All work

NIVEA · Saudi Arabia & UAE

How to Social in 2025

An always-on strategy with one ambition: make NIVEA the most loved skincare brand on social in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, built on a storytelling framework called GLOW.

Client
NIVEA
Markets
Saudi Arabia, UAE
Year
2025
Scope
Always-on strategy, framework, ambassadors, workflow
The GLOW framework: Grabs attention, Localized, Offers value, Winning engagement, beside a dab of NIVEA cream on a fingertip.

Where it started

2024 was about rebuilding momentum: reviving NIVEA’s social presence after a long quiet spell, launching TikTok to reach a younger, trend-driven audience, and finding the Reel formats that drove the best-performing posts. Engagement already matched industry benchmarks on a fraction of the volume. 2025 was the year to go beyond simply existing.

Reading the audience

Gen Z in the Gulf want multi-tasking products, personal experiences and brands that are ‘in the know’, but they still need guidance. The strategy mapped the skincare market in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, benchmarked Dove, Garnier and Vaseline, and built personas for each market: a Saudi beauty trendsetter, an expat young mum, a homemaker who trusts peer reviews over influencers, an Emirati entrepreneur.

GLOW

Great stories ignite brand love, and every one of NIVEA’s runs through four filters. It has to Grab attention, feel Localized, Offer value and drive Winning engagement. GLOW turns product posts into stories with depth: real skincare journeys, expert advice from a regional dermatologist, product combos you didn’t know worked better together, and a brand essence that says skin is for every YOU.

Every platform, a job

Instagram became the visual storytelling hub: save-worthy carousels and Stories for the people who already love NIVEA. TikTok became the entertainment engine, where the brief was to think like a creator, not a brand. Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat carry campaigns. Ramadan, Eid, Mother’s Day and the SPF season all get their own pre, live and post-season plan.

The Skin Circle

NIVEA’s first ambassador programme, named after its iconic circle so it feels like a club worth joining. Launched with a pass-the-product video stitched across every ambassador, and widened beyond beauty creators to athletes, gamers, artists and creators with disabilities. Their stories run as My Glow Up Story, a bi-weekly series where the product is part of the routine rather than the headline.

“To connect with our audience, we need to think like content creators, not brands.”From the TikTok approach
Brand essence slide: Skin is for every YOU.
The brand essence, on one slide.
The GLOW framework applied to an Instagram carousel of NIVEA product combos.
GLOW in action: a carousel built to be saved.
Platform roles: Instagram as visual storytelling hub, TikTok as entertainment engine, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat for campaigns.
One job per platform: always-on and campaign-based.
Skintervention: an expert-led Reel concept with a regional dermatologist.
Skintervention: expert-led content with a regional dermatologist.
Get Unready With Us: a Mother’s Day concept with a creator and her mother.
Get Unready With Us, for Mother’s Day.
Introducing The Skin Circle, NIVEA’s brand ambassador programme.
The Skin Circle: NIVEA’s first ambassador programme.
My Glow Up Story: a bi-weekly series following athletes, gamers and creators.
My Glow Up Story: the series that widens who gets to be a NIVEA voice.