Cabaret Première mascara is an iconic product in the Vivienne Sabó portfolio, and at the same time – a strong independent sub-brand. For several years, this is the ?1 mascara in sales (both volume and value).

Business goal: to retain leadership position

Marketing goal: to prevent switching to competitors' products.

Communication task: to develop a non-standard visible campaign that will help the brand to break through the clutter of competitive communication even with small (compared to competitors) media investments.

We were inspired by the drag queen culture, where male artists perform in extravagant women's outfits with bright makeup. This culture is popular abroad, but in Russia only progressive media and bloggers have the courage to discuss it. Even international brands, whose freedom of expression is literally in their DNA, do not take risks in Russia.

Vivienne Sabó, together with the iconic Cabaret Première mascara, had enough courage to become the first brand activist in the beauty market. We decided to change the common standards on the way of self-expression and break the status quo.

Target audience: Girls 18-35. They love cosmetics, for them it is the way of self-expression. They are very positive about brands that have a strongly pronounced social position

For them YouTube – is a key social platform where all the social discussions take place. They know YouTube celebrities well and take them as the headliners of progressive ideas

So to make the story really engaging, we had to use proper influencers and content makers. Those were the Chicken Curry team with Alexander Gudkov and Cream Soda music band. These people are known for challenging accepted norms and bringing positive attitude towards different forms of expression in society.

Chosen celebrities are highly loved by the mass audience and at the same time - represent progressive, sometimes extraordinary ideas. It was important to choose them to convey such a provocative idea effectively and to get a warm response.

BRAND AND PRODUCT

Cabaret Première mascara is an iconic product in the Vivienne Sabó portfolio, and at the same time it's a strong independent sub-brand. For several years, it has been the ?1 mascara in sales (both volume and value).*

The competition on the mascara market is driven by product innovation, when brands are constantly launching new brushes and formulas. ?abaret mascara has been on the market for many years without any significant product innovations and it has become difficult to stay relevant to the audience. Thus the mascara faced the 2,8% awareness decrease.**

BACKGROUND

Beauty industry should inspire the freedom of expression. But in Russia, in fact, it mainly supports the judgmental sociocultural stereotypes of the good and the bad. Brands’ communication only adjusts people to clear standards and gives the installation of what is "good" and what should be condemned. All communication is cliched and none of the brands has a clearly articulated social position.***

At the same time, those who want to express themselves in an original manner, often face the negative reaction of the society. Anti LGBT laws, that were adopted in Russia, only complicated the situation and turned the society against those who express themselves any way, but traditionally. The non-standard expression is unofficially tabooed in Russia, and often those who go in this area – face the repressions.

IDEA

We were inspired by the drag queen culture, where male artists perform in extravagant women's outfits with bright makeup. This culture is popular abroad, but in Russia only progressive media and bloggers have the courage to discuss it. Even international brands, whose freedom of expression is literally in their DNA, do not take risks in Russia.

Vivienne Sabó, together with the iconic Cabaret Première mascara, had enough courage to become the first brand activist in the beauty market. We decided to change the common standards on the way of self-expression and break the status quo.

REALISATION

So, in collaboration with celebrities who are famous for challenging accepted norms (Alexander Gudkov, Cream Soda), Vivienne Sabó made a video manifesto about freedom of self-expression.

The music video manifesto was a core of the campaign. The creative team took inspiration from brands mission and put a new twist on meet-the-parents dinner situation. In the video clip, a male dancer appears in front of his girlfriend's family in his stage persona, using Cabaret mascara for a make-up.

The music video was promoted through social media and creative team accounts. The music track performed by Gudkov was placed on all the music platforms. The developed dance was also used in the popular Russian show "Dancing".

*Nielsen, decorative cosmetics market in the mascara category, 2020

**RosIndex, mascaras users, 2020

***Ipsos "Sustained development: consumers and brands in search of answers", 2019

The music video manifesto was a core of the campaign. The creative team took inspiration from brands mission and put a new twist on meet-the-parents dinner situation. In the video clip, a male dancer appears in front of his girlfriend's family in his stage persona, using Cabaret mascara for a make-up.

Surprisingly for the viewers, he gets the warm response from the family, which usually Is not so expected for such an extravagant and controversial appearance In Russia.

The music video was promoted through social media and creative team accounts. The music track performed by Gudkov was placed on all the music platforms, to provide an effective reach for the audience. The developed dance was also used in the popular show "Dancing", which also is known as a place where people can express their individuality.

1. The brave campaign which raised an important topic for Russian society, provoked a wide audience’s response and viewers supported the brand's bold position

• 400000 reactions on video (likes, comments, reposts)

• 13500 users’ posts with mentions of the brand and the video

• 16 million users from viral effect

• 71% earned media

2. The campaign wasn't ignored even by the media. We got publications on platforms where people usually don't find articles about advertising – Lenta, Rain.

3. We got the flurry of positive reaction from users. The audience fiercely supported not just the brand or advertising story, but the very concept of freedom of expression.

4. Such a bright brand statement and the courage of going against the conventional norms proved its effectiveness also for the business

• Sales increase +11.7% in volume on stagnant (September) and falling (October) market

• Awareness growth by 1p.p. (7%)