For decades beauty brands have been selling women ‘hope in a jar’, a model of advertising that is all too often reliant on a brand of escapism that demands potential consumers augment or alter themselves. A marketing approach rooted in fear.

It’s a style of marketing turned on its head by a powerful and playful new campaign from Marc Jacobs which places self-love and self-acceptance at its core. The brand’s latest women’s fragrance, Perfect Marc Jacobs, features the strapline, “I am perfect as I am”. 

Breaking this week the campaign will be supported by a showcase on the Piccadilly Lights as well as experiential activity at Westfield London. The campaign is a colourful, uplifting collage of portraits and vignettes. The high fashion campaign was shot by Juergen Teller, with Creative Director Katie Grand at the helm. As well as familiar faces of models, the campaign includes talent found through an open casting call via social media.

To support the theme of self-expression the cast was invited to select and style their own wardrobes with a mixture of Marc Jacobs collection pieces as well as vintage items of clothing.

Susie Thompson, Head of Media and Communications at Coty Luxury UK, said: “The new fragrance Perfect Marc Jacobs is playful and distinctive, celebrating diversity and self-love. We knew now more than ever we wanted to bring to life the concept and visuals of the campaign through high impact, premium outdoor formats, bringing joy to the streets of the UK with a focus on key cities as well as encouraging trial and purchase and Ocean’s portfolio allowed us to do this brilliantly.”

There are few more powerful reminders of the brilliance of advertising out in the wild than the iconic Piccadilly Lights outdoor site. The visual impact of this campaign underlines the creative firepower of the medium as footfall continues to grow as lockdown restrictions ease.

As well as bringing some much needed joy to streets which have been stripped of the buzz of life for so long, this campaign is a powerful reminder of the power of diversity to drive both sales and brand reputation. Marketing based on self-love rather than a drive to be someone else or hide perceived flaws is a powerful step-change for the beauty market.