• by Sarah Mahoney , Staff Writer @mahoney_sarah, April 11, 2022

Most people think of summer as sunscreen’s time to shine. But Supergoop’s new campaign is out to convince people they need sunscreen protection "Every. Single. Day." -- no matter what season it is.

The new effort is aimed at the launch of Every. Single. Face., its latest product launch.

The company started 15 years ago and has always positioned itself as an educator on the intricacies of sun protection. (Vanity Fair once called founder Holly Thaggard the "Norma Rae" of sunscreen.)

"We're still trying to change the way people think about sunscreen," says Britany LeBlanc, senior vice president of marketing. "We're always trying to take it out of the beach bag and into people's beauty routines. We're very seasonless in our approach."

The campaign launch this month links to seasonal skin cancer awareness efforts. "Traditionally, it's a time when we love to come back to our mission from a storytelling perspective," adds LeBlanc.

Those stories don't just include the need for SPF each day, but also for every skin type. The campaign focuses on five real-life customers, including climate advocate and Black Girl Environmentalist WaWa Gatheru, pro-surfer Hunter Jones and food advocate Oliver English.

Ads are running in The New York Times, out-of-home, digital and social. And for the first time, the company is also running ads in Twitch, the live-streaming service.

While that suggests a younger demographic, LeBlanc is emphatic that Supergoop 's target audience includes everybody.

"We really mean it," she tells D2C FYI. "We've seen a lot of success in prestige and beauty channels. But as we look to continue that mission of SPF for everyone, we're expanding to reach out to athletes, families, outdoor enthusiasts and kids."

There’s been plenty of commotion in sunscreen. For one thing, it draws more attention than other personal-care products because the FDA regulates it. And it's been rife with controversy in recent years, including concerns about UV agent absorption, environmental impact, and possible correlations with alopecia.

"It's a confusing category," LeBlanc says. "So much of our marketing is directed at education -- what is UVA versus UVB protection, for instance, or what's the difference between SPF 40 versus SPF 50, in terms of protection?"

Part of that means being extra responsive, so the brand encourages direct messaging on Instagram to connect with its customer care team.

"We just want people to wear sun protection every day," LeBlanc says. "And we want to make it as easy as possible."