NEXXUS
Nexxus is a salon-quality haircare brand experiencing modest but reliable yearly growth. Having established a strong reputation with women aged 45 and over, the Unilever-owned brand needed to reach a younger consumer audience—GenZennials—to enable future growth.
A FRESH LOOK
The Nexxus Styling Line is a collection of 11 expertly crafted styling and finishing products—including creams, mousse, oil, sprays, hairsprays, and a wax stick—all formulated to help achieve salon-quality hairstyles while protecting against damage. First released in early 2024, the initial launch delivered solid results, but did not receive the attention the product line deserved due to unforeseen challenges out of our control.
A new creative campaign was needed to create a larger, cultural moment and push Nexxus’s styling products into consumers’ consciousness. We were tasked with developing an integrated social and public relations campaign that would build new excitement around the products.
OBJECTIVES
THE STYLE SWAP
A talent-first social media, public relations, and influencer campaign, one that would layer product messaging, pop culture nostalgia, and iconic movie fandom to create buzz online, secure top-tier earned media, and drive awareness for Nexxus’s new Styling Line.
FINDING TWINSPIRATION
Key to the activation would be choosing the right talent. We were immediately drawn to Lindsay Lohan, whose hair evolution through the years has been frequently covered by beauty and style reporters. Not only is she well known for experimenting with her hair—regularly switching up her cut, color and length—the actress was already resonating as the “comeback queen” of Hollywood.
Out of Lohan’s accomplished career, her 1998 remake of “The Parent Trap” especially stood out to Nexxus for featuring characters with their own distinct, signature looks that are still easily recognizable by many millennial and gen-z women who grew up with the film.
Inspired by Lohan’s roles as twins, Hallie Parker and Annie James, the campaign reimagined these fan-favorite characters with a modern twist. Lohan didn’t just revisit two roles–she transformed into four unique looks, spotlighting our hero products and demonstrating the Styling Line’s versatility and ability to achieve any look.
NEW HAIR NEW YOU
We relaunched Nexxus’s Styling Line with a teaser video posted to Lohan’s Instagram (15.5M followers) and TikTok (17M) accounts that generated immediate buzz, followed by a virtual media day where the actress previewed the campaign to editors at outlets like Allure, Elle, and People. A week later, around the twins' birthday, we dropped The Style Swap launch video and amplified it on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok with paid media. We then collaborated with nearly two dozen influencers in the beauty space, who each showcased their own "twinspired” looks, choosing between Hallie’s “Cali Cool” effortless waves or Annie’s “London Posh” sophisticated style. Additional behind-the-scenes social content and media outreach efforts maintained momentum.
NOT A HAIR OUT OF PLACE
To bring the creative to life, the team leaned into subtle Easter eggs instead of overt references to make it more entertaining for our audience. Props and set design, movie wardrobe nods, and the viral TikTok trend, “Twin, where have you been?” encouraged media and fans to connect the dots. We added a surprise twist by featuring the look of one of the film’s other iconic characters, Meredith Blake (the twins’ would-be stepmother and film’s antagonist) as well.
A BLOWOUT IMPACT
Our hero video garnered 87MM views and 705K engagements, all with 100% positive sentiment among target consumers. Fans and celebrities including Paris Hilton and Elaine Hendrix—the actress who played Meredith Blake—engaged with the campaign, celebrating its nostalgic nods to The Parent Trap.
Influencer content partnerships were also impactful, responsible for an additional 37MM video views, 60MM impressions, and 256K engagements.
Additionally, earned media efforts secured 37 feature-length stories and 260+ placements in top-tier publications including E! News, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, Marie Claire, garnering more than 2.65B total earned media impressions.
Ultimately, by blending retro charm with modern beauty trends, The Style Swap didn’t just reignite excitement for Nexxus—it drew attention to the Styling Line’s versatility, while tapping into current social zeitgeist and providing the brand with a new sense of cultural relevancy.
