Submitted by NewGen

Cetaphil: A Brand Makeover

NewGen repositioned Cetaphil for Gen Z through relatable influencers and trend-led TikTok content, work the agency reports delivered +2M Impressions and +95K Engagements.

3.39%engagement rate
+95Kengagements
+2Mimpressions

Case in 60 seconds

Cetaphil carried traditionally pharma-based credentials, a position built on clinical trust rather than cultural relevance, which left the brand poorly placed to hold attention among a Gen Z audience that decides in social feeds.

The campaign appears to turn on timing and native form, because NewGen frames the win as reaching the audience at the right time with trending sounds and formats, which suggests Gen Z accepts a pharmacy brand when it arrives inside a platform convention rather than beside it.

Turning traditional into trending: evolve the brand's clinical credentials into a more playful, Gen Z-focused identity carried by influencers whose own relatability does the repositioning rather than by brand-authored claims.

NewGen worked with relatable influencers who created fresh, relevant content on Cetaphil's social, using trending sounds and formats on TikTok so the brand appeared in front of its audience at the right time, while building influencer relationships intended to carry into further brand partnerships.

NewGen reports +2M Impressions, +95K Engagements and a 3.39% Engagement rate, and describes the work as having boosted Cetaphil's social media presence and established influencer relationships that support future partnerships.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

Gen Z
Pharmacy-shelf credibility and social currency pull in opposite directions, so a brand whose authority rests on being clinical has to find a way to read as playful without discarding the credentials that made it trusted in the first place.
Skincare credentials in this account were built for a pharmacy context, and the page frames the difficulty as evolving those traditionally pharma-based credentials rather than as a product or distribution problem.
Based on the available evidence, Cetaphil takes the position of a brand being carried into culture by other people, since the page credits relatable influencers with creating the content that put the brand in front of its audience.
The reliance on trending sounds and formats suggests an audience that judges brand content by whether it matches what is already moving on TikTok, which makes timing a condition of being seen rather than a scheduling detail.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • TikTok

Partners

  • NewGen (lead_agency)

Creator role

  • relatable influencers

Results & Evidence

MetricValueResult type
engagement rate3.39%engagement_rate
engagements+95Kengagements
impressions+2Mimpressions

The Work

TikTok@7upzerouk/video/7369562058632809761

TikTok@kitkatgamingofficial/video/7307551810301021472

Why NewGen's strategy worked

  1. 1

    A category built on clinical reassurance can shift register without changing its claims, because the repositioning here sits in who delivers the content and in which platform conventions it borrows rather than in the product story.

  2. 2

    Trend-native production appears to be treated as an always-on discipline rather than a burst, since NewGen describes keeping ahead of the curve on the brand's social so content lands while a sound or format is still current.

  3. 3

    Influencer relationships read as an owned asset in this account rather than a media cost, because the agency counts continuing brand partnerships alongside impressions and engagements as an output of the work.

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