Dive Brief:
- Procter & Gamble skincare brand Olay will debut a musical show, "Olay Live: The Road to Glow," at off-Broadway theater New World Stages in New York on April 9, according to details shared with marketing Dive.
- The show focuses on a millennial woman who has lost her "glow," and needs some help regaining her confidence. The show is inspired by two musical videos Olay has released on YouTube that have gained more than 14 million views, with a third video soon to be released. The musical show will star Kristolyn Lloyd, an original cast member of "Dear Evan Hansen," actress Alysha Umphress and other "big names" yet to be announced. Olay released a 30-second trailer for the musical on YouTube.
- Olay is also giving away a free trip to NYC and tickets to "Olay Live" for a fan and plus one. To enter, fans can share a video clip of themselves singing, lip-syncing and/or dancing to one of Olay’s tunes on Instagram with hashtags #OlayLive, #Skincare and #contest. Tickets are available via a lottery on TodayTix.
Dive Insight:
Music videos, original songs, partnerships with musicians are becoming popular marketing themes for brands lately. The trend is extending to live musical productions, combining interest in Broadway musicals and experiential marketing to connect with consumers. Olay isn’t the first brand to tap into the popularity of Broadway, which set a box office record last year and has seen an uptick in interest with highly popular shows like "Hamilton." For this year’s Super Bowl campaign, Mars brand Skittles staged a Broadway musical instead of running an in-game ad. "Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical" was performed for a live audience during the big game and starred actor Michael C. Hall. Skittles announced the musical in a similar vein to Olay, with an online teaser and planned unnamed star.
The Broadway-focused campaign also follows a recent cinematic effort by Olay that earned the brand high marks, underscoring how the brand is looking beyond traditional TV and print advertising to engage consumers. Olay’s horror-themed Super Bowl spot, which starred Sarah Michelle Gellar of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," took the top spot in Merkle’s Digital Bowl Report, which evaluates the game’s advertisers digital marketing efforts. It was Olay’s first campaign for the Super Bowl.
"Olay Live" was inspired by the popularity of the musical numbers that the brand created with digital media company PureWow and featured in its recent ads, including “I Can’t Wait to Wash My Face” and “Have You Heard About…?,” which have racked up more than 14 million YouTube views combined. The catchy, musical-inspired songs resonated with fans, who responded with comments like "What do you mean this isn’t a real musical," according to the brand.
Asking fans to share their own performances of the songs will help Olay boost social media conversations and brand awareness, as younger consumers often enjoy engaging with their favorite brands in unique ways. Along with the contest, Olay is also drumming up excitement and playing up the exclusivity factor for the show by releasing an online teaser and saying it plans to unveil a "big name" star later.
Olay’s new musical follows similarly musically-themed campaigns from other brands. Unilever’s Dove Hair recently teamed up with singer Kelly Rowland on "Crown," a music video aiming to break down the narrow definition of beautiful hair and encourage girls to be confident in how they wear their hair. And, Lay’s partnered with Grammy nominee Bebe Rexha to promote its new chip flavors with an original song, "Right Here, Right Now," which was remixed across different genres.
