The Body Shop

Client Overview

The Body Shop North America, a globally recognized sustainable beauty and feminist brand, partnered with Yulu Impact Communications to reignite its legacy of bold activism and social purpose. Known historically for campaigns against animal testing and supporting women and girls, The Body Shop sought to reclaim its position as a leader in corporate brand purpose and social impact in the competitive sustainable beauty industry.

Challenge

While consumers held nostalgic connections to The Body Shop’s activism, recent years had dampened its trailblazing reputation. The brand needed a strategic communications plan to reestablish its voice and activism framework — one that resonated with modern audiences and aligned with its corporate social purpose in North America. Yulu was engaged as The Body Shop’s PR agency to craft a visionary social purpose framework that would differentiate it from peers like Lush, Aveda, and Burt’s Bees.

Strategy

Yulu led The Body Shop North America through a robust discovery and strategic communications planning process:

• Conducted in-depth stakeholder interviews with internal leaders, global executives, and external activists.
• Benchmarked the activism and communications strategies of comparable sustainable beauty and purpose-driven brands (including Lush, Aveda, Burt’s Bees, and Ben & Jerry’s).
• Developed an evidence-based activism framework rooted in The Body Shop’s corporate brand purpose and informed by inclusive marketing best practices.
• Applied a Theory of Change model to map long-term societal impact, measurable outcomes, and internal system changes.

Strategic Priorities Overview

The activism framework was organized under three strategic priorities covering areas such as body positivity and inclusivity, environmental commitments, and internal corporate practices. Example initiatives included promoting inclusive marketing and bodily autonomy, advancing sustainable beauty practices like circular packaging and protecting natural spaces, and advocating for decent work through inclusive hiring and employee engagement. These priorities allowed The Body Shop to address social, environmental, and organizational impact in an integrated and authentic way.

Results & Impact

Yulu delivered a comprehensive activism and social purpose framework empowering The Body Shop North America to:

• Regain its position as an authentic activist brand within the sustainable beauty sector.
• Align internal systems, products, and campaigns with measurable social and environmental goals.
• Mobilize staff, retail teams, and consumers through grassroots activism, policy advocacy, and inclusive marketing.
• Inspire other corporate brands by showcasing how strategic communications planning and a clear social purpose framework can drive both business success and systemic change.
• Through the framework’s ‘freedom within a framework’ model, The Body Shop can progressively advance its activism commitments while remaining adaptable to emerging issues.

Services Provided

• Strategic communications planning
• Brand activism framework development
• Stakeholder engagement & interviews
• Benchmarking & best practices research
• Messaging & positioning guidelines
• Theory of Change impact modeling
• Recommendations for internal advocacy systems & external campaigns