CeraVe’s Super Bowl teaser push from Ogilvy PR wins Social and Influencer Grand Prix

CeraVe’s influencer-centric campaign to generate buzz around Michael Cera’s involvement in its first Super Bowl ad, by spreading gossip about Cera’s possible role in the founding and naming of CeraVe, won the Social and Influencer Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Wednesday. Ogilvy PR’s “Michael CeraVe” campaign got more than 450 content creators to fuel speculation around Cera’s potential involvement with the brand in the three weeks leading up to CeraVe’s Big Game TV commercial. Cannes Lions coverage See all of the Grand Prix winners here Top 5 Grand Prix campaigns CeraVe and Ogilvy PR tasked the fleet of influencers with playing different roles in the elaborate social media prank. Haley Kalil, for instance, kicked off the influencer push with a TikTok of her encountering Cera scrawling his name on bottles of CeraVe lotion at a Brooklyn, New York pharmacy, while podcaster Bobbi Althoff grilled Cera on whether he was truly behind the skin care brand. @bobbialthoff Such a fun time with Michael Cera. Can’t wait to do it again! @CeraVe #ceravepartner #michaelcerave ♬ original sound - Bobbi CeraVe also mailed PR packages designed to look like they were assembled by Cera himself to roughly 400 influencers—many of whom weren’t informed that the package was part of the brand’s Super Bowl campaign. @lukasbattle Michael Cera you are the most important Michael in my life @CeraVe #giftedbymichaelcerave #ceravepartner ♬ original sound - Lukas Battle The influencer campaign garnered 15.4 billion impressions before the Super Bowl spot had even aired and drove a 2,200% increase in internet searches for the brand, according to Ogilvy PR. “This was less about us briefing someone and saying ‘You have to do this a certain way,’” Adam Kornblum, senior VP and global head of digital marketing for CeraVe, told Ad Age. “Instead, we said, ‘Here’s the story we’re looking to tell. You are famous for what you do, because you’re great at what you do, and we want you to do that here.’ CeraVe is definitely an important part of the story, but how that story is told is really through the influencers and in their voice.” Gold winners Several of the gold winners in the Social and Influencer category also leaned into pop culture moments amplified by social media creators. Heinz and Rethink Toronto’s “Heinz Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch” transformed a post on X (formerly Twitter) about Taylor Swift’s meal at a Kansas City Chiefs game into the launch of a limited-edition sauce rolled out on Heinz’s social channels. Mojo Supermarket’s “Yes, Couch!” campaign for Facebook Marketplace offered up a couch on the platform that “The Bear” star Jeremy Allen White lounged on during his buzzy shoot for a Calvin Klein campaign. Other Gold Lions winners in the Social and Influencer category include:

CeraVe’s Super Bowl teaser push from Ogilvy PR wins Social and Influencer Grand Prix

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