By Terri Stevenson, Community Manager
A few years ago, I tried to do the adult thing and unfollow companies on Instagram that made me want to buy things. It was a sad goodbye to ASOS, Cult Beauty, Topshop (RIP – that one stung). Small businesses were allowed to stay but only a few bigger brands made the cut. Summer Fridays was one of them.
A skincare lover’s dream, the LA-based company launched with just their Jet Lag Mask six years ago (a bold and rare move in the beauty world) as ‘the ultimate multi-tasking product for busy lives’. Since then, the brand has built itself on the idea of simplicity and community. Given the founders are both influencers, a community and digital-first approach to their marketing goes hand in hand with who they are and has clearly done well for them, considering the loyal followers they’ve cultivated over the years.
Being more east-coast Scotland than west-coast California, I don’t think I’m quite the target audience, but I’ve always been drawn to their online storytelling and social content. Their pop-up events at local hot spots with matching merch, the brand collabs, the design, I think is something that can’t be missed, and the latest activation from their creative team blew me away.
To mark both the beginning of the summer travel season and the launch of a new product, the lead up to the campaign saw Summer Friday’s social posts feature snapshots of travel flat lays in airport security trays, an influencer content staple and something the brand does often. It was sky blue everywhere, just like the products.
What followed was a perfectly coordinated OOH campaign of billboards at LAX’s busiest terminal alongside Summer Fridays branded security trays… The perfect backdrop for those Insta snaps of holiday essentials. Placing a brand built for travel within an airport isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but overtaking an otherwise tired airport essential with brand sponsorship prime for the kind of content your audience lives to capture? That’s marketing genius to me.
This campaign just gets it in the simplest of ways. To me this is the epitome of knowing your audience; of a brand genuinely tapped into who they are and how people engage with their products online.
In an industry drowning in products and launches, cutting through noise becomes increasingly difficult, but brands that listen are doing themselves the biggest favours. Nurture your community and the work almost does itself.
And if you follow them on Instagram you’ll already know they’re running a campaign across London as we speak. I need to book flights immediately.
