Merz Aesthetics has tapped Gwyneth Paltrow as the global face of its anti-wrinkle injection Xeomin.
The company is also launching its first global marketing campaign for Xeomin with Paltrow. The effort emphasizes Xeomin’s “uniquely purified” state, compared to other anti-wrinkle injections.
That differentiator was what made Paltrow a Xeomin user for many years, said Bob Rhatigan, CEO of Merz.
“It came together in a serendipitous way,” Rhatigan said. “We had done research looking at Q scores and other metrics and attributes when you consider a spokesperson, and [Paltrow] rose to the top. When we contacted her, it serendipitously was the case that she had selected Xeomin as her neurotoxin treatment for a number of years. She had selected it based on our core point of differentiation: we have a uniquely purified neurotoxin that removes all the unnecessary proteins in the product, and we’re the only one in the market that has that.”
The campaign is Paltrow’s first medical aesthetics partnership. Merz is focused on reaching women in their 30s and 40s, which overlaps with Paltrow’s main follower base. This campaign is appearing only on social media and digital channels to best reach those audiences.
Rhatigan noted there has been a shift in the demographic for anti-wrinkle treatments in recent years, which is why the company is forgoing traditional broadcast and print advertising to focus on digital.
“Our market used to be comprised of people who are top of the bell curve, age 45 and older, but now it moved down to about age 40 with a lot more new entrants in their late 20s and early 30s,” Rhatigan said. “Our focus is going to be on the 30 to 40 women, and women specifically because they’re the prime users of our product Xeomin, making up about 90% of total usage. They are also a very big component of who is actively following [Paltrow] and her business, goop, on social media.”
On the launch day on Thursday, Paltrow appeared on two Instagram Live streams to talk about Xeomin: one with InStyle magazine’s editor-in-chief Lauren Brown on her personal profile and another on Paltrow’s personal Instagram that also featured her treating physician.
She will also appear on Xeomin collateral in doctor’s offices, like patient brochures and other in-office marketing materials. The digital and social campaign will run in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.
Paltrow’s prominence in the beauty and self-care industry was a big factor in choosing her for this campaign, along with her likeability and awareness in markets outside of the U.S.
The last reason was more “philosophical,” Rhatigan said.
“Our values as a company align with her values,” he explained. “She’s very much focused on helping educate and empower women to do what makes them feel their best, to not be apologetic about their self-care and not worry about stigmas associated with certain products or treatments. She’s focused on helping women live the most rich and fulfilling life they can. Our purpose is very aligned to that.”
