The Moodie Davitt Report was on location last week in Aarhus, Denmark to learn about Biotherm’s latest sailing project and its related Water Lovers mission to protect the world’s oceans.
Biotherm, part of L’Oréal Groupe, has joined The Ocean Race with the Biotherm IMOCA sailing boat. The race, which will soon enter its sixth leg, involves five sailing boats on a race around the world. It is described as the ultimate test for teamwork, endurance and sailing prowess.
The Biotherm IMOCA sailing crew is led by renowned French sailor and navigator Paul Meilhat and comprises a diverse, international assembly of six men and four women including one paralympic athlete.
The Ocean Race started in Alicante, Spain on 15 January and will conclude in Genova, Italy next month. It is visiting multiple cities throughout a six-month period: Alicante, Cabo Verde, Cape Town, Itajaí, Newport, Aarhus, Kiel, The Hague and Genova.
Notably, this year’s race features the longest single leg in the event’s 50-year history, a 12,750 nautical mile, one-month marathon from South Africa to Brazil.
Biotherm’s Water Lovers commitment is made up of three pillars. These are producing responsible bioscience formulations, creating sustainable packaging and design solutions, and taking action to drive ocean conservation.
The brand has partnered with scientific NGO Tara Ocean Foundation to place an automated plankton microscope — called the Imaging FlowCytobot (IFCB) — aboard the Biotherm IMOCA for the Ocean Race.
The device takes high-resolution images of microscopic particles such as phytoplankton in aquatic environments.
The IFCB also takes small water samples in understudied parts of the ocean. These harvest crucial data on microscopic marine life that will fuel Tara’s ongoing research efforts towards understanding the health of our oceans.
Ahead of the Aarhus leg, Biotherm unveiled a special Biotherm dome in Aarhus port where it welcomed travel retail media and retailers for a two-day Biotherm Water Lovers immersion.
The event included a tour of the Ocean Race village, a visit to the city of Aarhus’ Sustainability Island and a tour of the Tara Ocean Foundation Sailing Boat. Guests also had the opportunity to meet The Ocean Race Technical Director Neil Cox and Tara Ocean Foundation Chairman Richard Brisius.
At the Biotherm dome, guests discovered Biotherm’s history and latest products and learned of its recent partnership with The Ocean Race and the Tara Ocean Foundation.
Biotherm International Communications Director Carole Pasco-Domergue commented: “Sustainability is a trendy topic for many brands, but Biotherm has always been a pioneer of ocean protection. We have been Water Lovers for more than ten years. We’ve been working hard to ensure that all of our bioscience formulas are really respectful of aquatic life.” In two years, 100% of Biotherm formulas will have acheived that status, she noted.
Since 2012, Biotherm has partnered with several ocean non-profit organisations including Mission Blue, Tara Ocean Foundation, Surfrider Foundation and Institute Oceanographique to help preserve oceans all over the world.
Biotherm’s Water Lovers programme has been supporting Tara Ocean Foundation’s critical research on the impact of climate and ecological changes in the ocean since 2017.
The Biotherm Summer Takeover
Its latest partnership with Ocean Race and Tara Ocean Foundation will be supported by high-profile activations in European travel retail over coming months.
The Biotherm Summer Takeover campaign will run in Oslo, Copenhagen, Paris, Brussels, Munich, Stockholm and Barcelona airports throughout the summer.
Biotherm will also feature impulse spaces and outposts in ferries and other key European travel retail locations.
The Biotherm Summer Takeover campaign will capitalise on the Biotherm IMOCA boat, highlight the brand’s Water Lover commitments and its sailing partnership with Ocean Race and Tara Ocean Foundation.
It will showcase best-selling lines from Biotherm including products from its sun protection, skincare and men’s grooming sub-categories.
To support the campaign, Biotherm is running an in-airport ooh media takeover in Oslo, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Paris, Lisbon, Athens and Istanbul airports. It is also hosting an in-airport event for World Ocean Day (8 June).
All this is supported by influencer activities as part of a wider digital/social media campaign that will drive pre-flight engagement and traffic in-store.
“We will continue to leverage the awareness of Biotherm,” commented Biotherm TREMEAI General Manager Flavien de Paillerets.
“These beautiful activations will promote our Water Lover commitments while putting the focus on our beautiful Biotherm IMOCA boat. This is important as it connects travellers with our brand commitments in an engaging way. Through this takeover, we are inviting customers to embark on a Water Lovers journey and go on a beautiful sailing adventure for the oceans this summer.”
Founded 70 years ago, Biotherm is a brand centred around the discovery of ‘Life Plankton’ which doubles the efficacy of skin-boosting ingredients like retinoids and ceramides. All Biotherm products have incredible regenerative products, which are all linked to water.
Offering a view on Biotherm and L’Oréal Travel Retail’s wider sustainability targets, L’Oréal Travel Retail Global Communications and Engagement Director Bige Mercan added: “At travel retail, we have ambitious targets. We are focused on decreasing our CO2 emissions, optimising our packaging and offering travellers more and more sustainable alternatives.
“We’re enhancing on our solidarity sourcing programme to create more job opportunities for people and communities who come from disadvantaged backgrounds around the world. We’re not just providing the best products for all travellers but also making them responsibly.” ✈
