Malaysian Media Awards Winners Showcase

Objective & Challenge
/* OBJECTIVE AND CHALLENGE: 2021’s COVID 2.0 — CATEGORY BATTLE WORSENS */ One year into the pandemic, Malaysian women had adjusted skincare rituals, sought new brands, simplified routines as they WFH and traded down to hedge against an uncertain economy. Traditional channels like department store retail counters were still closed. Shiseido’s competitors had ramped up marketing spends eg Lancome spends were 3x-5x those of Shiseido. Facing these challenges, we had to re-launch Shiseido Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate, building strong connection with younger women 16-34. The objective: drive engagement and sales.

Insight & Strategy
/* INSIGHTS & STRATEGY: TRANSFORMING LIMITATIONS INTO DIFFERENTIATIONS */ Due to limited budgets, it was critical to find the right audience. Three key data insights guided us: Insight #1 — Malaysians gravitated towards online entertainment and gaming, viewing increased x5 times for casual gaming videos from March 2020. (source: Google Malaysia) Women outnumber men for casual games by 3:1. (source: YouGov, Rakuten Insight) Insight #2 — Skincare searches include growing informational intent, signalling a behaviour shift towards elf-discovery fuelled by the rise of ‘prejuvenation’ — preventing tell-tale signs of skin aging before they begin. (source: Google Trends) Insight #3 — Covid-19 cases soared in Q1’2021. Consumers were more pessimistic about 2021 vs 2020 (Invoke poll: Statista) /* HONING IN ON ULTIMUNE™’s PRIME PROSPECTS */ We discovered significant data-driven insights: The gaming tribe had high affinity for skincare, wellness, technology and had strong passion for understanding how things work. They admire brands that innovate, embrace trends in an authentic way and actively empower. · I research before buying, 65% Non-gamer Females vs. 73% of Gamer Girls (12%+ Overindex difference) · I am confident using new technology, 38% Non-gamer Females vs. 51% of Gamer Girls (34%+ Overindex difference) · I have personal interest in beauty / cosmetics, 63% Non-gamer Females vs. 72% of Gamer Girls (14%+ Overindex difference) · A brand role in consumer’s life should be: Innovative, 53% Non-gamer Females vs. 63% of Gamer Girl Tribe (19%+ Overindex difference) · A brand role in consumer’s life should be: Improve knowledge & skills, 40% Non-gamer Females vs. 51% of Gamer Girl (28%+ Overindex difference) · I tend to buy premium version of products, 13% Non-gamer Females vs. 17% of Gamer Girls (31%+ Overindex difference) (GWI Q1’2020 to Q1’2021) In a world embracing ‘skinimalism’ and ‘prejuvenation’, it was clear that Shiseido’s Ultimune™ had superior relevance. Prime prospects: female 16 – 34, interested in games,.22 million in Klang Valley (source: GWI) THE STRATEGY: Shiseido Ultimune’s needed to cut through the digital clutter. A legacy brand amongst the older generation, in an era of k-beauty prominence, Shiseido had to WOW the younger cohorts. /* LIFTING BRAND PRESTIGE THROUGH CREATIVE TRANSFORMATION */ We devised our communicative objectives: “LEARN & YEARN” · LEARN: It was imperative that our audience learn of this much-awarded product’s formulation and superiority · YEARN: Analysis of past campaigns revealed that while video ads generated awareness, ultimately product trials drove highest conversion. We needed to convert learning to yearning experience for consumers (via purchase or trial) Given the target audience (gamer girls), the experience needed (smooth and engaging) and the drawbacks of traditional video (don’t convert, slowburn) we decided to bring the glamour and stye of Shiseido’s flagship store in Tokyo to Malaysia by launching a category-first Virtual Reality Tokyo Ginza Street. /* HOW: REENGINEERING BRAND DELIGHT */ We crafted a premium, cool yet geeky experience with gamification to skincare edutainment, instilling charm together with science via a new, interactive, immersive medium.

Execution
Our VR world had 7 engagement levels: 1. The Ultimune™ Museum uncovered the secrets behind previous generations of this prestigious product, creating credibility. 2. In the Botanicals Boutique, users interacted with key Ultimune™ ingredients learning of the brilliant anti-aging effects of Reishi Mushroom Extract and Roselle Extract, to help achieve their personal prejuvenation goals. 3. The Beauty Lab provided users a front seat into understanding Shiseido’s technological prowess in science and botanical expertise fusing together in pure skincare synergy. Users were then quizzed to give them a chance to win the product itself. 4. Shiseido Virtual Store gave users a novel experience of shopping in a VR world. At the beauty product bar a user could browses products just like in a physical store. 5. To lower barrier to entry, samples were offered. Prospects could register when they learnt of Ultimune™’s key USP of ‘visible change in 3 days’. 6. We built an Entertainment Hub, a virtual arcade ‘Red Power Game’ situated on Tokyo Ginza’s Game Street for Gamer Tribe to try their hand at winning prizes worth RM450 each. 7. Recognising women’s interest towards holistic wellness, the platform offered FOC Freal world Flow Studio Class invites for pilates and yoga. We drove traffic to our VR platform using paid search, Facebook and Instagram ads, targeting Gamer Girl Tribe by age, gender, geo-locations, handset type, psychographics, and more.We constantly optimized the process, based on feedback data from our platform, to drive better quality traffic.

Effectiveness
/* NEW MEDIA BRILLIANCE SURPASSING TARGETS */ The virtual world surpassed all expectations within the campaign period July 12 – August 31 2021 · Over 1.8 million reach on social (Facebook and Instagram) · Over 9 million impressions · 1.16 million video views, +677% achieved vs booked KPI · 102,100 link clicks, +240% from booked KPI · Over achieved Shiseido member registrations Visitors purposefully engaged with the VR experience: · Low bounce rate <1% on landing page vs. category average of 20% to 30% · Average time spent: around 3 minutes · 93% of virtual visitors completed the games · Sample registrations, overachieving 116% against target · Garnered highest interest in its largest-volume 50ml set at the Shiseido Virtual Store Above achievements directly contributed to jump in Shiseido’s online sales, with double digit growth during the campaign, its highest ever. PR coverage worth RM150,000+. The campaign has won 5 awards so far (D-awards 3, Marketing Excellence 2) Shiseido Ultimune™ Ginza Tokyo Street delivered A CATEGORY FIRST OF ITS KIND data-driven innovation via VR.