regenerist and other Olay products - after all they say Olay is a brand for all generations

“It has always been our mission to offer superior product and value to our consumers. Olay products may not be the cheapest but our brand has been sustained by Filipina consumers because it has always delivered its promise. From women of yesteryears up to now, Filipinas have trusted Olay products,” Tirol said.

Indeed, the Filipina of today proudly belongs to Generation Olay