By Natasha Khan | Photography by Elizabeth Coetzee/WSJ
Coming soon to a bar of soap near you: a Hollywood glow-up.
When Dove, the decades-old brand of body washes, needed to captivate more consumers in the crowded personal-care aisles of stores, executives at parent company Unilever came up with a plan alongside the marketing team at Netflix.
The streaming giant's top show is "Bridgerton" -- a steamy bodice-ripper that follows the romantic escapades of striking debutantes and their ravishing suitors through Regency London. It's wildly popular with women.
Dove has done collaborations before, but "they matter even more today," said Marcela Melero, Dove's chief growth officer. "It's never been harder to get attention, nor easier to lose it."
Hoping to be part of an unmissable moment in culture, Dove for the first time promised to co-brand its jewel-toned bottles of body wash and tubs of scrubs with the "Bridgerton" name, too. With scents like Moonlit Masquerade and Raspberry Rendezvous -- and emblazoned with floral motifs instantly recognizable to "Bridgerton" fans -- the show's aesthetics propelled sales.
For peddlers of body-care products and other hygiene items, from dish detergent to air freshener, winning in the attention economy can include creating a fear of missing out on "limited edition" entertainment tie-ins. Think pink and green "Wicked"-branded Swiffers and Oz-scented room spray.
While "Wicked" fans know what Oz looks and feels like, they've never experienced what Oz smells like, said Jacques Hagopian, a senior vice president at Procter & Gamble for North America brand operations.
P&G teamed up with Universal Pictures to create a "Wicked: For Good" collection spanning a range of personal-care and home products, including Febreze scents and Gain laundry detergent.
Many "Wicked" items sold out within days of their release last fall and sales exceeded expectations, Hagopian said, attributing strong results to loyal customers and new ones who switched for the branded merchandise.
"Entertainment collaborations are one way to break through all the noise, " said Peri Edelstein, who leads Boston Consulting Group's North America consumer practice.
Whether it's Disney creating princess character tie-ins with Bath & Body Works or Frozen character tie-ins with Oral-B and Crest, studios want their creations integrated into fans' lives, said Paul Gitter, executive vice president for global brand commercialization at Disney.
Personal-care marketing "deepens emotional connection with our fans," he added.
Persuading consumers to pay for pricier hygiene products over cheaper brands or generic-store ones has become increasingly tough as U.S. consumers grapple with inflation. Partnerships between Hollywood and brands may temporarily juice sales, but the bigger challenge is maintaining momentum after a sales increase.
Despite the "Wicked" partnership sales that defied expectations, P&G said last month that the number of overall products it sold declined in the most recent quarter. P&G attributed the results in part to retailers and consumers loading up more the previous year.
For studios, storytelling doesn't end when the credits roll. Box-office hauls are still below prepandemic levels, and streaming-subscription growth is slowing, so entertainment companies are looking for consumer-product tie-ins to make more money.
The marketing partnerships are also a way for fans to live inside the world of their favorite series and films between seasons. Netflix created several product tie-ins for "Stranger Things," a family hit popular with children and their parents, including Doritos, Gatorade and a Tide stain fighter.
Inclusivity is at the core of Netflix's "Bridgerton," so the company "looked for partners [like Dove] who could authentically invite fans to celebrate that," said Magno Herran, Netflix's vice president of global brand and partner marketing.
"'Bridgerton' has evolved from a record-breaking series to a global franchise," Herran said.
Beauty and personal care, a $68 billion industry, has been a relative bright spot as pressure mounts on food and nonessentials spending. Sales increased 5% from the prior year, according to NIQ, which tracks online and in-store purchases. While growth has gradually slowed from its 2021 peak, the U.S. beauty market is expected to hover at about 5% annual growth through 2029, according to consulting firm BCG.
As studios have become more orchestrated in their approach to franchises, there are more entry points for brand partnership, said Gerry Chesser, the chief executive officer of men's personal-care company Every Man Jack.
He predicted: "We're going to be seeing more of these partnerships."
Research clearly shows what fans gravitate to, Chesser said. Marvel is the No. 1 entertainment brand among males between the ages of 15 and 25 years old, and "Harry Potter" ranks as the No. 1 favorite franchise among men aged 25 to 49.
So, Every Man Jack teamed up with both.
A limited edition "Harry Potter" Body Wash set includes scents like Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. After Every Man Jack introduced the collection in late 2024, it found that more than 90% of sales of those sets on its website were purchased by new customers.
The company launched products featuring popular Marvel characters, including "Black Panther" and "Deadpool," in 2020. Such collaborations have driven millions in sales for Every Man Jack, according to the brand.
"We're not just putting a logo on a product," Chesser said. "The goal is to transport the consumer somewhere familiar."
Write to Natasha Khan at natasha.khan@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 15, 2026 12:00 ET (17:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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