Picture this: a skincare ad without a dewy-skinned 20-something woman in a fluffy robe. Instead, you get Milind Soman, a 59 year old actor and marathoner, talking about niacinamide.
With their latest 10% niacinamide serum launch, Plum Goodness decided to ditch the predictable and redefine beauty marketing with a fresh face. Well, a familiar one, but not the one you’d expect in a serum campaign.
Why it works:
This isn’t just a casting coup. It’s a case study in how to break the skincare clutter. Most beauty brands play safe: Gen Z influencers, hyper-feminine aesthetics, and generic glowy claims. Plum flipped the script. They paired a science-backed product with a fitness icon whose skin (and stamina) both scream consistency.
And consistency is exactly the USP of niacinamide.
According to Google Trends, “niacinamide serum” searches have been steadily rising over the past 2 years. The Indian beauty consumer today is ingredient-savvy and loyalty-prone, but attention is still hard-won. Plum’s gamble on Milind isn’t just original, it’s strategic: tapping into trust, longevity, and credibility over fleeting virality.
The storytelling magic?
Milind’s not just holding a bottle; he’s holding the narrative. He’s in the gym, in the lab coat, and in your feed—mirroring the product’s promise of long-term, no-nonsense results. It’s lifestyle storytelling with substance, not fluff. This shows the clever positioning of this serum in the cluttered skincare market.
And guess what? It worked. The ad went viral across beauty influencers, fitness creators, and even paparazzi pages—organically. That’s the holy grail of brand storytelling: being so unexpected that people can’t not share it.
Takeaway for marketers?
Representation isn’t just about age, gender, or beauty standards—it’s about relevance. If clear skin is a habit, not a hack, who better to preach that gospel than a man who ran barefoot across continents?
Plum didn’t just launch a serum. They launched a statement.
Written By:
Yashi Bhatia
