SheaMoisture launches second phase of its #BreakTheWalls campaign

AMITYVILLE, N.Y. — Leading skin care brand SheaMoisture is building on its successful #BreakTheWalls national awareness platform by launching a new phase of the campaign that highlights the divisive constructs of beauty.

This time, the brand is launching a direct challenge to the beauty industry’s concept of standardized ideals by posing the short, yet powerful, question – “What’s Normal?” This phase includes a complete suite of assets designed to collectively support the effort across all media platforms and on-the-ground activations.

The elements include a 60-second short film; a 30-second spot; a first-to-market custom hair recognition tool (amillionwaystoshea.com); digital and social assets; and behind-the-scenes and interview footage that capture perspectives on what is considered normal in beauty.

"With SheaMoisture’s launch of #BreakTheWalls earlier this year, we furthered our 25-year mission to spark meaningful conversation and action towards true inclusion and a more empathetic mindset in the beauty industry and our society, which includes bringing down both literal and metaphoric walls,” said Richelieu Dennis, founder and CEO of Sundial Brands. “With our first iteration, we showed the physical walls coming down. With ‘What’s Normal?’ we are confronting the mental walls that encourage us to force-fit ourselves and others into falsely constructed beauty and ‘good hair’ ideals. By questioning the very concept of a normal standard, especially as it applies to beauty and to hair type or texture, we can begin to see how arbitrary, narrow and potentially destructive it is and course-correct ourselves on a path to where everybody gets love. Our forward track must focus on including everyone, embracing everyone, and celebrating the beauty – and normalcy - of everyone’s differences.”

As part of SheaMoisture's commitment to addressing women’s lifestyle needs wherever they are, the brand has also invested in the technology to build its first hair recognition tool of its kind on the market. The “Good Hair Day” tool provides each SheaMoisture community member and visitor the benefit of anytime, “at-a-click” personalized recommendations to easily match their hair need with a specific product and quickly navigate the vast hair offerings to find their “way to Shea.”

Specifically, the tool delivers individual product recommendations to each user based on their hair type, style, condition and goals. Once a user uploads a photograph or selfie on the site, it uses an innovative hair recognition technology that automatically identifies the user's hair type and/or style. Through a brief 3-step process, the tool then matches the user with a custom hair care regimen tailored to her specific hair needs around maintenance (cleansing/conditioning); treatment (restoring/renewing); and styling (shaping/finishing).

The “What’s Normal?” campaign and new tool continue to reinforce SheaMoisture’s focus on what it has coined as the New General Market, which is defined by inclusion and commonalities via need states. The New General Market approach ensures that all consumers, especially those who have been traditionally underserved, have an enhanced experience of accessibility, choice and inclusion according to their needs, not traditional segmentation. SheaMoisture has partnered with retailers, as well as other CPG and consumer companies, to lead the introduction of this problem-solution approach to the industry and impact the way they engage with their customers in a more meaningful way.

“One of the most exciting and humbling aspects for us during the creation of ‘What’s Normal?’ was the continued chorus of courageous, confident, defiant and self-accepting women who shared their stories, their insecurities and their triumphs with us,” said Dennis. “They were so deeply poignant that we were compelled to again develop the script for the film using a compilation of soundbites taken from our cast members’ interviews. So, we are still telling her story through her eyes and with her voice – and nothing is more powerful.”