Dive Brief:
- L'Oréal Paris debuted a star-studded digital video series to promote its new Magic Root Precision Pen and line of hair products for covering up gray roots, per a company news release.
- "The Roots Family" premiered on the brand's YouTube channel in the U.S. and features multiple episodes focusing on different family members across generations who need root touch-ups. The series stars Helen Mirren as Maxine Roots, the forgetful and eccentric matriarch. Other cast members include Andie MacDowell, Jonathan Saxby, Morena Baccarin, Aja Naomi King and Luma Grothe.
- Across the series, each family member deals with some kind of unwanted gray hairs and uses a L'Oréal product that best suits their needs. The brand will start selling the Magic Root Precision Pen to consumers through Amazon starting next month.
Dive Insight:
L'Oréal Paris is using the humor and high melodrama associated with TV soaps to highlight the often-unwanted rite of passage of going gray and trying to manage it. The digital video content-focused campaign by the beauty retailer also follows a growing movement among consumers embracing their gray hair, including through popular Instagram accounts like Gombre.
More brands are experimenting with high-production, serialized marketing content like "The Roots Family." Beyond mirroring the type of shows popular on TV, L'Oréal Paris' effort leverages the brand's high-wattage celebrity ambassadors, including actress Mirren, which could strengthen its appeal.
Brand's original digital video (ODV) offerings, defined by the Interactive Advertising Bureau as video that's ad-supported, professionally produced and digitally distributed, is experiencing quickly growing viewership. ODV content is forecast by the trade group to reach 72 million adult consumers this year.
L'Oréal Paris has been broadly ramping up its digital marketing efforts to stay competitive in a crowded beauty category. The brand in September launched a virtual makeup try-on feature on its website that leverages augmented reality, for example.
