Submitted to the Young Ones 2024 Competition — waiting on placement!
Challenge: Vaseline has existed for over a century, becoming a staple in many homes. Though a historic and versatile brand, Gen Z perceives Vaseline as their grandparents’ brand–one that is old-fashioned and stagnant compared to its competitors. Most importantly, Gen Z is unaware of Vaseline’s many uses beyond chapstick, although Vaseline beauty “hacks” are slowly emerging on TikTok.
Ask: How can we make Vaseline the “Life-Hack-Hero” for the next generation? And how can we do this by becoming a cultural icon—more than just a skincare brand-all while being bold, light, approachable, fun, and humorous?
Strategy: Vaseline has the power of 10 products in one, meaning you get 9 things for “free.” This isn’t just your typical chapstick-Vaseline also serves as your moisturizer, hair smoother, cuticle repair, cut cream, skin shimmer, perfume saver, fine-line preventer, makeup remover, chafing preventer, and more-all in one small-but-mighty pot. And, if Vaseline already has this old, “grandma” perception, why not lean into it, as grandparents are the most iconic cultural icons of them all?
Idea: Who does Gen Z trust most? Their grandmas…and TikTok. By blending Gen Z’s most-trusted advice sources, we tapped into GrandmaTok to create the awareness campaign “Grandma Knows Best.” From dating tips to easy money-saving hacks, Grandma knows all of Vaseline’s secrets-so why not have her share them with Gen Z? In this TikTok campaign, watch Grandma help her grandson slay his date and save money with simple (yet sassy) Vaseline hacks.
Art Director/Video: Lucy Bickel
Copywriter: Georgia Curtis
What started out as a TikTok campaign quickly grew into IMC!
Ask a Grandma: Experiential
- Giant Vaseline x Grandma’s House structure traveling to Big 10 Universities
- Held mid-semester right before long breaks when students feel homesick
- Local grandmas give advice on relationships and money-saving hacks to college students with humorous realness only grandmas can give
- Students leave with a mini Vaseline and a warm feeling after their chat
Letter from Grandma: Direct Mail
- Gen Z loves mail when it feels personal, and Gen Z also loves getting money from grandma
- That’s why we’ll send direct mail letters to students in Big 10 college towns
- You think it’s from someone special, but turns out it’s from Vaseline – handwritten feel
- Grandma is looking out for you–sends coupon for Vaseline
- Creates word-of-mouth buzz + social media conversation
Critiques
In the NextGen Creative Lab Independent Study, we had a series of three critiques with three extremely talented, driven creatives. We are so grateful to them for their guidance as they each helped bring out the best in our campaign. Other students interested in pursuing creative careers were invited to sit in on these sessions and ask career advice to our critics.
Mariah Colón: Senior Art Director, Giant Spoon
Cara Litvak: Associate Copywriter, MRM
Lauren Meyer: Art Director, The Wonderful Company
BTS
My grandmothers have both passed on, so I recruited my surrogate grandmother from church, the iconic Grandma Gloria, to be our star in our campaign. We wanted to have our grandma interact naturally with Gen Z, and there’s no one more perfect than her, with her posse of five grandsons. Those boys are our small town’s celebrities–if only the girls from my high school knew I got those boys’ undivided attention for two hours on a random Sunday in November! (My grandma taught me the key to a man’s heart is through his stomach, so since I’m not a domestic creature and instead spend my time baking ideas rather than dessert, I’m grateful that Crumbl was available as our “Craft Services.”)
