L’Oreal’s ‘Skinchecker’ campaign pushes global skin cancer awareness
L’Oreal’s skincare brand La Roche-Posay says it is looking to move away from the “scare tactics” used by other advertisers through an international awareness campaign which urges people to get their moles checked.
The brand is hoping to get “millions of views” on its 60-second video showing Dalmatians checking each other’s spots, which is a “caring, non-threatening and warm way” of “creating collective engagement”, according to the brand.
Yannick Raynaud, managing director of L’Oreal UK and Ireland’s active cosmetics division, told Marketing Week: “Most of the awareness done by the industry has taken an alarming approach using scare tactics which don’t resonate well with consumers and don’t align with their love of the sun.
“We created the Skinchecker to empower everybody to play a proactive role in taking a close look at the ones they love.”
The campaign, which will launch in Europe on Thursday (19 March) after kicking off in other markets earlier this year, will be promoted through YouTube as well as the brand’s social media channels, specifically Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Ads will link to a website which will offer advice on how to spot a problem as well as a map showing real time conversations generated on the topic around the world.
“The biggest chunk of our investment is going to be on YouTube,” Raynaud says. “It’s the most impactful and we want people to share the video.”
She adds: “Every day until the end of the sun season we’ll try and engage and communicate with people to generate a halo effect. We feel we have a duty of care and a social responsibility.”
The campaign will also be supported by print ads, while the Skinchecker campaign will be part of a road show in several UK cities which will look to promote sun safe behaviours.
The move is based on a global survey by market research company Ipsos which showed 65% of respondents in the UK and 73% overall admit they do more for the health of the people they love than for their own health.
The survey also showed that 94% of UK respondents are aware of the risks of developing skin cancer when exposed without protection to the sun, yet only 3% have their moles checked by a dermatologist at least once a year, and 32% check their own moles annually.
“Most people don’t have a clue how to do it or they don’t go to the doctor,” Raynaud says. “But it’s the only skin cancer you can detect with your naked eye, and in 90% of cases if you notice it early it’s totally curable.”
Meanwhile, data from Cancer Research UK shows that skin cancer diagnoses are on the rise.
Raynaud says: “Skin cancer doesn’t get as much support as other cancers, and we feel it is important that as an industry we continue to hammer this message.”