How Thayers’ Influencer-Focused Experiential Strategy is Driving Brand Engagement -

Skincare enthusiasts, like us, are seeing a lot more of Thayers on their social media feeds, and that’s no coincidence. The brand has recently been boosting its social presence through influencer partnerships and a growing ambassador program for aspiring creators.

In addition to product reviews and promos posted on social, Thayers is hosting events to bring its community of brand ambassadors and consumers together, facilitating IRL content creation opportunities to drive awareness and shift brand perceptions. After all, Thayers has been around since 1847.

“I love when people are like, ‘I used your products but never saw you on social. And now, in the last year, I’m seeing you everywhere,’” says Charlotte Minto-Sparks, director-brand engagement at Thayers. “We’re trying to build that relevance and become a brand that’s a little cooler… because we’re such a word-of-mouth, generational brand passed down from grandmas and moms who used Thayers. We really do believe that to try it is to love it, so we hope they try it, either at the event or in their goodie bag after.”

Thayers has been treating its network of content creators to exclusive launch experiences that fuse its latest products with trending aesthetics. From luxury suites to après-ski chalets, Minto-Sparks takes us inside the brand’s influencer-focused experiential strategy.

Facials at The Thayers Pad

To spotlight Thayers’ line of toner pads, the brand took over The Manner in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan on Feb. 19, transforming its penthouse into The Thayers Pad (get it?), inspired by a late-1970s postmodern design. The result was an intimate, red-washed suite with a “chill energy” for a small group of new and familiar influencers and media who were invited to relax, explore the pad products and receive a 45-minute facial.

Upon arrival, attendees received a branded keycard in the lobby and boarded an elevator to the penthouse floor, where they were greeted by the Thayers team. Branded lounge areas featured cozy seating, custom magazines, props for photo moments and a menu of chicken tenders, fries and beverages, were all in the mix.

“We never want people to feel forced into an experience because we understand everyone has different things they like to do,” Minto-Sparks says. “You’re in this penthouse, and maybe you’re flipping through the magazines on the bed or having a glass of wine and a chat on the couch. That space lent itself really well for that.”

For their facial appointment, the participants headed up to the penthouse’s second floor to change into custom hotel robes and slippers, creating another photo op with a branded backdrop and bedding. Then, the esthetician led them into one of four facial suites for their treatment.

Three juice shots were available post-facial, each themed after the pad products: a glow shot, clear shot and refined shot. And, of course, the attendees left with a swag bag filled with the pad product line and information.

“Some of the best feedback we got was that a lot of events will do a mini facial, like 15 minutes, so it’s amazing to actually get this full experiential facial to feel like you’re being pampered by the brand. Everyone was so Zenned out,” says Minto-Sparks. “We scheduled them in so it felt very much like a spa, and there were only really four attendees in the space within an hour. There was never a point where it felt overwhelming. It felt like you were having your own special experience at The Thayers Pad.” (Agency: CNC Agency)

Ice Skating in a Milky Wonderland

On a larger scale, Thayers popped up at Domino Park in New York City to celebrate its Milky collection and the debut of the 80 Hour Milky Moisturizer. After makeup influencer and brand partner Shelby Ann Bell described the moisturizer’s results as “skin so glassy you could skate on it,” the team moved to activate at an ice skating rink, a venue that also aligned with the hype around the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

Thayers opened the Milky Wonderland pop-up to consumers on Jan. 23, and Minto-Sparks says almost every attendee strapped on skates to hit the ice, where bundled-up coaches were on hand to assist newbies and spin them around. Pro skaters in red Thayers outfits showed off tricks, jumps and lifts. Skating aids in the shape of oversized Thayers Hydrating Milky Toner bottles were also available for participants to lean on as they skated around the rink.

Off the ice, Thayers converted the park’s interior space into the Thayers Milky Wonderland Lodge, decked out in white furs, branded scarves and earmuffs, frosty florals, a fireplace, white couches and a drippy table. Attendees warmed up at a hot chocolate bar and took pictures at a photo booth made to look like a giant ice block. Cows became a symbol for the Milky line, so the brand put out cow-shaped cookies and a life-size plastic cow wearing the Thayers cold-weather accessories.

“We’re always trying to do something different, especially with a landscape where so many brands are activating. For us, it’s about finding the right scale and the right energy to match the product that we’re talking about,” Minto-Sparks says. “We hope that it was such a fun experience, you leave feeling so happy and believing in the products that you’re then inspired to post on social. Looking at the outputs from the skate event, giving people time on the ice allowed them to create content where they naturally wanted to.” (Agency: 1Milk2Sugars)

Trending Upward

Thayers’ experiential calendar is showing no signs of stopping, with another launch event coming up this month, in partnership with brand ambassadors Shelby Ann Bell and Nina Pool, who teased the new Milky Mist Toner by joining Thayers in L’Oréal’s Research & Innovation Lab in January. As Minto-Sparks puts it, “We’re always like, ‘OK, that event was amazing. On to the next one.’”

Still, most of Thayers’ events have been located in New York, where the team is based, but in the future, there may be opportunities for in-person programs to expand to other markets.

“Something we are still figuring out is finding the right balance of how big does an event get where you lose the intimacy, versus having the ability to invite more people. These two events show there are pros and cons to choosing to do either one,” she says. “I foresee us investing into events for our consumer ambassadors by either bringing some of them to us to have a brand experience, or going to markets where a lot of them are so they get a chance to experience some of the events they’re seeing on social.”

Thayers has experimented with brand trips, like bringing ambassadors out to March Madness last year, and annually in October, it hosts a Witch Hazel Harvest at its partner farm in Connecticut, inviting content creators and editors to get hands-on harvesting the plants and learning about the science and heritage behind the brand. This year will mark Thayers’ 179^th Witch Hazel Harvest.

“We feel really confident that we know what we’re doing with that type of event strategy, but if we’re talking this time next year, I hope that we’ve unlocked a really massive ambassador program,” says Minto-Sparks. “The reality is that now even if you have 500 followers, you have online reach. We want to acknowledge and reward people who are talking about us on social. It’s creating an important vehicle for us. We’re in a new modern era and chapter of the brand.”