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I always knew that authenticity and realness was important to brand campaigns, public relations activations and influencer partnerships but I never truly understood why.
And you never really do until you experience it for yourself.
I was in Sydney last month for the Designer Brands Cosmetics x Bella Management Unsigned Model Search Open Casting event; the first since the inaugural search five years ago.
We took a different approach to the Search this year, with Bella collaborating with Designer Brands Cosmetics to find the new faces of the make-up brand’s new campaign, “I Design Me”.
But it was more than just finding our faces. It was about finding the stories of real, everyday Australians who are designing their dream lives.
The result? A record breaking 700 applications and over 250 people attending our open castings in Sydney and Melbourne.
What real Australians looked like? I was about to find out.
Over the two 13-hour days, I met so many incredible people with compelling stories to tell.
Of them, a woman in her late 50s from Sydney, a mother of two teenagers who works in property.
When I asked her why she had decided to apply, her answer was simple yet spoke true to the campaign’s vision and messaging.
“I’m here because I’m a real person… and I just thought I would give it a go.”
She went on to tell me that while she’s not usually a competitive person, she had a fire in her belly to win a spot in this campaign.
To be given the opportunity to represent real people who, just like her, enjoy putting on a face of beautiful make up and heading out for the day.
And that’s when it hit me.
Life isn’t always about goals and aspirations.
Sometimes consumers just want to feel that who they are is enough to join your brand on its journey.
That right there is the beauty of authenticity sitting at the core of what you do.
You have the ability to speak directly to, and capture the hearts of your target audience and in this case, one of the eventual Search winners.
The Designer Brands Cosmetics ‘I Design Me’ campaign launches on Wednesday 27th September.
Marnie Cohen
Senior Account Manager
Effie & Co.