How CeraVe got influencers to launch its hair care line—and why it opted for ‘SNL’ over the Super Bowl

When images of influencer Charli D’Amelio and NBA star Anthony Davis toting tubs of CeraVe lotion and applying it to their scalps started circulating social media last week, many assumed the CeraVe-sponsored posts were teasing a Super Bowl campaign from the skincare brand. After all, CeraVe had partnered with hundreds of influencers last year to generate buzz about Michael Cera’s potential connection to the skincare brand in the weeks leading up to its first Super Bowl spot. But the slew of social posts theorizing about why D’Amelio and Davis were dabbing lotion on their heads weren’t hinting at CeraVe’s return to the Super Bowl. They’re part of CeraVe’s latest influencer campaign, which hijacked the yearly speculation around which brands will have commercials in the Big Game to promote its recent push into the hair care market. @hannahkosh Charli is doing whaaaat with @CeraVe? #CeraVePartner ♬ original sound - Hannah CeraVe quietly rolled out a line of hair care products in November that includes anti-dandruff shampoo and conditioner and non-medicated, “gentle hydrating” shampoo and conditioner. The brand purposely timed its first awareness campaign around its hair care line to the Super Bowl to “start the speculation that we would show up there,” Kelly Buchanan Spillers, CeraVe’s global head of digital and social, told Ad Age. “Frankly, that was part of the strategy,” she said. “We never intended on going to the Super Bowl this year, but we certainly wanted people to look for us, which is exactly what happened.” Also read: Creator and influencer trends—Super Bowl edition The brand kicked off its “Head of CeraVe” campaign last week by partnering with dozens of sports fans, pop culture enthusiasts and other creators to spread staged photos and videos of D’Amelio and Davis carrying around CeraVe lotion and applying some to the tops of their heads. CeraVe got celebrity gossip account Deuxmoi to circulate photos of D’Amelio, for instance, while Hooper, an Instagram account focused on basketball culture, posted pictures of Davis lugging a giant tub of CeraVe shaped like a sports water cooler from the locker room to his car. View this post on Instagram A post shared by HOOPER (@hooper) D’Amelio, who is currently performing in the Broadway show “& Juliet,” also shared a sponsored video of her preshow ritual, including an ominous visit to a “scalp shrine” in her closet and her dabbing lotion down the part in her hair. @charlidamelio my pre-show routine ☕️🧘🏻♀️🕯#CeraVePartner @CeraVe ♬ original sound - charli d’amelio After letting the rumors simmer on social media for roughly a week, CeraVe today rolled out the second phase of its influencer push and revealed Davis and D’Amelio as two of its new “Heads of CeraVe,” or ambassadors for its hair care products. Also, Paige Bueckers, a star player on the University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team was announced as a third “Head of CeraVe.” All three struggle with scalp irritation or dandruff, Spillers said. “Dermatologists know that hair care is skin care, but most consumers don’t know that your scalp is also skin, or they don’t think of it that way,” she said. “We’re trying to break the taboo of talking about dandruff and [emphasize] that it’s something that’s extraordinarily common. People like [Davis] have it, and people on the internet talk about it all the time.” Roughly one in five Americans have dandruff, but only 40% of those dandruff sufferers seek treatment for the condition, according to CeraVe’s press release about the campaign. The idea of having Davis and D’Amelio apply lotion to their scalps stemmed from Reddit discussions where dandruff sufferers recommended CeraVe’s moisturizing cream as a solution for irritated scalps or dandruff, Spillers said. CeraVe’s influencer campaign also involves several of its dermatologist partners posting videos responding to the images of Davis and D’Amelio, acknowledging that they have “the right idea” but presenting CeraVe’s new shampoos and conditioners as a “better solution,” she added. A phased approach Like its “Michael CeraVe” campaign, CeraVe’s latest influencer push leverages a multistage strategy that involves fueling speculation with the help of content creators, bringing in dermatologists to educate consumers about CeraVe products and ultimately revealing to consumers that the influencer content was all part