Tokyo – Global skincare brand SK-II has promised to unveil their skincare secrets through an exhibition entitled ‘THE SECRET KEY’, in line with celebrating and showcasing their exclusive ingredient known as ‘PITERA’.

Following last year’s celebration of PITERA at ‘World PITERA Day’ in Tokyo, Japan, SK-II  launched their “SK-II SECRET KEY HOUSE” physical art exhibition for July 29 and 30 as part of its World PITERA Month, a month-long transformational journey aiming to highlight PITERA.

The SK-II SECRET KEY HOUSE will be joined by some of the world’s biggest names in beauty, featuring exclusive appearances from SK-II’s global celebrity ambassadors including Japanese actress Haruka Ayase, award-winning Chinese actress Tang Wei, Mina of global girl group Twice and Chinese actress Qiu Tian.

Commenting on the campaign, Haruka Ayase said, “I am looking forward to unlocking new secrets about SK-II and PITERA™ at SK-II SECRET KEY HOUSE that even after more than 10 years with the brand I don’t know about. I’m always excited to discover more about PITERA™ and how it can transform skin to Crystal Clear.”

Mina from TWICE also expressed her excitement in joining the campaign as it marks the first time that she’ll be meeting and interacting with PITERA fans in-person as SK-II’s ambassador. “I can’t wait to share the story of my transformational skin journey – I might even include more secrets of my own,”she added. 

Meanwhile, Sue Kyung Lee, global CEO of SK-II, mentioned, “For the first time in SK-II’s history, we will be handing our consumers the keys to unlock the biggest, most closely guarded secrets behind SK-II and our iconic PITERA. We hope to continue inspiring women to choose their skin destiny by embarking on their own journey to unlock Crystal Clear Skin transformation with PITERA, The Secret Key.”

Singapore – Regional e-commerce platform Lazada has launched an augmented reality-powered feature called ‘Virtual Try-On’, where users can instantly sample products with pictures or live videos of themselves before making a purchase.

Users are able to immerse themselves with hyper-realistic virtual makeovers, try-on beauty products in real-time with true-to-life results. The ultra-personalised experience is straightforward and instantaneous, increasing customer satisfaction and confidence, and helping create great shopping journeys, without the need for physical product sampling.

The feature leverages Perfect Corp’s try-on platform, allowing consumers to preview their looks with the in-store experience in their homes via the LazMall flagship stores of Bobbi Brown, Estée Lauder and M.A.C. 

Alice Chang, founder and CEO at Perfect Corp, said, “Here at Perfect Corp, we pride ourselves on delivering market-reading AI and AR-powered virtual makeup try-on solutions that seamlessly integrate into our brand partners’ channels, and help them create high touch, customised, and ultra-realistic virtual shopping experiences. We are excited to partner with Lazada to bring our revolutionary solutions to their customers.”

Meanwhile, James Chang, chief business officer at Lazada, commented, “With Lazada’s shoppertainment strategy, we are excited to collaborate with more partners and introduce new virtual enhancements to uplift consumers’ experiences especially as e-commerce becomes an integrated part of lifestyles in Southeast Asia.”

He added, “This latest successful pilot is testament to the great partnerships we have and our commitment to scale up such immersive real-world experiences with more brands and products. Shoppers will definitely get to easily discover and try more new products while having fun with their friends and family when shopping on the platform.”

Australia – Galderma in Australia, the pharmaceutical company which specializes in dermatological products, has appointed creative agency Emotive as its strategic and creative partner. 

Galderma carries the portfolio of some of the most well-known cosmetic products such as Cetaphil, Benzac, and Loceryl, and the appointment will see Emotive handling all of the brand’s creative business. 

For its first campaign, it has launched an ad for Cetaphil. The campaign aims to amplify the brand’s status as a top-of-mind product among consumers. While Cetaphil has been a familiar fixture in Aussie bathrooms for decades, its current branding as a ‘medicinal’ product strips it off of the ‘excitement’ factor that is most appealing to younger consumers, hence, the campaign’s focus on the reinforcement of its efficacy and safety in treating skin problems on this consumer group.

With the campaign titled ‘Hype-Free Skincare’, Emotive takes a sarcastic spin on the trend of influencers that are strongest among beauty products. The ad presents a fictitious ‘tell-all’ with an unidentified influencer acting as a ‘Skincare whistleblower’, who reveals to a reporter that while she keeps luring followers to try different skincare products, the ‘truth’ is “all you need is Cetaphil.” 

The tongue in cheek ad is capped off with a comic “So why come forward now?” question from the reporter to which the whistleblower answers, “People deserve to know the truth. Cetaphil face has everything you need.” 

“But while some might think having moisturisers that moisturise, cleansers that cleanse and products that are safe and work for everyone makes Cetaphil boring, when it comes to skincare, boring is good,” said Emotive.

According to Leah Elder, the digital and e-commerce lead of Galderma, the world of social media has influenced what people share and when it comes to skincare if its ‘not ideal for a #shelfie’ or hyped up, netizens are less inclined to share it. 

“Our Hype-Free campaign is a hilarious dramatization of a fictitious influencer having to hide behind a pixel, voice warp, and a protection program to conceal that it’s the trusted, humble brands like Cetaphil that may not make the YouTube glam table but you always have in your actual cabinet or get recommended by your dermatologist. We hope to make people laugh, we hope our closet fans relate and we hope newbies get to know us a little more,” said Elder.

Meanwhile, James Pash, the creative director of Emotive, commented, “Cetaphil was created by a pharmacist decades before social media, and it shows. Luckily for us, the team at Cetaphil was brave enough to let us embrace this truth. ‘Hype-Free Skincare’ highlights just how unpretentiously effective Cetaphil is by parodying the world of ‘skinfluencer’ endorsements and ‘skintertainment’.”

The campaign is now live, and also includes an ‘Influencer Protection Program’ hotline for real skincare influencers who are in need of support.

Bangkok, Thailand – The Intellectual Property (IP) Key Southeast Asia project, an intellectual property rights (IPR) project in educating consumers, has launched a new public service announcement (PSA)-like campaign to promote consumer awareness against the use of counterfeit cosmetic and beauty products in the region.

The campaign is called #YourHealthIsPriceless, and encourages consumers in the Southeast Asia region to support the current cross-border cooperation on improving intellectual property rights (IPR) enforcement by informing other consumers about the downside of buying counterfeit cosmetics and personal care products from illegitimate sources.

“This IP Key SEA campaign aims to continue raising the public’s awareness of this issue, and initiate dialogues on intellectual property rights, including trademark protection,” said Tiago Guerreiro, IP Key SEA project leader.

“Trademarks protect consumers against confusion, deception, and misleading information, help them distinguish genuine products from counterfeit ones, and guarantee the products’ quality. An efficient trademark protection system can prevent people from being exposed to dangerous substances and could save their lives,” added Guerreiro.  

He also commented , “Local authorities in Southeast Asia are currently undertaking efforts to prevent the trafficking of counterfeit beauty products and protect consumers from the harmful effects that these products cause to their faces, skin, and holistic well-being. Through the IP Key SEA project, the EU fully supports this mission throughout the region.”

The campaign, which initially piloted last September this year, is funded by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). Users who have experience in using these counterfeit products may report it online through EUIPO’s social media pages.