👱‍♀️ Alix Earle said it. Pantene made it.

This is how you turn a TikTok into a product.

It’s easy to criticize big brands as slow moving and unable to keep up with culture, but what I just saw from Pantene is genuinely impressive…

Today Pantene dropped a new limited edition shampoo with influencer Alix Earle called the “Unexpired” collection.

The genesis of this idea came back in December, when Alix Earle casually posted a TikTok saying that her hair feels softer than ever when she uses her “expired Pantene shampoo and conditioner.”

Pantene is a solid product but it’s not a luxury beauty brand you’d expect to see promoted by a massive influencer.

So when Alix posted about Pantene to her 7 Million TikTok followers, it struck a chord. Pantene saw an increase in sales and you could see comments, duets, and posts from people on TikTok agreeing with her.

But what Pantene did next was the most critical thing. Instead of just observing the conversation from afar, they seized the opportunity.

In just four months, Pantene has now launched a limited edition shampoo with Alix Earle. And baked into the marketing and communications is the messaging from Alix that she has been saying the entire time, that luxury hair care brands are overrated and Pantene is a solid, lower-cost option.

This is the exact narrative that Alix laid out in December and now Pantene is doubling down on it. This is gold to Pantene.

P&G Beauty Vice President Rob Reiss said, “What Alix did was naturally supercharge a conversation that was happening online, and our team activated very quickly to jump on it and keep it going.”

At PWR House, when we’re talking to brands about what creators they should be working with, we often tell them to find someone “who already loves your brand.”

We tell them that the most authentic (and successful) collaborations are with talent who actually use your products. So make sure you are looking out for them.