Treatwell
Entering a New Cultural Space With Credibility and Confidence
We guided an authentic and credible approach to promoting LGBTQIA+ friendly businesses on the Treatwell app
The Challenge
Treatwell had never explicitly marketed to LGBTQIA+ audiences. As a platform connecting consumers with beauty and wellness professionals across Europe, the opportunity was clear—but so were the risks.
Promoting LGBTQIA+-friendly businesses required more than a badge or campaign. It demanded credibility, clarity, and cultural fluency—ensuring the initiative was meaningful to communities, safe for professionals, and aligned with Treatwell’s role as a trusted platform.
Our Role
We partnered with Treatwell to help the business enter a new cultural space with confidence, applying an Inclusion-led Relevance lens to strategy, messaging, and execution.
Our role was to combine lived experience with professional rigour—supporting Treatwell’s teams to make informed decisions, anticipate risk, and build internal alignment before going to market.
What We Delivered
Following an Unpack → Untangle → Unlock approach:
Inclusive planning and cultural confidence workshop
We convened LGBTQIA+ cultural advisors from our culture-maker network to work directly with Treatwell’s internal teams—reviewing the proposed strategy, messaging, and materials through both lived experience and industry expertise.Strategy, messaging, and material refinement
Campaign elements were pressure-tested for clarity, authenticity, and unintended risk—ensuring the initiative would resonate without tokenism or over-claiming.Risk and crisis preparedness
Detailed internal briefings, risk assessments, and crisis mitigation plans equipped teams to respond confidently to public, partner, or media scrutiny.Earned and owned media advisory
Guidance ensured the rollout was coherent across channels, with messaging that reinforced trust and consistency rather than overexposure.
The Impact
10,000+ professionals engaged, with 4,000 salons across Europe signing up for the LGBTQIA+-friendly badge within the first week
Strong internal buy-in, underpinned by clear guardrails and risk preparedness
Treatwell positioned as a platform acting with care, intent, and credibility when engaging LGBTQIA+ communities
Inclusion functioned as a trust-building mechanism, enabling growth while protecting both communities and the brand.
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What Makes this Case Relevant?
This work demonstrates how Inclusion-led Relevance enables platforms to expand into new cultural territory responsibly.
It shows that when lived experience is combined with strategic rigour, organisations can unlock new opportunities without rushing, performativity, or reputational risk.