Breaking Age Stereotypes: L'Oreal's New Influencer Program Celebrates the 'Silver Generation’
It’s about time the influencer landscape had a shakeup. I don’t know about you but, but I’m tired of seeing filtered (and filler’ed) influencers promoting unrealistic beauty standards across Instagram, TikTok and beyond.
I’m also tired of feeling like social media isn’t even trying to be representative of the community. Maybe the algorithm is to blame, maybe beauty brands aren’t doing enough, either way this can’t go on. Give me wrinkles, give me real life and give me more people that aren’t fighting the inevitable ageing process (because I certainly can’t afford to.) Thankfully L’Oreal appears to have stepped up to the challenge of reinventing what it means to be an influencer.
Earlier this year, the beauty heavyweight partnered with the influencer marketing agency, Billion Dollar Boy, in order to work with ten influencers that champion the “silver generation” -- those over the age of 45. L’Oreal’s mission was to promote inclusivity within our beauty industry by proving that beauty doesn’t come with an upper age-limit. So what’s this all about and what’s next for L’Oreal’s initiative?
Celebrating beauty without the ageist stereotypes
In January 2023, L’oreal Paris confirmed the launch of the new campaign which centered around beauty at all ages. To coincide with the launch of the brand’s Age Perfect Rosy Oil-Serum, L’Oreal partnered with ten influencers between the ages of 45 and 84 years old to promote the product on social media. With a focus on the Nordic market and consumers in Norway, Denmark, Finland and Switzerland, this was the first time that the L’Oreal Paris brand in this region had focused on a mature audience.
Speaking about the campaign’s goals, the brand’s Nordic Social Lead Gabriella Ostrenius, said: “Many anti-aging brands promote the message or the narrative that women when they get older, want to eliminate the trace of their wrinkles. But, with this release, we want to celebrate the courage, positive attitude, confidence, and self-esteem of our consumers with themselves, regardless of their age.
This approach certainly paid off. Suzanne Stal, the Business Director of the agency working with L’Oreal highlighted the success of the project when she said: “To date, we have reached over 1.2 million people, exceeding our KPI by 450%, delivering almost 4 million impressions and achieving an engagement rate of 2.5%.” But, what was it about targeting a mature audience that made this campaign so successful?
Embracing the grace of growing old
The idea of celebrating graceful ageing and the beauty within that was the right move for L’Oreal. It also aligned strongly with the brand’s wider commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Not only were they championing a form of beauty that celebrates the natural ageing process, but they also tapped into an audience that has been largely neglected on social media.
For many companies, trying to connect with Gen Z and Millenials through influencers that resonate with that audience has been a priority over the last few years. And, influencer marketing has turned into a billion dollar industry according to the latest research. Despite this, Generation X is actually the fastest growing demographic that is joining social media apps like Instagram.
While their numbers will probably never match that of younger generations leveraging TikTok, the number of older social media users is rising. Influencers like Lady Silver (who took part in L’Oreal’s campaign) are enjoying growing popularity and support on the platform. And, brands are starting to pay attention to the kind of products and beauty messaging that resonates with a mature, modern audience.
The consumer’s verdict
Now, I must confess—I may be only 29 years old, and I may not be the target audience for L’Oreal’s campaign. However, the concept of inclusivity resonates with all of us, regardless of age. I wholeheartedly support brands that align with my belief that beauty goes beyond surface appearances. So, from my perspective, it's a resounding win.
To also gain insights from the mature community regarding the impact of L'Oréal's campaign, I reached out to one of my most glamorous contacts—my mom. While she admitted that her primary use of social media centered on checking up on her children's social lives and Instagram stories, she also seemed positive about the recent campaign.
“I had no idea there were this many inspiring, mature influencers out there,” she said. “It’s campaigns like this that I can actually connect with. I’ve got no interest in trying to look like I’m 25 again. With age comes so much wisdom about the important things in life, and for me, it's more about finding products that make me feel good and healthy, and are suitable for the stage I'm at in life, rather than trying to reverse the clock."
She added: “A brand that isn’t trying to play on fears of ageing is actually quite refreshing.” And there you have it, people—the voices of mature beauty product enthusiasts have spoken, and they have found something they can truly connect with.
WHATS UP NEXT …
