NIVEA / SKINSHIP
Global pitch proposition and purpose platform.
The challenge
NIVEA was widely seen as a functional skincare brand, with strong awareness among an older generation.
Younger consumers, particularly Millennials, wanted brands to stand for more than product performance. They wanted to identify with brands that stood for something meaningful.
The opportunity was to make NIVEA relevant to a younger generation while retaining its authority in skincare.
The thinking
There was an intriguing paradox at play. Millennials were the most connected generation in history, yet many were also among the loneliest and most disconnected.
The more connected they became digitally, the more out of touch they felt physically, emotionally and socially. Their digital lives gave them constant access to one another, but could also become a barrier to the physical contact and presence that make relationships real.
They desperately needed authentic human connection.
Research showed us that touch and social interaction are fundamental to wellbeing, and NIVEA had a credible right to enter this conversation. Touch was already part of the brand’s product history and sensory experience.
In 1911, the team behind NIVEA created the world’s first stable water-in-oil emulsion suitable for mass production, creating a new sensory experience in skincare.
NIVEA therefore had a genuine role to play.
This was not a purpose invented for advertising. It grew from a story of product innovation, brand history and a cultural shift that was making human connection increasingly essential to healthy lives.
We felt there was a responsibility to share the benefits of touch with a generation that was becoming increasingly out of touch, helping them lead happier, healthier lives.
The ambition was to create a movement, not simply another campaign. This became the definition of NIVEA’s new purpose.
The idea
Skinship was developed as a global purpose platform for NIVEA.
“For more Skinship” encouraged people to reconnect with themselves and others through touch, care and physical closeness.
Skinship was a deliberate play on kinship. If kinship describes the bond that connects us as family, Skinship describes the connection we create through our skin.
It is the closeness we share with ourselves, friends, partners and family through touch, proximity and physical presence.
The idea reflected an Eastern understanding of connection, where close physical contact between friends and family is a natural expression of affection and belonging.
For Western audiences, it offered a new vocabulary for something universal: the role of touch in helping people feel more confident in their skin and more connected to others.
The proposed hero film
The hero film brought the idea to life through intimate and diverse moments of connection in everyday life. Using a narrative to tell a story and set up the problem.
It drew on contemporary youth culture to make the story feel authentic and relevant to an audience in their late twenties.
It showed touch as emotional, social and human, as well as sexy and healthy, rather than simply presenting a product benefit.
As a pitch film, it allowed audiences to feel the idea of Skinship before we had to explain it.
How the proposition could scale
The route was designed as a flexible system that could work across categories, markets and formats.
Body
Body care could become a relationship with one’s skin:
“The longest friendship you’ll ever have is the one with your skin.”
“Have your own skin’s back.”
“Be your skin’s BFF.”
Face
Face care could become a platform for confidence and self-expression:
“Face your fears.”
“Show off your skin.”
“Proud of every pore.”
“Flirt with yourself for a change.”
Proposed activations and social
The proposed rollout included:
The Blue Moon Project, designed to use technology to create cultural occasions for people to meet and reconnect.
A tactile out-of-home idea for World Sight Day, making the role of touch tangible.
A 100-day Instagram activation encouraging people to embrace kinship through daily prompts around touch, self-care and human connection.
My role
As Creative Director for France, a Tier 1 market, I represented the French creative team within the global pitch process, working under Saatchi & Saatchi London’s Creative Director for Global Brands.
I brought two senior creatives from my French team into the pitch, joining the London team for two intensive two-week development periods. Between these sessions, I continued to lead the work with my team in France, developing and sharing thinking with the wider London team.
Together, we conducted cultural research, identified relevant consumer and brand benefits, wrote headlines and supporting messaging, and helped take the Skinship concept, known in the East, and introduce it to Western audiences under a compelling promise.
We helped translate the proposition across the body and face categories and developed proposed activations and social content, including the Blue Moon Project and 100 Days of Embracing Kinship.
As the creative lead for France, I also travelled to Hamburg to meet the NIVEA client team, introduce myself as the creative lead for the French account and present some of the strongest work from the French group.
Outcome
Skinship was a strategic and creative tool within Publicis Groupe’s global pitch for NIVEA.
Its role was to demonstrate a new strategic and creative direction for the brand and show how that thinking could scale globally.
The thinking helped Publicis Groupe win the global NIVEA business from FCB, ending FCB’s long-standing relationship with the brand. The win led to the creation of Publicis One Touch, a dedicated agency model for NIVEA operating across 40 markets.
The value of the work was therefore not measured through market performance. It was in giving Publicis Groupe a compelling vision for the future of NIVEA and helping win the global business.
What the work demonstrated
When you uncover a truth about a brand and recognise a shift happening in culture, you can align the two to solve both a business problem and a human one.
Skinship did exactly that. It connected NIVEA’s heritage in skin and touch with a growing need for human connection, creating a movement with purpose that a new audience wanted to be part of.
