Olay tells women in Thailand age is just a number

It might seem disingenuous for a skincare brand widely associated with its flagship anti-ageing line to launch a campaign telling women to be comfortable at any age, but a more progressive message is more likely to resonate better with a younger audience.

To its credit, Olay acknowledges the disconnect between its new campaign, ‘Fearless at any age’, and some of its products. In a statement released for the campaign, Olay says confidence on all fronts—inside and out—is required for a woman to be fearless at any age. The P&G-owned brand emphasises its wide range of skincare to help women look their best at different stages of their lives.

'30! So What?', a three-minute film by Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore, depicts a Thai woman who's on the verge of making a big life move reflecting back on her life.

Olay conducted a survey of 1,000 Thai women aged between 25 and 49 to understand their perceptions of age and societal expectations. The brand called the findings sobering:

• 86% said society has unfair expectations of them at different life stages
• 94% of women feel they are expected to have established careers and be financially independent
• 90% of women feel they are expected to take care of their parents  
• 85% of women feel they are expected to have a stable relationship
• 71% of women feel they are expected to be married.
• 64% of women feel they are expected to have kids.

“I can personally identify with the challenges that many women face on their own personal journeys,” said Sue Kyung Lee, vice president of Olay Asia Pacific at P&G . “At Olay, we want to encourage women to live life fearless of ageing and any societal expectations that come with it, to not feel restricted by what’s expected of them at a certain age, or limited by what is deemd right ‘at your age’,” she said.

Campaign's view: Changing the conversation around cosmetics away from anti-ageing is a welcome step. However, we've seen so many pieces of literature, pop culture items and ads about women turning 30 that the idea seems trite and a bit of a cliché. Olay's effort here could have benefitted from a more narrow focus, and it had material to work with from the survey. Sister brand SK-II’s 'Marriage Market Takeover' tapped on the same overall topic, but with a more specific and therefore emotional thread.

Credits
Client: P&G, Olay Asia Pacific
Vice President, P&G Asia Pacific Skin & Personal Care: Lee Sue Kyung
Brand Team: Sameer Srivastava, Vineet Kumar, Abhishek Mittal, Salisa Outsahakij, Xinyi Chen, Satya Saya, Phoebe Kho, Mackie Tan
Creative Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore
Chief Creative Officer, Global Clients: Ajay Thrivikraman
Creative team: Sheila Gonzales, Raymond Chan, Pew Techavanvekin
Account Management: Natalie VanderVorst, Cathy Siapno-Nicolay, Chichay Matias, Mike Nguyen
Account Planning: Ed Booty, Erika Low
Special thanks to: Saatchi & Saatchi Thailand
Director (film): Prateep Pinta
Production house: Phenomena
Post production house: So Good
Sound design: Cine Sound Producer: Prassanee Chiamrattana
Executive Producer: Phenomena
Agency Producer: Alain Tan