GERMANY. Last week the Nivea brand (owned by Beiersdorf) celebrated its 100th birthday, onboard a specially-chartered “Blue Boat” which set sail from Hamburg, the birthplace of the brand.
The two-day event, which was attended not just by international media but by selected consumers too, constituted a special “skin journey” into Nivea’s past, present and future. There were around 1,000 guests onboard, from 50 different countries.
Through an extensive programme of events including multimedia exhibitions, presentations, interactive installations and spa treatments, Beiersdorf presented the milestones and science behind the Nivea brand.
The celebrations kicked off with an exclusive onboard concert featuring singing superstar Rihanna, who will play a key role in Nivea’s new digital activation programme. Guests were then treated to a commemorative Gala Dinner.
“We’ve transformed an entire cruise ship into a blue Nivea experience world for our centennial celebration,” noted Beiersdorf CEO Thomas-B. Quaas. “It makes the brand come alive, showcasing Nivea’s development from the first ever creme tin to the world’s largest skin care brand.”
In his welcome speech, Markus Pinger, Beiersdorf Board Member responsible for brands, singled out two groups of people. “To all our consumers from around the world, we are privileged to have you,” he declared. “We are very pleased to share this moment with you, because you are the ones who have helped to make Nivea so successful”¦Without your loyalty to the brand, Nivea wouldn’t have become the biggest skincare brand in the world. Thank you for your support, and for being here today.”
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Ilka Schütte explains why Nivea is the ideal Heinemann’s Choice at Hamburg |
Pinger continued: “I would also like to thank all the journalists here who have supported the brand. It’s important we celebrate this event with you too, and I welcome you all.”
During its centenary cruise, Beiersdorf revealed details of its new global campaign, “100 Years Skincare for Life”, which was launched on 15 May. The billion-euro campaign is the brand’s biggest ever, and incorporates extensive cross-media digital activities in a bid to attract new consumers to Nivea. Rihanna’s song, California King Bed, features in the advertising.
A popular onboard draw was a unique historical exhibition featuring personal letters and photos from consumers, showing how Nivea plays a big part in everyday lives around the world. The exhibition centrepiece was a large touch-screen sphere which enabled guests to interactively discover various elements of Nivea’s history.
In the Research & Development exhibition, Nivea scientists used state-of-the-art equipment to measure eye wrinkle depth and to perform skin typing tests, thereby allowing guests to discover their individual skin care needs. Morphing technology, which indicates what a person’s skin will look in the years ahead when exposed to different ageing factors, allowed the braver guests to catch a glimpse of their possible future reflections.
Lastly, Nivea underlined its corporate social responsibility credentials, by presenting its partnership with children’s aid organisation Plan International. An exhibition documented joint projects and initiatives that give socially-disadvantaged children the opportunity of a better future through education. German national football team trainer Joachim Löw – a supporter of this partnership – was among the onboard guests.
A new long-term project in Guatemala has been initiated this year, in conjunction with Nivea’s anniversary activities. It aims to improve education by building and equipping schools, and providing teacher training, in the Alta Verapaz region. A special edition tin of Nivea Creme will be launched in October; 15 cents from every tin sold will be donated to the project.
Moreover, Nivea pledged to donate €5 to a project in Ecuador for every “Your Smile for Ecuador” photograph that cruise guests onboard had taken.
