Charles & Charlotte wins Hansaplast's global social media

Beiersdorf has handed Berlin social-first agency Charles & Charlotte the global social-media strategy for Hansaplast across 17 markets, a sign that always-on social is now a lead brand-building channel, not an afterthought.

A social-first shop lands a heritage brand

Beiersdorf has appointed Berlin agency Charles & Charlotte to run the global social-media strategy for Hansaplast, the plaster and wound-care brand, the agency confirmed on 5 August. The remit spans 17 markets and covers strategy, creative and always-on content for the household name.

Charles & Charlotte describes itself as a 'social-first' agency, and that positioning is the whole point. Rather than adapting TV-led ideas for feeds, the brief is to build Hansaplast's presence natively for platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube from the ground up.

Why a 130-year-old brand is going social-native

Hansaplast has more than a century of brand equity but a young, mobile-first audience it needs to keep reaching. Wound care is a low-interest category, so the challenge is cultural relevance — turning a functional product into content people actually choose to watch and share.

Handing a global remit across 17 markets to a specialist independent, rather than a network's social unit, is a bet that platform-native fluency now beats scale. It mirrors a wider shift: brands increasingly want teams that live inside the platforms, not generalists who bolt social on at the end.

The bigger pattern for German agencies

This is the second major German account move this week to favour a specialist over the usual incumbents, after Porsche named Serviceplan its global lead agency. Together they show a market rewarding clarity of expertise — whether that's integration at scale or deep social craft.

For Beiersdorf, consolidating social under one partner across 17 markets should sharpen consistency and speed. The risk is local nuance: what lands on German TikTok may fall flat in Southeast Asia, so the model only works if the agency pairs a global playbook with genuine local adaptation.

What marketers should take from it

If social is still a downstream 'versioning' task in your organisation, this is your prompt to rethink it. Ask whether your next brief starts with the platform or the TV cut-down, whether your agency creates natively or adapts, and whether one partner can hold global consistency without flattening local culture. Answering honestly usually reveals where the budget is being wasted.

Quick FAQ

Which agency won the Hansaplast account?

Berlin social-first agency Charles & Charlotte, which will lead Hansaplast's global social-media strategy.

How many markets does the remit cover?

Seventeen markets, spanning strategy, creative and always-on social content.

Who owns Hansaplast?

Hamburg-based consumer-goods group Beiersdorf, also home to Nivea and Eucerin.

— Oliver Nikolla-Casado, International Markets Reporter at Marketing Minute

Social-native fluency is becoming a lead brand-building skill, not a production line at the end of the process — resource it accordingly.

Does your brand build social-first, or are you still versioning TV ideas for the feed?

If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk

Sources: Horizont, Campaign Germany and new-business.de.

Related reading

Porsche names Serviceplan its global lead agency

Ex-Otto ad chief Rohwer joins Serviceplan agency side

Peter Gocht joins La Red as creative chief

Written by Oliver Nikolla-Casado, International Markets Reporter at Marketing Minute