NEW YORK: With social media and podcasters creating a surge in consumer and media interest in creatine compound supplements, Thorne has enlisted Grammy-winning artist Ciara for its latest campaign.
The supplement maker aims to change the tune on the long-held narrative that the product is predominantly used by male athletes looking to bulk up their physiques.
The singer, dancer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, mother-of-four and wife of New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson can be seen in the latest chapter of its Thorne For platform studying, practicing and perfecting choreography to her single “Dance With Me” from her new album, Ci Ci, in between swigs from a bottle mixed with the supplement.
Jack Begert of Frosty, who previously helmed the brand’s campaign with Ben Shelton, returns to direct the campaign and hero film, which appropriately gives the feeling of a behind-the-scenes music video. (As of press time, Frosty has joined Kendrick Lamar’s Project 3 Agency.)
In it, the singer, who also has a film she coproduced with Wilson, gives the audience a glimpse into her busy lifestyle and grueling routine, sharing how creatine supports her “mind and body activated at a high level.” The film, Sarah’s Oil, is through Amazon Studios and releasing in November.
The campaign will include additional videos and imagery that will run across digital out-of-home, CTV, display, paid search, YouTube, social and influencer marketing from September 8 through November 1 nationwide, with a concentrated DOOH effort in four major markets: New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Miami.
“I’m excited for the fans and everyone to see the commercial,” Ciara told Campaign. “We’ve already had Thorne in our house for some time, so when they reached out, I was super excited, and I thought this would be [a good opportunity] to use my platform to educate people on what I also learned: that creatine is not just for bodybuilders and athletes. You’re not going to all of a sudden turn into a muscle-head. It does help people like myself for cognitive functioning and also for energy. I need that support because I’ll be tired!” (Campaign is PRWeek’s sister business media brand at Haymarket Media).
She continued, “Going from the stage, to the studio, to my kids’ classrooms, to being there for Russ…my world doesn’t stop, and I need that support. For me, my health and wellness is a super-priority.”
Ciara shared that her trainers and wellness team were the first to introduce her to Thorne, a popular supplement brand for high-level athletes due to its NSF certification, which ensures products are clean and safe for use, a distinction that sold her on it as well.
“This was a really conscious effort that I made to ‘level up’ what I’m putting into my body, to educate myself and to listen to my team,” she said, in a sly wink to her hit song, “Level Up.”
The artist, who a Thorne rep noted has been “the most hands-on partner” in the brand’s history, also had nothing but praise for Begert.
“He’s a really great creative mind,” she said. “When we talked about the treatment and the direction [of the spot], from the beginning, everything just flowed so easily. He really had a great idea and way to convey the brand, but while also maintaining the essentials of who I am, and being able to bring both worlds together in a way that was going to be the best. In a short form commercial, that’s a good challenge sometimes.”
Bulking up its position in a lucrative category
The conversation about creatine dominates the wellness space, with The Food Institute reporting that global sales of the supplement could reach $4.2 billion by 2030, and Bloomberg reporting women and older adults are now driving sales of the supplement. Retailers such as GNC have seen a 75% sales surge of creatine since 2020, largely due in part to new studies finding improvement in energy, muscle maintenance and brain function, optimal benefits for women experiencing “brain fog” associated with perimenopause and menopause, users of GLP-1 drugs for weight loss and those seeking long-term wellness solutions.
Thorne chief growth officer Mary Beech previously told Campaign that the supplement was one of the brand’s top sellers, but the added interest from the public called for them to also “level up” when it came to their efforts to reach more women consumers.
“We’re very focused on highlighting creatine,” Beech recently told Campaign, noting that it’s “having a moment.” The amino acid compound “has lots of proven studies around endurance and cognition, and so we wanted to work with a woman specifically, because we wanted to highlight that creatine is not just for men, but we also wanted to work with someone who wasn’t just an athletic performer.”
Calling Ciara “one of the top performers and entertainers of our lifetime,” Beech cited the star’s busy lifestyle as a working mother and partner with her own businesses and pursuits — something her 35.8 million followers on Instagram have seen the evolution of over her two-decade career — and her history of using the brand to support it as a few of the many reasons the team was eager to partner with her.
“She’s a woman over 35 who’s had four kids, who has this amazing career and is physically like an idol,” said Beech. “I think everybody can look at her and go, ‘Wow, this is a woman who has strong muscles, but also the endurance she has to put in for what she does, both at home and professionally and the cognition she needs in order to keep up with everything in her life.’ It just felt like such a natural fit.”
Beech says the brand’s strength with millennials and Gen Z consumers, the latter of which are being introduced to Ciara both through her new music with young artists like Latto and Lil Baby, and recent performances at Coachella with Megan Thee Stallion and last year’s Out of this World tour with headliner Missy Elliot, made the partnership feel even more right.
“We’re actually very well-paced out at about 50% Gen Z and millennial, and about 50% of our Gen X and boomers. So it feels like a really good space,” she said. “Creatine in particular is an opportunity for women. It’s truly one of the most science-backed ingredients out there, and approachable to people as they’re thinking about adding it to their wellness routine,” a point that’s music to the multihyphanate’s ears.
“I’m excited for hopefully more people and also my ladies to tap in with our self-care,” she said. “Let’s tap in with how we’re taking care of ourselves. Because we have to take care of ourselves like this. It’s a must.”
This story first appeared on Campaign US.
