Title	FOUNDATION PORTRAITS
Brand	AVON
Product/Service	AVON POWER STAY FOUNDATION
Category	B06. Innovative Use of Influencers
Entrant	PROOF. Sofia, BULGARIA
Idea Creation	PROOF. Sofia, BULGARIA
PR	PROOF. Sofia, BULGARIA
Production	PROOF. Sofia, BULGARIA

Name	Company	Position
Angel Iskrev	proof.	Creative Director
Asya Maradzhiyska	proof.	Copywriter
Toni Gradinarov	proof.	Account Manager
Sava Ahmakov	proof.	Client Service Director
Martina Misheva	proof.	Graphic Designer
Maksim Stoimenov	proof.	Creative Lead

Why is this work relevant for PR?

The campaign brought innovation on three different levels. First, we developed a brand new way of painting, by mixing foundation makeup with graphite. This helped us create these unique paintings which highlighted our product. And because our medium of communication was art it actually appreciated in value after the campaign was over.

Background

Avon came to us with a brief for the launch of a product, unusual for our part of the world. A new foundation with all of 15 shades, in a market where foundations tend to come out in a series of 3 to 5 shades tops. The product solves a very real problem many women have - it is incredibly hard to find a perfectly matching foundation to your skin tone. We had to highlight all 15 shades of our product and leave an impression. This is why we chose the most popular Bulgarian beauty influencers, who each had a different skin tone, to be part of a special art exhibition.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Many women have to buy two or more foundations and mix them by themselves, which takes time and can get messy. We saw a similarity between this and the way artists carefully mix their paints before applying them to their canvas. And make-up is, after all, an art form. We chose 15 influencers with different skin color matching the exact 15 nuances of our new product. We challenged the artist Silvia Bogoeva to draw 15 portraits of them with each and every nuance of the new product.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

First, we held an art exhibition on Instagram and then offline. To make this campaign stand out we used influencers in an unexpected way. Usually campaigns focus on the influencer’s social media account. However, we utilized the influencers’ most valuable asset, not their social media, but their face. When we reached out to all influencers they were so inspired by it that they were willing to participate for free. They just wanted to be part of something bigger.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

To reach the target audience (young, urban, busy women from big cities) we used their natural habitat - Instagram Feed and Instagram Stories, which at the time were the most popular format on the platform. We held an exhibition using Story Highlights and it went viral from day one. Every one of our influencer guests posted their own foundation-drawn portrait on their Stories which further boosted our reach. The campaign received over 40 articles of earned media in special beauty blogs as well as mainstream media.

List the results (30% of vote)

Our campaign swept the social media channels of Bulgaria’s top beauty influencers. Their posts of the event received over 1000 shares which in turn boosted the event to reach over 1 000 000 impressions nationwide. 40 articles were written about the Instagram exhibition after it had finished. A 30% sales increase was achieved after our campaign as compared to the same month last year. This became one of Avon Bulgaria’s most profitable campaigns.