Mustela^® is Europe's leading premium priced skincare brand for baby, expectant women and new moms. In France, Mustela® products are available in 90% of all pharmacies and are used in more than half of all maternity units for the care of newborns. The company retained JGA to build awareness of the brand in the American market -- without a budget for celebrity endorsements.

Challenge

• Build consumer awareness of a little-known, specialized European skin care line in a market dominated by major competitors with substantial marketing budgets

Strategy

• Persuade expectant and new celebrity moms to use Mustela^® products on their babies and themselves
• Barter a generous quantity of Mustela^® products in exchange for product endorsements
• Use these endorsements to support the positioning that Mustela^® is the baby and new mom skincare brand of choice of celebrity moms

Execution

• Contacted talent agents and publicists representing targeted celebrities
• Offered a year's supply of Mustela^® products for each celebrity and for her baby shower, in exchange for a celebrity mom Tweet or endorsement quote
• Contacted celebrity gifting firms and offered to supply product at "inner circle," high-profile events

Results

• Generated product endorsements from Catherine Bell, Melissa Joan Hart, Padma Lakshmi, Victoria Recano, Molly Ringwald, Rebecca Romijn, Kimora Lee Simmons, Tori Spelling and Kendra Wilkinson, among others
• Formed alliances with celebrity gifting firms, resulting in product placement in ABC-TV's Dancing with the Stars Premiere Party, The Bachelor Pad Celebrity Gifting Suite, The Silver Spoon's pre-Oscar Celebrity Retreat, MTV Music Awards, Mother's Day in Hollywood Gifting Lounge, Tori Spelling's TV reality show on Oxygen, Tori & Dean, Tori Spelling's and Tiffani Theissen's baby showers and Denise Richards' Holiday party
• Raised awareness of the Mustela^® brand among affluent new mothers and mothers-to-be