Dive Brief:

• Olay and TikTok star Kat Stickler on Feb. 13 launched the Galentine Hotline, which offers relationship and skin-care advice, according to information shared with Marketing Dive.
• Consumers can send a text to receive Stickler’s signature comedic counsel via the hotline through Feb. 20. A sweepstakes portion of the activation includes prizes like personalized advice video messages from Stickler and skin-care products from the Procter & Gamble brand.
• The effort leverages a popular influencer to entertain and engage Gen Z and millennials who have recently experienced relationship lows. The campaign is also timed to Valentine’s Day, with the brand noting that February is the most popular month to get dumped.

Dive Insight:

The Olay x Kat Stickler Galentine Hotline sees the Procter & Gamble skin-care brand taking a humorous approach to engaging Gen Z and millennials by partnering with a popular influencer. It arrives at a time when influencer marketing budgets are expected to grow this year, in part because of the strategy’s efficiency, a key criteria for marketers during periods of economic uncertainty. 

Olay’s partnership leverages Stickler’s public breakup with her ex, Mike. The pair gained popularity during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic then split last year. Since then, Stickler’s fans have often looked to the star for relationship and life advice. The partnership with Olay layers on a skin-care element to the influencer’s content. 

The campaign is specifically timed around Valentine’s Day, which the company says is one of the most popular times for couples to break up. According to YouGov, roughly one in 14 adults (7%) in the U.S. have broken up with someone on Valentine’s Day. A similar number have broken up with a partner shortly before (6%) or shortly thereafter (6%). Additionally 26% of single adults say the day makes them feel lonely. 

The effort embraces text messaging to provide a more personalized experience. Those seeking relationship advice can text “OlayGDayAdvice” to the hotline’s number. Those who are single can get insight into living their best single life by texting “OlayGDaySingle,” and those who are seeking to break up with their significant other can get tips on gently breaking the news by texting “OlayGDayBreakup” to the hotline. 

In an era of enticing consumers to interact with brands across multiple channels, the phone and/or text-based hotline remains a tried-and-true approach. Last August, PepsiCo brewed tea brand Pure Leaf created a similar advice hotline featuring TikTok influencer Coco Jones. Similarly, in November, State Farm launched a telephone hotline that suggested brand-created smooth-jazz tracks for consumers.