Katie McElligott
Group Creative Director • Idea Hunter and Gatherer
Untold Beauty
Unilever's Most Awarded Shopper Program
Unilever’s Untold Beauty program set out to help shoppers see themselves, instead of yellow sales tags, in the beauty and personal care aisles at Walgreens. This program hit on all fronts—hearts, minds, and drove shoppers to Walgreens as a destination to meet their unique beauty needs. In our first two years, we spoke to black and hispanic women giving them the chance to to tell their stories that had historically been ignored. The program evolved to include older women, whose voices and identities have also been silenced.
2025 Awards
+ Bronze REGGIE: GEM Award for authentic portrayal of women and girls in advertising
+ Silver Chicago ADDY
+ Gold District ADDY
2024 Awards
+ Gold REGGIE: GEM Award for authentic portrayal of women and girls in advertising
+ Silver REGGIE: Retail Media Networks
+ Bronze REGGIE: Partnership Marketing
2023 Awards
+ Silver Effie: Single-Retailer Program - Drugstores / Commerce & Shopper
+ Silver REGGIE: Shopper Marketing, Retailer Specific or Omni-Channel Marketing
+ Bronze REGGIE: GEM Award for authentic portrayal of women and girls in advertising
Year One Case Study
How do you get Multicultural shoppers who spend heavily in Beauty and Personal Care (BPC) to spend more at Walgreens? Multicultural shoppers were seeing yellow promotional tags —not themselves—when they shopped the beauty and personal care aisles at Walgreens. Untold Beauty sought to amplify Multicultural voices and beauty stories that have historically gone unheard by making space for all textures, curves and waves, all pigments and shades, all the time. Although we knew our work was not done, Untold Beauty made Multicultural shoppers feel seen and supported, which resulted in bigger beauty and personal care baskets at Walgreens.
Year Two Case Study
In year two, our multicultural shoppers feel unseen in the beauty aisles, purchasing Beauty and Personal Care on only 5 of 22 Walgreens trips. These shoppers saw yellow promotional tags—not themselves—when they shopped the BPC aisles at Walgreens. Our goal was to shift shoppers’ mindset from seeing Walgreens as another drugstore to seeing Walgreens as an extension of their beauty community. To do so, we went straight to Walgreens stores (in three cities) and captured the real stories of our shoppers: no models, just real people.
Impact made on the communities we aimed to reach, exceeding benchmarks with a 6.36% conversion rate and $21.29 directional ROAS. And, we had people telling stories they never had told before.
Year Three Case Study
In year three, we realized there was an audience who was being ignored. Despite controlling 70% of disposable income, Boomers weren't spending it on beauty because 53% feel ignored by the industry. And so, Untold Beauty evolved to tackle agism head on.
The mission—bring together older and younger influencers to bond over their beauty stories. The two generations shared their truths and were shared over the Walgreens ecosystem. The results were undeniable—90% Positive Sentiment Across Social Platforms and over $15 million in incremental sales. But we didn’t just sell products, we amplified voices and helped older shoppers see themselves, proving that when beauty is embraced at every age, legacies of wisdom, strength, and happiness transcend generations.
