• by Larissa Faw , March 21, 2014

Superstar Shakira is shaking her hips for Dannon's Activia as the brand launches its first global integrated marketing campaign across more than 50 countries.

Developed by Vinzius Y&R in Barcelona, Shakira's "Dare to Feel Good" campaign builds upon Activia’s "Feeling Good Starts from the Inside' tagline. It shows Shakira in a fantasy forest where she is showered with swirls of gold stardust and dances to express how good she feels inside.

 "There is no better celebrity than Shakira to represent the importance of inner health," says Alberto Bell, global account director for Dannon, Vinizius Y&R Barcelona. "She perfectly exemplifies how feeling good on the inside is essential to her self-expression as a world-famous performer."

The spot was filmed in Barcelona and directed by noted photographer and director Jaume de Laiguana. The commercial’s production team included Oscar-winning art director Eugenio Caballero and award-winning Javier Aguirresarobe.

Still, Shakira's brand endorsement goes beyond dancing in commercials. Shakira’s new song “Dare (La La La)” will be launching as the commercial’s soundtrack and is included on her new album “Shakira,” which launches on March 25th.

The campaign includes the launch of a new global Web site that houses exclusive campaign content, including behind-the-scenes footage from the ad shoot. Activia's YouTube channel showcases behind-the scenes footage. In addition, Activia's U.S. specific site also hosts the ad.

Meanwhile, this campaign represents a new shift for the Activia brand as it evolves its healthy lifestyle platform. Since its introduction -- first in Europe in 1987, then in the USA in 2006 -- Activia's brand positioning has focused on digestive health with creative segmented by regions. Now, there is one global message under a new cohesive strategy that "breaks away from the traditional problem-solution format with a dynamic and positive perception that Activia hopes to ignite by empowering people to pay attention to their inner health, too," says Bell.

"Shakira is the perfect link for Activia in terms of values and personality. We think she will help convey the importance of people’s inner health and be able to show how when you feel good on the inside, it shows on the outside to a global audience."

Still, Activia's brand strategy may be evolving, but women over 35 remain its target demographic. "The thought behind this is that this demographic tries to balance their multiple roles in life with ease and pragmatism," says Bell. "When a woman/mother feels good, she feels more positive and her approach to her health becomes more holistic."

With Shakira as the global face of the brand, the U.S. also has three additional spokespeople. Earlier this year, Activia kicked off the "Activia Tummies. Happy People.” campaign with Reba McEntire, health expert Travis Stork, and athlete Laila Ali.