WHAT CAN PANTENE DO TO TRANSFORM THE SOCIETY THROUGH HAIR?

Deep-seated prejudice stands in the way especially when job-hunting. 87% of LGBTQ job-hunters hide their gender identity in job interviews, because 70% of them fear of discrimination and prejudice. For job hunters in general, a job interview is where they have to express themselves for their dream jobs, but for LGBTQ job hunters, it is where they have to hide their true selves. Pantene is the brand that believes in the power of great hair. Great hair propels women to step forward to express their true selves. Under an umbrella #HairWeGo, Pantene Japan has helped every Japanese woman dare to be true to themselves. As the brand that celebrates difference and identity, what can Pantene do to change the job-hunting scene in Japan? Transforming it to a place where everyone is free to express their true self, through their hair.

#PRIDEHAIR – A CALL OUT FROM TRANSGENDER EX-JOB HUNTERS AS FIRST-EVER ROLE MODELS. Pantene introduced two transgender ex-job hunters, who called out to the next generation of job-hunters. “Male or Female, which should I do my job-hunting as?” – while most job-hunters worried about their career path, they had to worry about their gender. Sharing their unimaginable struggles and the experiences they overcame that only they would know. These first-ever role model stories gave LGBTQ and even non-LGBTQ job-hunters the courage and pride to express their true selves and let the hair stand out where blending in is the norm.

IT’S PERSONAL STORIES, NOT DATA

What can we do to make society care? We met two former job-hunters. One is a trans man who, after a year of wondering whether he should job-hunt as a man or a woman, did job-hunting as a woman with ponytail. The other was a trans woman who was true to her gender in job-hunting with her long hair. Their true stories would inspire both companies, next generation LGBTQ job-hunters, and everyone who want to be “myself”.

THEIR VOICES REACHED NATIONWIDE AND BECAME A MOVEMENT

Pantene #PrideHair was launched nationwide through TVC and YouTube video as well as newspaper ad, social posts, OOH, cinema ad. Furthermore, to ensure the movement changed society beyond just a piece of one-off content, Pantene launched the “#PrideHair Salon” project with an aim to increase LGBTQ-friendly hair salons. We’ve partnered with hair salons to create customer service guidelines and educated salons nationwide on LGBTQ awareness. So that now LGBTQ people from all over Japan are able to obtain a hairstyle that represents their true selves.

#PrideHair became a cultural phenomenon nationwide, was picked by 211 national media, earning over 1.3 billion media impressions.

With 3MM social media engagements, we ignited conversations on the fossilized Japanese job-hunting rules and the importance of expressing individuality through hairstyles.

It also changed the brand perception and elevated purchase and sales metrics;

• Brand Preference among viewers over-indexed by 45 points vs. control

• Purchase Intent among viewers over-indexed by 41 points vs. control

• Major Brand Equity scores among viewers over-indexed by 42 points (minimum) - 76 points (maximum) vs. control

Finally, Pantene reclaimed 1st place in the haircare category for the first time in 5 years in 2020.

But the most important accomplishment of this campaign was the elimination of the gender field from resumes. In 2021, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare officially announced that companies must remove the gender field from their resumes.