Branding, Corporate, Fashion, Cosmetic, International

Merck 
Cosmetics

Having been briefed with the assignment to create a brand that would ‘generate long term commitment from potential B2B customers’ I turned to humanity's ultimate long term commitment, love, for inspiration.

Diving deep into the world of love and commitment in the ideation phase of the project the word ‘fascination’ popped up. This idea of fascination and its relationship to love reminded me of Nat King Cole's seminal song “Fascination” which sums up the transition from initial fascination to love and it was from this song that my central idea and the new Merck Cosmetics brand started to spread its wings.

It was Fascination, I know, and it might have ended, right then, at the start… Just a passing glance, just a brief romance… Then I touch your hand and next moment… I kiss you. Fascination turned to love

Nat King Coles “Fascination”

‘Made’ for each other

The cosmetic arm of the giant pharmaceutical and chemical company Merck designs ‘active‘ ingredients for the cosmetic industry. Simply put, their products are designed to do one thing and do it very well. One product for example might sparkle, one might shine, another might glow and another might give moisture.

Taking this ‘made’ to do something idea into consideration and combining it with my initial idea of fascination and love I built out a campaign concept that revolved around the simple idea that true love can only happen if you‘re really ’made‘ for each other, just like the products Merck makes for its customers. A series of claims were made for the 170+ products Merck Cosmetics makes (Made to Stun, Made to Empower, Made to Adore etc) and with that a new brand was born.

An eye for details.

Once the idea was approved plans were made for a kamikaze photo shoot in Warsaw with 5:00am role calls, Polish camera crews and a cast of models from all over the globe. The visual concept revolved around applying the Merck cell forms to the models faces or accessories in an effort to underscore the idea of a happy and inseparable union between the concept of beauty and Merck, basically; where there‘s beauty you‘ll find Merck Cosmetics.