Neutrogena Kickstarts 2025 With Tate McRae Ambassadorship

Merely weeks into Andrew Stanleick’s tenure at Kenvue, his vision for Neutrogena is coming into focus.

Shortly after naming Dr. Muneeb Shah the brand’s global innovation partner late last year, the brand is padding out its roster of ambassadors with Tate McRae, who will front Neutrogena’s Hydro Boost franchise in a campaign.

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Stanleick, who assumed the role of president of skin health and beauty for North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa at Kenvue in November, said he’s been quick to bring the brand into its latest phase.

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“I’ve been in the job for eight weeks. I’ve gotten to look under the hood and the depth and breadth of the science, as well as the partnerships with doctors and health care professionals — there’s nothing like it, and it’s kind of the brand’s best kept secret,” said Stanleick, pointing to the fact that Kenvue has completed more than 188 clinicals in the division in the last year.

In particular, Stanleick, who successfully harnessed the power of celebrity when he helmed Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian’s businesses at Coty Inc., felt it was time to bring in another ambassador to Neutrogena.

“The Neutrogena campaigns have always caught my eye because of the top celebrity talent, which they’ve used to amplify their message with the audience and now, we’re also partnering with world-renowned dermatologists,” Stanleick said.

The two-pronged strategy ladders up to the brand’s new positioning. “It’s ‘beauty to a science,’ which exemplifies bringing the brand’s 90-year history of making sophisticated science simple,” Stanleick said. “It’s possible to develop these solutions for everyday skin care that balances clinical efficacy with elegant aesthetics that you don’t normally get in the mass market.”

That ethos resonated with McRae, who said that “when you’re younger and just getting comfortable, you feel you need to put on as much product as possible and just try to find the coolest products. As I’m getting older, I feel simpler is better.”

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McRae is also a fan of the Hydro Boost moisturizer, a longtime hero product of the brand that sells one unit every two seconds globally. “I put so much makeup on and do my hair every single night to go onstage, and the last thing I want is a long skin care routine,” she said. “I’ve been using [Neutrogena]’s products for so long.”

Although Neutrogena has cast a wide net, Stanleick also reasoned that McRae’s appeal was partially demographic. “We have something for you as you enter the skin care market all through your life, and that’s why the brand has been so successful,” he said. “It’s important to use different spokespeople to tell that story in relevant ways to our different audiences.”

Hydro Boost is the brand’s top-selling range, though the brand is also the market leader in sun care, and the anti-wrinkle pillar remains key. “My focus is on leveraging innovation to drive omnichannel transformation and growth, but it’s about staying true to the core values that made these brands industry staples in the beginning,” Stanleick said.

That’s where Shah comes in.

“I’ve never seen a brand do something like this,” Shah said of the partnership. “I’ve partnered with 20 to 30 brands, and it’s usually a quarterly check-in with marketing. With Neutrogena, it’s everybody from product development to marketing to the CEO. From the ground up, we’re helping them connect with the derm community and we consult on everything from innovation to ingredient stories.”

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Among them, Shah sees a lack of innovation happening in the mass market, where brands are more likely to chase trends than start them. “The mass market has been pretty flat in terms of innovation, it’s just a lot of common ingredient callouts,” he said. “People want things that are effective.”

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