CeraVe HK ditches the hard sell to win over Gen Z

CeraVe Hong Kong has stepped beyond traditional advertising with a playful new campaign targeting Gen Z, created in partnership with creative agency Durian Hong Kong and supported by media agency Omnicom Media Hong Kong.

Running from September to November 2026, the initiative follows the brand’s viral "Michael CeraVe" Super Bowl campaign, which swept international awards and injected an unexpected charm into the brand’s dermatologist-backed image.

Titled "If it’s right, it sells itself" (啱又使乜 Sell), the Hong Kong campaign targets a youth demographic that openly rejects traditional marketing tactics. As a CeraVe spokesperson told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, the harder a brand tries to sell, the faster Gen Z scrolls. Skincare marketing has become a sea of sameness, overcrowded with ingredient jargon, celebrity endorsements, and staged before-and-after photos, whereas Gen Z craves authentic, hands-on experiences.

The strategy taps directly into Gen Z culture by leaning into absurdist humour (無厘頭) and unapologetic realness. Instead of focusing on how to sell a product, the campaign speaks the audience's language to inspire organic interest. Capitalising on the popular internet sentiment that "all roads in skincare lead to CeraVe" (護膚的盡頭是 CeraVe), the campaign treats advertising not as the final destination, but as a gateway to zero-pressure product discovery.

To break away from conventional marketing silos, this "Anti-ad" campaign blurs the boundaries between PR, thematic, and tactical execution across OOH, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. The copy is location-specific, casual, and deliberately random, while the visuals feature hero product shots that are intentionally blurred or inverted without standard logo lock-ups to defy expectations. To cater to short attention spans, a series of six-second Reels repeatedly subverts traditional skincare ad tropes.

The offline execution brings this experiential philosophy directly to everyday youth hubs. Riding the back-to-school wave, CeraVe toured Hong Kong’s eight major universities by setting up a "Trial Cabinet" (試用莊)—a clever play on local campus society recruitment (招莊) culture. The activation even incorporated traditional university rhythmic chanting ("Dem Beat") to draw crowds and distribute samples.

Simultaneously, CeraVe partnered with 24/7 Fitness, Hong Kong’s largest gym chain, placing full-sized products directly in shower facilities across 150 branches for post-workout trials alongside take-home sample kits.

Tom Chan, product manager, CeraVe & La Roche-Posay, dermatological beauty division, L’Oréal China, said, “For this campaign, we deliberately took a different approach. Rather than focusing on traditional USPs, before-and-after comparisons or celebrity endorsements, we let the products speak for themselves—supported by the authentic reputation CeraVe has built over the years."

"While the campaign featured extensive OOH and media exposure, each message was tailored to the unique characteristics of its placement. This turned every touchpoint into an engaging moment of discovery rather than a conventional hard sell. Our goal was simple: to invite consumers to experience the products firsthand and let the results speak for themselves. More than a creative choice, this was our way of introducing CeraVe to Gen Z through a fresh and engaging perspective, reshaping their perceptions of moisturising and cleansing products," Chan added. 

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