In response to a glaring lack of representation for people of color when searching for skin-related issues online, Vaseline created a first-of-its-kind search platform to remove equitable barriers and address the longstanding bias in skin care. The result was "See My Skin," the world's most diverse medical image library, developed in collaboration with dermatologists, medical librarians, software engineers, and imaging specialists.
Objective
Google is the first place people of color search when self-diagnosing a skin condition. However, when conducting this research, people of color often don't see their own skin tone reflected in the search results. Vaseline approached this lack of diversity in dermatological imagery as a user experience problem and medical equity issue. In response, the brand sought to create a platform upon which everyone researching potential skin issues could see themselves.
Context
Vaseline committed to raising awareness of the racially biased systems that impact algorithmic search, providing proper representation, access to equal care, and most importantly, helping these communities to be seen.
Target Audience
Less than six percent of image-based search results show skin conditions on people of color. And when Black and Hispanic people don't feel seen in search, they are less likely to be seen by a dermatologist — leading to 25 percent higher mortality rates for life-threatening conditions like skin cancer.
Creative and Media Strategy
Working with HUED, a platform that connects patients with culturally competent care providers, Vaseline created a tool for connecting people of color to dermatologists who understand their skin. The brand galvanized its community to build the database by uploading images of their dermatologist diagnosed skin conditions. Together, Vaseline and its community addressed the long-standing bias and exclusion of people of color in skin care and broke down the systemic barriers that prevent proper diagnosis and treatment — something no search engine has done before. The result was "See My Skin."
In partnership with VisualDx and HUED, Vaseline developed an unparalleled search experience for people of color. Cataloguing the world's most diverse medical image library was a collaboration between a network of dermatologists, medical librarians, software engineers, and imaging specialists.
With paid support across Google and Bing, the brand helped connect consumers in moments of need when searching for information on skin conditions (i.e. eczema) or self-diagnosing by driving them to See My Skin.
In order to simplify the path of discovery for those who visited Vaseline.com and learned about the partnership, a click through link to the See My Skin database for additional relevant content was featured prominently on site. The next time the consumer searched across Google or Bing for various phrases including "Vaseline + Hued," or "Vaseline + dermatologist," the sub-domain would rank.
See My Skin lives online as the only database designed to search conditions on skin of color and connect users directly to dermatologists for treatment.
Vaseline's ongoing efforts have created over 3.1 million equitable skin care experiences for patients and dermatologists. The brand broke down barriers to equitable care and did what search engines and the industry have failed to do: Address the longstanding bias and exclusion of people of color in skin care.
In the first two weeks, See My Skin organically earned visibility for 50-plus unique key words and generated more than 6,000 visits.
Fifty-nine percent of organic views were coming from users searching for a specific skin image or skin related concern. The sub-domain strategy and SEO optimization to increase organic search visibility for relevant keywords, such as "skin finder" and "see my skin," is a digital marketing best practice that can be applied globally. It highlights the importance of ensuring that users can easily find, and access critical information and resources related to their specific needs, improving the overall user experience.
