Millennials are wrinkling, and skincare brand Perricone is here to help

Perricone MD also unveiled its first-ever major digital campaign on Instagram and Facebook last month, developed by agency Laundry Service. Called #IStartWith, the campaign features eight videos starring four Instagram stars, including Jodi Mockabee, Mary Lauren, Sai De Silva and Justin Liv. It highlighted the brand’s best-selling Cold Plasma anti-aging cream.

“Our objective was to build Perricone MD’s relevance with a new demographic of consumers without alienating the company’s core customer base,” said Nicole Gouveia, account manager at Laundry Service. “Working with influencers was the most effective way of engaging new audiences authentically, without creating any ripples within the existing Perricone fan base.”

Perricone MD, founded in 1997 by dermatologist Dr. Nicholas Perricone, is best known for its anti-aging products and has traditionally catered to a more mature audience. In recent years, the brand has been working to broaden its base by bringing millennials into the fold as it simultaneously tries to build some brand affinity for itself in an increasingly crowded space.

“The science and clinicals behind our products have been our credentials, but they’re not enough for consumers to pick us from among the range of choices they have today,” said Jessica Hanson, the brand’s chief marketing and sales officer. “We had to put consumers at the center of our messaging and speak to them through mediums they use.”

For the brand, digital is no longer an afterthought, said Hanson. It has increased its digital media spend by 65 percent in 2016, with plans to allocate over 80 percent of its media budget to digital in 2017. It has also grown its in-house digital team from three to 14 people, with key hires in CRM, data and product management and has also revamped its e-commerce website.

It’s not hard to see why. Sales in the high-end skincare industry reached $16 billion in 2015, with brands with a natural or clinical orientation making the largest share of prestige skin care sales, according to NPD. In particular, NPD found that millennial consumers are most likely to seek products with “doctor endorsements and natural ingredients.” Older consumers apparently just let it rip with whatever.

“While consumers today are more open to trying new things, it’s hard to get them to commit,” said Hanson. “We want to get top of mind consideration for consumers interested in health, lifestyle and well-being.”