For the month of December, Tribe Dynamics saw seven prestige brands col­lectively generate $5.8M earned media value [EMV] for the month, approximately a 131% difference from the collective EMV of the three mass-market brands on the list. And, for the first time, prestige brands overwhelmingly led on each of the social channels monitored. The gap between prestige and mass performance was largest on Facebook and Instagram, thanks to the combined success of The Body Shop and Clarisonic on Facebook, and Proactive on Instagram. Below, the skincare brands with the highest earned media value in December.

1. THE BODY SHOP $1,486,507.75 EMV

2. NEUTROGENA $1,070,922.75 EMV

3. CLINIQUE $836,275.50 EMV

4. SOAP & GLORY $800,184.80 EMV

5. OLAY $746,772.25 EMV

6. KIEHL’S $743,888.25 EMV

7. PROACTIV $720,291.75 EMV

8. DOVE $715,255.40 EMV

9. FIRST AID BEAUTY $692,765.80 EMV

10. CLARISONIC $568,053.50 EMV

Analysis

The Body Shop soared to the top of Tribe’s December Skincare Top 10 with earned media success on blogs, YouTube and Facebook. On YouTube the brand benefited in particular from seasonal content, videos focused on winter skincare routines, Christmas and Holiday shopping guides, as well as New Year skincare res­olutions.

Neutrogena maintained its November social influence with continued success on Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and Twit­ter. It’s #NeutrogenaFaceOff Challenge was featured promi­nently within this content.

Proactiv joined Tribe’s Skincare Top 10 with a successful Instagram awareness campaign, while Soap & Glory excelled on YouTube, with its products ranking as fa­vorites among vloggers sharing stocking-stuffer ideas and last-minute holiday gifts. The brand’s “Sexy-Mother Pucker” lip treatments were frequently mentioned.

Interestingly, content surrounding mass brands can often be characterized as fleeting and focused solely on products, while prestige brands have had success reaching arguably a larger segment of the beauty community through digital campaigns that encourage continued engagement. Exceptions to this trend include campaigns from Neutrogena and Dove, both of which have worked to create a richer brand story through ongoing marketing intitiatives, such as with Neutrogena’s sponsorship of the Latin Grammy’s and Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign.

Within December’s Top 10, eight brands experienced improvement in overall media performance between the first and last six months. First Aid Beauty and Olay were the exceptions with slight decreases between Q1/Q2 and Q3/Q4.

Clarisonic and Proactive showed the most growth, both producing some of their highest EMV to date in November and December. Their success supports the theory that the wide availability of information has made product composition (specific ingredients) and associated benefits/solutions primary drivers of consumer purchase decisions as opposed to brand reputation or size. Collectively both mass and prestige segments experienced boosts in earned media performance within December’s Top 10. Boosted by Dove and Neutrogena, mass brands together earned a 12% increase in EMV, while prestige inspired a jump of 17%.

To read Tribe’s full report on December Skincare Brands, please click here.