Campaigning for the future Beiersdorf is looking to further expand Nivea’s presence in the next 100 years, by taking advantage of its centenary to “realign” the brand via an extensive global campaign “100 Years Skincare for Life”. The campaign – Nivea’s biggest ever – went live on 15 May. It is centred around the values that have been associated with Nivea for generations: namely trust, honesty, reliability, quality and family. A selection of visuals, each underlining the importance of skin, will feature heavily. Each shot aims to capture moments of closeness between people of different ages, gender and nationality. “We know that people only feel comfortable in their skin if they are happy about the way they look,” explained Pinger. “According to a [recent] study, that is currently only around 10% of all women worldwide. This knowledge was one of the main factors in our decision to make skin the focus of our campaign.” Pinger revealed that Nivea’s marketing budget for 2011 is somewhere in the region of €1 billion; around 70% of this is being invested in the new campaign. Singing superstar Rihanna, who performed onboard the Nivea birthday Blue Boat, is to play a key role in the new anniversary campaign. Her song, California King Bed, will feature internationally, and consumers will have the opportunity to win Rihanna concert tickets through various media, on the Nivea website and at retail outlets. In addition, Nivea products purchased during certain POS promotions in over 40 countries will contain online codes that can be redeemed against exclusive Rihanna downloads (music, wallpaper and photos) on the Nivea website. Social network sites such as Facebook and YouTube will be harnessed to mobilise Rihanna’s vast fan community. Around 10% of the campaign budget has been dedicated to digital activities. All local Nivea websites are being adapted to echo the campaign’s look and feel, and will include content about the brand’s history and skin care competence. In an innovative move, consumers can get close up to Rihanna on the Nivea website and official Nivea Facebook page, via an interactive tool that lets them integrate a photo of themselves into a Rihanna video. In addition, Nivea is sponsoring Rihanna’s Loud tour of the US and Europe and will organise a range of activities to correspond with gigs. A Nivea tour bus will give fans the chance to trial Nivea products, while a local blogger will accompany the tour and deliver regular blog updates. During the year, it is hoped that the campaign activities on Nivea websites will generate some 120 million messages and communications on the subject of Nivea and Rihanna via social media platforms. Additional activities in Nivea’s own digital channels on the web include attention-grabbing advertising banners that encourage consumers to interact and put them in direct contact with the brand. The digital campaign will be flanked by a multi-level Nivea TV and print campaign that will focus initially on the famous blue tin of Nivea Creme, followed by a campaign featuring the key product lines, Visage, Body and Deo. All campaigns will be supported internationally by posters and billboards. |
Nivea and Hamburg celebrate double centenary with innovative Heinemann’s Choice promotion |
Talking travel retail
At last October’s TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes, Beiersdorf unveiled the new travel retail strategy for its Nivea brand, following the creation earlier last year of the Beiersdorf Global Travel Retail Division, located in Switzerland and headed by Ilka Schütte. The brand’s European roll-out is being conducted in partnership with Gebr Heinemann.
Schütte explained that strategy in greater detail, in an interview with The Moodie Report which was published in the January/February 2011 Digital Print Edition. Onboard the Nivea Blue Boat, she gave an update on progress to date, plus an overview of the brand’s centenary activities.
“We wanted to celebrate this important birthday with the people who made it happen, that is, with consumers from everywhere in the world,” Schütte notes. “That’s why we decided to have one big joint party, where everybody could be together.
“Hamburg, where everything started 100 years ago, was obviously the best place to begin. The idea of the boat and the Skin Journey reflects the fact that Nivea has been on a journey for 100 years, and that we want to continue that journey together.”
She adds: “This event naturally reviews what has happened in the past, but also looks ahead at what will happen in the future. The onboard programme of events offers a nice balance between what has been already and what is still to come.”
Sustained international travel retail expansion is most definitely a key element of Nivea’s growth strategy. “It’s important to educate travellers, and let them know that Nivea is now available [in the channel],” acknowledges Schütte. “Previously, lots of passengers avoided the beauty section, because only selective, luxury brands were available. So they shopped in other categories, in confectionery or liquor perhaps, where there are more products to suit all pockets.
“That group of people is a nice target for us, and represents an opportunity to develop cosmetics in general. But the Nivea brand has to jump out at them, because nobody yet expects it or is searching for it.”
With around 500 skus available in domestic markets, the Nivea portfolio is vast, and Schütte admits that appropriate editing is vital. “You have to make it easy for the consumer,” she says. “Our objective in travel retail is to carry only best-sellers; items that specifically answer travel retail needs; or products which surprise them.”
Discovering more about Nivea’s past, present and future onboard the birthday Blue Boat |
At Cannes, Schütte pledged that the brand’s travel retail representation would be a work in progress. Has it been necessary to make many changes to date?
“We have found that certain products are turning like crazy in certain locations, while others are not so strong, but that’s quite normal,” she replies. “Above all, we need to understand our passenger profile, and work from that data.
“One of the best examples of this is at Dubai Duty Free, where we are present in three terminals. But what sells well in T1 won’t necessarily sell well in T2 or T3. You need a lot of analytic patience to look at the figures together with the operator and use them as a benchmark. What we learn in Dubai can also be used in different airports in the region so we don’t always have to reinvent the wheel.”
