Turning Comments into the Campaign: How Participation Became the Idea

By Emma Lundsten, COO at Cure Media 

At Cure Media, we believe the most effective creator marketing doesn’t just reach audiences, it activates them. As one of Europe’s leading creator marketing agencies, we partner with global brands to turn cultural insight and platform behaviour into measurable business impact.

That belief was put to the test in our recent campaign with La Roche-Posay, where we set out to challenge a fundamental assumption: that engagement is something you optimise for after the idea is created.

Instead we asked: what if engagement is the idea?

A cultural insight hiding in plain sight 

We started by identifying a broader cultural shift: tattoo removal is on the rise globally, as more people begin to rethink past decisions. In the Nordics, where tattoo culture is especially widespread, this made the insight even more relevant. Tattoo regret is widely relatable, yet rarely discussed openly. 
 
At the same time, we had been tracking a behavioural shift on TikTok. The most meaningful interactions were no longer happening in the content itself, but in the comments.

That’s where people opened up, shared stories, and connected. 

Turning participation into the creative idea

Rather than creating content for people to passively consume, we designed a system for participation.

Creators didn’t just tell stories, they invited them. Audiences were encouraged to share their own tattoo regret stories directly in the comments, often adding personal images using TikTok’s native features.

The result was a shift in roles. Creators became facilitators. The audience became co-creators.

And the comment section became the campaign.

Built for behaviour, not demographics

A key part of the strategy was moving away from traditional targeting.

Instead of focusing on who the audience is, we focused on how they behave.

We selected creators not just for reach, but for their ability to spark conversation, lower the barrier to participation, and actively engage with their communities.

This behavioural approach turned engagement from a metric into a mechanism.

From interaction to impact

The campaign reached millions of people across the Nordics and generated a significant volume of engagement, far exceeding initial benchmarks.

But beyond scale, what stood out was the depth of participation. Thousands of individuals actively contributed their own stories, often sharing personal experiences and images directly in the comments.

This created a level of authenticity and community rarely seen in traditional campaigns, where engagement is often passive or surface-level.

In a short period of time, the campaign became a major driver of engagement for La Roche-Posay in the Nordics, demonstrating how participation-led strategies can deliver meaningful impact beyond traditional performance metrics.

What this means for the future of creator marketing

This work reflects a broader shift.

The most effective campaigns are no longer built around content alone, but around participation. They don’t just deliver messages, they create spaces where audiences can contribute, shape, and extend the story.

For brands, this means rethinking the role of creators, from distribution channels to community catalysts.

What being shortlisted means to us

Being shortlisted is a meaningful recognition of the shift we are seeing across the industry, from content-driven campaigns to participation-driven systems.

For our team, it is not just about the recognition itself, but about validating a way of working that challenges traditional marketing structures. It reinforces our belief that the most effective campaigns are built with audiences, not just for them.

This work is a testament to what happens when brands dare to rethink the role of both creators and audiences. When participation becomes the idea, you don’t just create engagement, you create something people genuinely want to be part of.

It also reflects the strength of our collaboration with forward-thinking brands like La Roche-Posay, who are willing to challenge conventions and explore new ways of connecting with their audiences.

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Author: Emma Lundsten