Eighty percent of Gen Zers have acne, and 90% of them are gamers.
Differin, which produces over-the-counter gels and patches to treat acne, wanted to connect with teens experiencing breakouts for the first time. But the brand knew it needed to reach these users authentically.
“We’re really on a quest to ensure that we’re building a relationship of trust with the next generation,” said Tara Loftis, global president of skin care at Galderma, which owns a portfolio of prescription and nonprescription skin care products.
With that goal in mind, Galderma devised a strategy with its media agency, Dentsu, to reach teens where they already are: in games.
Getting in the game
Last year, Differin partnered with two Fortnite streamers, Chica and NickEh30.
During their streams, the creators talked openly with viewers about their own struggles with acne, and that vulnerability opened the chat floodgates, encouraging fans to share their stories as well.
Then Chica and NickEh30 gifted Differin acne products to subscribers in their community. People who watched their Fortnite streams on Twitch saw a link to purchase the products, although the “buy” button was deliberately subtle and only took up a small amount of real estate on the screen.
Because the creators were streaming on Twitch, which is owned by Amazon, the brand’s marketing team was able to get a read on the impact their advocacy was having on sales lift. Purchase intent soared 7,000%, and awareness was up 46%.
Plus, Galderma also saw an uptick in earned media. Gamers went on social media to talk about the product, and that chatter helped increase Google searches by 82%.
From partnering with gamers to developing its own game
Buoyed by the boost in sales and earned media – two of Galderma’s most important KPIs – the brand decided to go even deeper into gaming this year by creating a Roblox experience that mixes fun with skin care education.
Galderma created a ”Level Up Lobby” on Roblox where players could jump into a handful of acne-themed mini games.
For example, in one Temple Run-inspired game, users would have to dodge hormones and other obstacles to complete their quest, which was built around learning about the causes of acne. At the end of the game, players were incentivized to upload a purchase receipt for a Differin product to receive a “power-up.”
Another mini game called “Power Patch Splat,” a riff on Dance Dance Revolution, involved stomping out acne. And “Zit Zapper” – well, that game explains itself.
The Dentsu team helped advise Galderma on the right way to enter Roblox, whether to build a game within an existing world already peopled by players or to create a whole new world. The former just made more sense, said Val Vacante, SVP of solutions at Dentsu.
“A lot of brands don’t know that it costs a lot of money to build a net new world and to make people aware of the world,” she said.
Differin’s “Level Up Lobby” made it easier to reach gamers where they already were, and more than 200,000 people tried out the mini games, which generated 3 million visits overall. More importantly, though, Galderma was able to connect its marketing investments to sales. A total of 44,129 people earned power-ups in games by uploading a receipt after making a purchase.
“The results are nothing short of astounding from our side,” said Loftis, who believes the standout performance stem from two key factors. First, gaming is “white space,” she said, with an ad-light experience that makes it easier to stand out. Second, the approach was “authentic,” she added, and “isn’t done in a way that Gen Z would find suspicious.”
Also, unlike many other brands that attempt to enter the gaming space, Differin included a performance element in its campaign through the focus on receipts. “Every dollar we spend is measured and scrutinized against the conversion that comes from it,” Loftis said. As a marketing leader, she must show performance tied to company-wide KPIs.
But while the uploaded receipts proved an immediate impact on sales, the earned media results carry just as much weight, if not more, to Loftis.
“The marketing hill I’m willing to die on is that earned media drives connection and community,” she said, “and there is nothing more important than that.”