NIVEA / SKINSHIP
Global pitch proposition and purpose platform.
The challenge
NIVEA was widely seen as a functional skincare brand, with strong awareness among an older generation.
Younger consumers, particularly Millennials, wanted brands to stand for more than product performance. They wanted to identify with brands that stood for something meaningful.
The opportunity was to make NIVEA relevant to a younger generation while retaining its authority in skincare.
The thinking
There was an intriguing paradox at play. Millennials were the most connected generation in history, yet many were also among the loneliest and most disconnected.
The more connected they became digitally, the more out of touch they felt physically, emotionally and socially. Their digital lives gave them constant access to one another, but could also become a barrier to the physical contact and presence that make relationships real.
They desperately needed authentic human connection.
Research showed us that touch and social interaction are fundamental to wellbeing, and NIVEA had a credible right to enter this conversation. Touch was already part of the brand’s product history and sensory experience.
In 1911, the team behind NIVEA created the world’s first stable water-in-oil emulsion suitable for mass production, creating a new sensory experience in skincare.
NIVEA therefore had a genuine role to play.
This was not a purpose invented for advertising. It grew from a story of product innovation, brand history and a cultural shift that was making human connection increasingly essential to healthy lives.
We felt there was a responsibility to share the benefits of touch with a generation that was becoming increasingly out of touch, helping them lead happier, healthier lives.
The ambition was to create a movement, not simply another campaign. This became the definition of NIVEA’s new purpose.
The idea
Skinship was developed as a global purpose platform for NIVEA.
“For more Skinship” encouraged people to reconnect with themselves and others through touch, care and physical closeness.
Skinship was a deliberate play on kinship. If kinship describes the bond that connects us as family, Skinship describes the connection we create through our skin.
It is the closeness we share with ourselves, friends, partners and family through touch, proximity and physical presence.
The idea reflected an Eastern understanding of connection, where close physical contact between friends and family is a natural expression of affection and belonging.
For Western audiences, it offered a new vocabulary for something universal: the role of touch in helping people feel more confident in their skin and more connected to others.
The proposed hero film
The hero film brought the idea to life through intimate and diverse moments of connection in everyday life. Using a narrative to tell a story and set up the problem.
It drew on contemporary youth culture to make the story feel authentic and relevant to an audience in their late twenties.
It showed touch as emotional, social and human, as well as sexy and healthy, rather than simply presenting a product benefit.
As a pitch film, it allowed audiences to feel the idea of Skinship before we had to explain it.
How the proposition could scale
The route was designed as a flexible system that could work across categories, markets and formats.
Body
Body care could become a relationship with one’s skin:
“The longest friendship you’ll ever have is the one with your skin.”
“Have your own skin’s back.”
“Be your skin’s BFF.”
Face
Face care could become a platform for confidence and self-expression:
“Face your fears.”
“Show off your skin.”
“Proud of every pore.”
“Flirt with yourself for a change.”
Proposed activations and social
The proposed rollout included:
The Blue Moon Project, designed to use technology to create cultural occasions for people to meet and reconnect.
A tactile out-of-home idea for World Sight Day, making the role of touch tangible.
A 100-day Instagram activation encouraging people to embrace kinship through daily prompts around touch, self-care and human connection.
My role
As Creative Director for France, a Tier 1 market, I represented the French creative team within the global pitch process, working under Saatchi & Saatchi London’s Creative Director for Global Brands.
I brought two senior creatives from my French team into the pitch, joining the London team for two intensive two-week development periods. Between these sessions, I continued to lead the work with my team in France, developing and sharing thinking with the wider London team.
Together, we conducted cultural research, identified relevant consumer and brand benefits, wrote headlines and supporting messaging, and helped take the Skinship concept, known in the East, and introduce it to Western audiences under a compelling promise.
We helped translate the proposition across the body and face categories and developed proposed activations and social content, including the Blue Moon Project and 100 Days of Embracing Kinship.
As the creative lead for France, I also travelled to Hamburg to meet the NIVEA client team, introduce myself as the creative lead for the French account and present some of the strongest work from the French group.
Outcome
Skinship was a strategic and creative tool within Publicis Groupe’s global pitch for NIVEA.
Its role was to demonstrate a new strategic and creative direction for the brand and show how that thinking could scale globally.
The thinking helped Publicis Groupe win the global NIVEA business from FCB, ending FCB’s long-standing relationship with the brand. The win led to the creation of Publicis One Touch, a dedicated agency model for NIVEA operating across 40 markets.
The value of the work was therefore not measured through market performance. It was in giving Publicis Groupe a compelling vision for the future of NIVEA and helping win the global business.
What the work demonstrated
When you uncover a truth about a brand and recognise a shift happening in culture, you can align the two to solve both a business problem and a human one.
Skinship did exactly that. It connected NIVEA’s heritage in skin and touch with a growing need for human connection, creating a movement with purpose that a new audience wanted to be part of.
