Can Gen-Z Get Neutrogena Back on Top?

Neutrogena wants to rebuild some youth appeal.

The skincare brand, owned by beauty giant Kenvue (formerly of Johnson & Johnson), is betting on a new franchise called Collagen Bank to win over a younger generation of consumers. The line features a standard moisturiser and a SPF moisturiser using a patented micro-peptide, both $22.99, which the brand claims can help support the skin’s natural collagen resources. Collagen gives the skin tensile strength and volume, and natural stores decrease rapidly with age. The range was released in a TikTok Shop pre-sale on June 28, and will roll out into stores throughout August.

These days, Neutrogena could use a hit.

The brand is a drugstore mainstay, and for many people over 25, their first skincare purchase may well have been one from Neutrogena. Its affordable prices, memorable commercials and wide dermatologist network made the brand a juggernaut in the aughts. In recent years however, it’s been rapidly ceding market share to ingredient-savvy competitors like La Roche Posay and The Ordinary. In 2021, it lost its long-held title of number one most-recommended by dermatologists to L’Oréal-owned Cerave.

By 2023, Kenvue, which also owns Aveeno, Clean & Clear and Ogx had lost more than 10 percent of its skincare market share since 2019, when it was the biggest in the US, according to retail data from researcher Circana.

“We are really excited about recruiting Gen–Z users into the brand, helping them meet their needs with the Collagen Bank launch,” said Marguerite Longo, vice president at Neutrogena.

Collagen Bank is the company’s biggest launch in 10 years, and will be its top priority, Longo added.

The brand has recruited the actress and singer Hailee Steinfeld to front the campaign. Longo said Steinfeld “really loves” skincare. “We were looking for a fresh face that would help us connect with Gen-Z, and she really just fit the bill for us,” said Longo.

“It’s a real full-circle moment for me,” said Steinfeld, 27, who said she had used Neutrogena products since she was a pre-teen, when her mother bought cleansers and makeup removing wipes for her. She added that her skin was sensitive and prone to breakouts, often precipitated by the travel and heavy makeup her job requires.

Youth Appeal

Launching the products on TikTop Shop is a first for Neutrogena, accompanied by an affiliate programme designed to incentivise creators in its network to post about the new launch. It’s also an effort to fight the battle to regain market share exactly where it lost it: Since 2019, the youth skincare market has become increasingly dominated by TikTok viral products and brands with a heavy scientific focus.

The brand is using the launch to join a conversation around what it calls “pre-ageing,” otherwise known as preventive anti-ageing. Young shoppers are especially preoccupied with anti-ageing, with Gen-Z and Millennials being some of the biggest consumers of aesthetic medicine services like injectables and laser facials.

“Gen-Z is more concerned about ageing than any generation before them,” said Longo. From its own research, Neutrogena found that 58 percent of Gen-Z consumers are worried about ageing as early as age 23, while dermatologists in its network say most of their patients between 20 and 30 cite ageing as their top concern.

Steinfeld said her personal focus is on taking the best care of her skin she can in the present. “I have fallen in love with taking care of my skin … [the products] keep it exciting, and makes the journey of ageing gracefully something to look forward to,” she said.

Other companies are making similar strides: last week, L’Oréal announced it had acquired 10 percent of Swiss injectable maker Galderma. LVMH acquired the Canadian aesthetics provider Functionalab at the start of 2023, and buzzy, science-led lines such as Dr. Barbara Sturm and Dr. Dennis Gross were snapped up last year by Puig and Shiseido respectively.

A quick scroll on TikTok for videos about the range brings up a handful of paid partnerships with Neutrogena, all of which start with the creator explaining that humans lose 1 percent of collagen every year from when they turn 20.

Neutrogena has made other efforts to win over younger shoppers, both in hype and in white-coat credentials. In April, Neutrogena was the exclusive sun care sponsor of Coachella, the white-hot festival beloved by influencers and celebrities, and in March, it presented 22 pieces of new scientific research at the American Academy of Dermatology Annual conference, where longtime spokesperson Jennifer Garner hosted a panel talk.

Future Forward

Tapping into Neutrogena’s dermatologist network will be key. Longo said the campaign would also include partnering with healthcare professionals. In its first-quarter earnings in May, chief executive Thibaut Mongon said the brand had “significantly increased” its dedicated sales force and in-practice sampling.

The range will be available across all of Neutrogena’s wholesale network and no significant discontinuations will be made to the overall portfolio to make counter space for it, Longo said.

Though it’s competing against the likes of Byoma and The Ordinary, speaking specifically to skincare-savvy consumers on the more price-sensitive end of the spectrum gives Neutrogena a leg up, especially given the simplicity of the products and their marketing.

“[Collagen Bank] has met me at a time in my life where I need it,” said Steinfeld.

Sign up to The Business of Beauty newsletter, your complimentary, must-read source for the day’s most important beauty and wellness news and analysis.