of the brand’s marketing (if the #CeraVePartner hashtag across those posts didn’t already make that clear). Last year, that phased influencer strategy generated more than 30 billion media impressions for CeraVe with its “Michael CeraVe” campaign and a 25% spike in sales in the week following the Super Bowl, according to the brand. WPP Onefluence, led by Ogilvy PR North America, worked with CeraVe to execute that campaign and is also behind the “Head of CeraVe” campaign. CeraVe also partnered with production company 1stAveMachine on the new campaign. “The multi-phase strategy allows us to immerse (consumers) more fully in the story we’re building,” said Samira Ansari, chief creative officer of Ogilvy New York. “Influencers offer the ultimate way to do that … because they already know how to bring people along for a ride.” An Ogilvy PR spokesperson declined to share specific data about the impressions, engagements or other metrics that the “Head of CeraVe” campaign amassed during its first week, only indicating the campaign had “generated millions of organic views and engagements.” She pointed to a TikTok video from sports creator @AllHailBBall (whose first name is Cullen) with 2.8 million views and more than 212,000 engagements and an organic post on X, formerly Twitter, that racked up 3.7 million views and nearly 100,000 engagements as examples. dude 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/ApTGCBgQSJ— revive (@ReviveMarc) February 6, 2025 From the three hero influencers (Davis, D’Amelio and Bueckers) to sports and pop culture creators and dermatologists, CeraVe partnered with 70 total influencers across the campaign, Spillers said. Davis, D’Amelio and Bueckers are set to share social content over the next few days about their new roles as Heads of CeraVe, she said. For example, Davis will post a mockumentary-style video explaining that he was selected for the position because his height allows him to easily see other people’s scalps, and D’Amelio will share a video of herself modeling a dress made out of synthetic hair designed by fashion creator Joe Ando. Davis and Bueckers will also unveil “bottleheads,” or miniature heads modeled after them that can be fitted onto CeraVe’s shampoo and conditioner bottles. The bottleheads won’t be available for purchase, but CeraVe will distribute a limited number of them to consumers, the brand said. Both basketball players will also change their social media profile pictures to selfies taken with the iPhone’s 0.5 wide-angle camera that focus on the tops of their heads. Those selfies will kick off the third phase of CeraVe’s campaign—a search for additional Heads of CeraVe. Consumers can enter a sweepstakes to become a Head of CeraVe by sharing their own 0.5 selfie on social media and talking about their own struggles with dandruff or scalp irritation. Ten winners will receive a year’s supply of CeraVe, while three grand prize winners will have the option to attend one of Davis or Beucker’s basketball games or one of D’Amelio’s Broadway performances. ‘Another cultural moment’ Additionally, CeraVe teamed up with “Saturday Night Live” on a sponsored skit promoting its shampoo and conditioner, which will premiere during SNL’s 50th anniversary concert on Friday. The commercial stars SNL cast members Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman and dermatologist influencer Dr. Dustin Portela as musicians in the fictional heavy metal band Naumôre Dandruf. Their vigorous headbanging sends flakes of dandruff flying and covers their guitars and other equipment until Portela chimes in and suggests that Yang and Sherman’s characters use CeraVe’s anti-dandruff products. “We knew that if anyone could make dandruff funny, it was SNL,” Spillers said. “And we also knew that in every single spot that we do, we want to feature a real dermatologist. And SNL was game for both of these things.” Several other brands, including T-Mobile and Allstate, have also partnered with SNL on sponsored skits in recent months as part of the show’s 50th season. With its SNL partnership, CeraVe is aiming to “make this hair care launch the most-talked-about launch in the U.S. this year,” Spillers added. “The most natural way to do that was to align ourselves with another cultural moment.” Follow us on social media X Bluesky Instagram LinkedIn YouTube

How CeraVe got influencers to launch its hair care line—and why it opted for ‘SNL’ over the Super Bowl

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