By Zsarlene B. Chua
THE PHILIPPINE COUNTERPART of American cosmetics brand Kiehl’s has embarked on what a company official described as its biggest charity event so far, partnering with celebrities to raise funds for the Payatas Orione Foundation.
The campaign, “Start it Right with Kiehl’s,” puts artwork by actress/model/host Isabelle Daza and restaurateur/host Erwan Heusaff on a limited edition of one of the brand’s best-selling products, Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream.
“We’ve worked with a lot of different charities, but this is one of the biggest we’ve done so far because this is really a collaboration between the ambassadors and us,” Sheena Dy-Fung, business unit manager of Kiehl’s Philippines, told BusinessWorld during the April 13 launch in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
Ms. Dy-Fung described the project as a “360 program”, as both ambassadors who have been involved from the start even chose the charity.
Kiehl’s will be donating 100% of the net proceeds from the limited-edition cream to the Payatas Orione Foundation.
The funds will benefit the organization’s supplemental feeding program, where underprivileged kids aged 2-8 years are provided one full meal, every day of the week.
Payatas Orione Foundation is headquartered at Payatas, Quezon City and is said to feed over 600 malnourished children annually.
“I support children mainly because I feel like they’re the only ones that are extremely innocent in this world. I think that they should be given the opportunity to have an equal footing to succeed in this world,” Mr. Heusaff said in a press statement.
While the monetary goal of the project is still confidential, according to Ms. Dy-Fung, she said the creams will only be available in June and July. The Ultra Facial Cream retails at P1,575 per jar.
“But, we’ll still see if we should extend it. It depends on the demand,” she said, adding, “We want it to be [a] short but impactful sort of program, because if it’s too long, then I think people will lose interest.”
She said that the targets of this campaign are “the young people” who are just starting to contribute to society; they want to encourage the millennial crowd “to start it right in society by giving back.”
Kiehl’s currently has 11 branches in the country — 10 in Metro Manila and one in Cebu, for this year, at least.
“We have been expanding for the past three years, so this time we want to help out the community first and… we really want to focus on brand-building,” Ms. Dy-Fung said.
The limited-edition variants of Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream can be pre-ordered at www.startitrightwithkiehls.com. For more information on the campaign, visit the brand’s social media channels.
