A spot of romance

MANILA, Philippines - “The Diary” is Pond’s latest episodic TV commercial. It stars Carrie, a young fashion and beauty assistant, and Jack, the object of her affection and the head of the publishing house she works in.

“With ‘The Diary,’ we are reaching out to young women like Carrie who are smart and competent but may not feel confident about their appearance due to dark spots left by skin problems such as acne,” Pond’s senior brand manager Jacque Yuengtian, explains. “‘The Diary’ comes in four short episodes that emphasize the process of Carrie’s blossoming, from her awkward days to when she is finally ready to face the world and her love.” Aside from the TV commercials, there will also be a program tie-in with the latest season of the hit show Gossip Girl.

Pond’s believes that young women will be able to relate to Carrie. “In fact, she is a lot like the ideal Pond’s user: women who are beautiful in any shape, size, or form, but need only the right products to care for their skin and bring out its best qualities.” Yuengtian adds, “She is very relatable in the sense that she is far from perfect, but she has a lot of passion for her job and for romance.”

“The Diary” is an integral part of a bigger project, the Pond’s Flawless White campaign. Through a partnership with Cosmopolitan, Pond’s aims to help real-life Carries get to know the ropes of working in the publishing industry through Pond’s Flawless@Work: Search for the Next Cosmo Intern.” Yuengtian says, “Partnering with Cosmopolitan made perfect sense, because like the magazine, Pond’s would like to bring romance and passion into more women’s lives.”

The Pond’s-Cosmo internship program is more than just assisting with office work. “Three lucky interns will be given a month-long training under Cosmopolitan’s editor in chief Zo Aguila and former beauty editor Mariel Chua. It’s hands-on training under the best, and interns will really get to know the kind of work that goes into putting together an issue of the magazine,” Yuengtian describes. A special responsibility will also be given to the interns: “They will oversee the Pond’s makeover, in which seven lucky Pond’s users will get the chance to be transformed into the best versions of themselves. The Pond’s makeover promo will be in partnership with Emphasis Salon and Plains & Prints.”

The month-long internship will be covered by ETC, and one-minute snippets of the coverage will be aired in a reality show format on the cable channel.

At the end of the internship, the Cosmopolitan editors will select a winner among the three, who will be given an all-expense- paid trip to the United States to visit Cosmopolitan magazine’s main headquarters in New York and the Pond’s Institute in Connecticut. The lucky intern will also be part of the team that will lay out the spreads of Pond’s seven makeovers for Cosmopolitan’s July issue.

Yuengtian concludes, “We’ve heard from women all over the world that one of their major skin problems is dark spots, which is why Pond’s Flawless White was developed. Not only does it make skin visibly lighter, it also reduces dark spots.”

By developing the story of “The Diary” and creating a character like Carrie, the brand hopes to reach more women and give them hope for their beauty troubles.