Photograph Courtesy of Secret
For its latest national deodorant campaign, Procter & Gamble’s Secret brand looked to its own backyard to cast inspirational talent. The campaign “All Strength, No Sweat” features women who are challenging the status quo, working hard toward their goals and supporting the women around them—all while seemingly never breaking a sweat. Instead of actresses, the campaign’s first ad highlights seven Cincinnati powerhouse women: Lorena Compean Velasco, a businesswoman in Kroger’s enterprise sourcing; Lauren Eylise, a musician; Heather Britt, a choreographer and founder of DANCEFIX; Iyonna Fairbanks, a model and influencer; Frances Kroner, executive chef of Sleepy Bee Café and Aster on Fourth; Natalie Blair, a brewer at Rhinegeist Brewery; and Rosie Kovacs, a designer and co-founder of Brush Factory and Sew Valley. And who better to produce the ad than a mostly female crew? Shot in the Queen City, the video shows the seven stars in their natural environments.
Why did Secret choose to highlight Cincinnati women? Sara Saunders, associate brand director at Secret, says these women embody the campaign’s message by “pursuing their passions without sweating the obstacles in their path.” She adds, “We were so inspired by local Cincinnati women and their stories that we wanted to feature them in an ad.” Eylise, who’s shown in the video walking in Over-the-Rhine with a guitar case in tow, called the experience absolutely beautiful. “Sharing my experience, especially as it pertains to the balance of motherhood and pursuing my career, is very important to me,” Eylise says. “Being a young black woman, it’s important that I inspire the same in women around me. I want them to know and believe that it’s possible to be the woman you’ve always imagined no matter what the goal or the role you take on.”
Secret also sourced talent from Cincinnati to launch its “Strength Stories,” a video series within the “All Strength, No Sweat” campaign. For the first video of the series, the deodorant brand featured local Melissa Aydogan, who founded the pop-up Turkish coffeehouse Rüya Coffee to honor her parents and bring people together.
Secret will continue highlighting inspirational women across the country in its “Strength Stories” videos. Last week, the brand announced a nationwide casting call for the series in which contestants can share their stories on Instagram. Who knows, maybe more Cincinnati women will be featured in the national campaign. We certainly wouldn’t be surprised.
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