There are massive social pressures around skincare in Japan, with an ageing population seeking products relevant to different stages in their lives.
Johnson & Johnson were looking to innovate their storytelling, taking a customer-centric approach with their newly acquired Dr.Ci:Labo brand.
As a business that grew from a small dermatology clinic, this was a chance to rethink the Dr.Ci:Labo story and products to renew relevance with their ageing customer base.
This led to the development of a new brand and product strategy aimed at changing the perception of ageing, with meaningful stories for people across all age groups.
To differentiate the brand, we used their experience in clinical dermatology and consultation as the base for more honest, positive, and personalised discussions about ageing concerns.
This drove the relaunch of Dr.Ci:Labo’s flagship products, with stories targeted at people in from their 30s-60s, focusing on how life changes impact your skin.
We designed the new brand identity in Japanese, from selecting age relevant brand ambassadors to finding linguistic nuance in the storytelling.
The strategy launched at the start of the pandemic, giving J&J the flexibility to experiment with new, different stories as they responded to once-in-a-lifetime behavioural shifts among customers.
Our test-and-learn experiments led to increased sales and engagement with the brand across all targeted age groups, optimising Johnson & Johnson digital and physical platforms.
This ultimately led to the prototyping of new digital touchpoints to provide personalised skincare and health information based on age, location, and travel plans, deepening relationships with customers through useful advice mechanisms.