Particle for Men
Audience Shift Unlocks Seasonal Growth for Valentine’s Day
A men’s grooming brand needed a new approach for Valentine’s Day. A shift to the female gift-giver unlocked stronger engagement and reach.
Services
Particle for Men had built a strong evergreen presence on paid social, with creative tailored to its core male audience. However, seasonal moments like Valentine’s Day required a fundamentally different approach.
To capture demand during the holiday, the brand needed to reach a different buyer: the female partner shopping for a gift. Particle partnered with New Engen to develop a seasonal strategy that could connect with this audience and drive performance during a key retail window.
Immerse
We partnered closely with Particle to understand their existing creative strategy and how it performed across evergreen campaigns.
Through this process, we identified a key gap: while the brand effectively spoke to male consumers, its creative did not address the motivations of female gift-givers during key seasonal moments.
Inspire
Our analysis revealed that Valentine’s Day purchasing decisions were often driven by a different audience than the brand’s typical customer.
Rather than targeting the end user, we identified the female partner as the primary buyer for this moment. This insight created an opportunity to reframe messaging around gifting—shifting from self-purchase to thoughtful, partner-driven decision-making.
Implement
We developed a seasonal, creator-led strategy built around a gifting perspective.
Reframed messaging to speak directly to partners purchasing on behalf of men.
Partnered with creators to produce content from a partner’s perspective, increasing relatability and trust.
Ran ads through creator handles to maintain authenticity and expand reach.
Deployed campaigns proactively to ensure the brand entered the season with proven, in-market creative.
Impact
By shifting focus to the female gift-giver, Particle for Men was able to expand reach and drive stronger engagement during a key seasonal moment.
This approach validated the importance of audience-first thinking in seasonal strategy, demonstrating that aligning messaging to the buyer—not just the user—can unlock new growth opportunities.
Neutrogena