Schütte maintains that Nivea’s business in the Middle East, a key region for the brand, has been unaffected by the recent political turmoil. “It’s surprisingly still very good,” she confirms. “We are doing much better than last year”¦with double-digit growth in all areas. I expected to see some effects, but so far luckily we don’t.
“Europe is also quite good; certain locations, such as Frankfurt, are amazing. The Scandinavian airports are developing well, and through Heinemann we have some nice deals coming up with certain ferry lines. Heinemann recently won a tender for MSC Cruises, so Nivea is also on 11 MSC ships now.”
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Nivea’s high-impact centenary promotion at Hamburg Airport |
While it’s obvious the Nivea-Heinemann partnership remains rock solid, Beiersdorf is nonetheless keeping a sharp eye out for other potential travel retail partners. “We have recently begun working with the Nuance Group,” Schütte reveals. “We will begin in key locations such as Zürich and Stockholm; learn from those locations and then progress step by step.”
She adds: “We are in discussions with two other major partners”¦and elsewhere we recently opened Pakistan and Syria. But we remain equally committed to building up the business in our current locations. It’s not just about running after new customers.”
Nivea has yet to fully explore the inflight sector, however. “We are onboard some smaller carriers, such as Norwegian Air, which are serviced by Heinemann,” Schütte explains, “but this is not really big business. Issues such as high listing fees and limited space do not make inflight profitable for us at this point. And we do not intend to start any business unless we manage to make it profitable in a sustainable way, both for us and our retail partners.”
On the product front, Nivea’s new Pure & Natural collection has begun to roll out in travel retail. As its name suggests, the line is made almost entirely from natural ingredients, and is free from parabens, silicones, colorants and mineral oils. The brand will present its key launches for 2012 at this September’s TFWA World Exhibition.
Schütte concludes: “We want to balance history and tradition with quality and innovation. Importantly, we want to make that innovation affordable and available to millions of people all over the world.
“We want to be known for our accessibility, in terms of product, packaging and not least communication. That’s a real challenge. There are all different types of consumers from many different countries onboard this Blue Boat, and they all have different expectations. Yet each and every one is a Nivea fan, because the brand has found a distinctive way to connect with all of them. We have to keep on doing that.”
Promoting the Heinemann partnership
In line with its strategy to grow the Nivea brand’s travel retail presence worldwide, Beiersdorf is celebrating Nivea’s 100th birthday with a special six-week Heinemann’s Choice promotional event at Hamburg Airport, which also marks its centenary this year.
Together with Heinemann Duty Free, the brand has created a dedicated promotional area within the main cosmetics area, which features several special items, including an Airport Exclusive that is only available at Heinemann travel retail locations. The set contains six x 150ml birthday limited-editions of Nivea’s iconic Creme, presented in a special version of the brand’s famous blue tin. It retails at €12.50.
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A selection of limited-edition, Gebr Heinemann exclusives constitutes a key element of the Hamburg product offer |
In addition, passengers who spend at least €20 on Nivea products are eligible to receive a limited-edition gwp of Nivea Creme packaged in a tin decorated with an image of singing superstar Rihanna, who will feature in the brand’s new advertising campaign. Just 1,500 tins have been created exclusively for Hamburg travellers, in addition to the original 1,000 which were created as gifts for the Nivea Blue Boat guests.
Under the lids of the special Rihanna tins customers will find a code which allows them to download Rihanna’s new song California King Bed (which is being used in the new Nivea campaign) free of charge from iTunes.
An alternative gwp for the €20 qualifying spend is a super-size limited-edition Nivea gift tin that can be used to store other products.
The promotion also features a Consultancy Centre, which allows Nivea to analyse travellers’ skin, and tailor product recommendations to suit them.
Gebr Heinemann Head of Activity Management Perfume/Cosmetics Katja Diehr praised the event, which went live on 3 May. “It’s performing very well,” she told The Moodie Report. “The offer includes entry price point single skus, but also a lot of sets, which help bring up the basket. And the travel retail exclusive offer is really relevant, which is helping to drive sales.”
Diehr singled out a travel-friendly set of three x 50ml shaving gels from the Nivea for Men collection, and also the new Pure & Natural range, as strong performers to date. She also highlighted the Consultancy Centre. “Nivea in particular is a brand known for skincare,” she explained, “so this element makes perfect sense. Where possible we are committed to more consultation in general; it’s an important part of the service we offer.”
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The Hamburg promotion includes a consultancy centre where travellers can get their skin analysed |
