SK-II had signed a host of inspirational female athletes for their Olympics campaign – set to define the brand’s purpose of ‘#changedestiny’ for a whole new generation.

Then for the first time in history outside of wartime, the Olympics was postponed, leaving Japan devastated by both the pandemic and the impact of the Olympic-games potential cancellation.

SK-II aimed to restore hope to its homeland whose dreams had been shattered.

So SKII turned to another of their athletes, one who was fighting a far bigger battle. Rikako Ikee was a Japanese swimming-sensation and Olympic favorite – until in 2019 she was diagnosed with Leukaemia. Passionate about wanting to share her story to the public, SKII gave voice to her recovery, an extraordinary story of hope & determination that would eventually in an unplanned manner come to define the brand’s #ChangeDestiny purpose unlike any other.

SK-II and Ikee had one aim: to inspire hope during unprecedented times through the power of storytelling.

Ikee’s story was commissioned to be directed by renowned film-maker Hirokazu Kore-eda.

But we didn’t stop there and turned inspirational storytelling into action by setting up a unique viewership based #CHANGEDESTINY Fund, the first ever views-based charity, contributing $1 for every view in support of women pursuing their destiny to create positive change. A significant segment who needed assistance were small-business owners as 87%(!) of women business owners have been adversely affected by the pandemic.

Viewers of “Center-Lane” would also gain access to a virtual shopping alley --#CHANGEDESTINY STREET within a virtual city (SK-II CITY) featuring virtual versions of real stores owned by women in Tokyo. Visitors will also be able to join a virtual masterclass, listen to entrepreneurs’ story and shop in the stores as if they were in Tokyo.

“Center Lane” is a powerful message of hope and resilience that did not end with the closing titles, with each view the #ChangeDestiny Fund was activated and funds were contributed to support women entrepreneurs.

In partnership with Shibuya City, Facebook, Google and MEETALK - a Tokyo-based women entrepreneurship network, we equipped women with digital and social-media skills as well as business networks/platforms to build and keep the business of their dreams alive.

The program used a three-pronged approach to tackle the biggest challenges women-owned small businesses faced:

• “Learn” - tailored training bootcamp and business consultation (building digital presence, social commerce and international expansion).

• “Connect” - connecting entrepreneurs to a wider network and matching them with relevant role-models.

• “Access” - giving women-owned-businesses access to a wider audience and unique brand building experiences via “SK-II CITY, a Tokyo inspired virtual city.

“Center Lane” became the most watched SK-II video in history garnering more than 49 mn Views with the launch premiere livestream witnessing a 1.2 MM audience (a record for the industry in Japan).

Even more importantly it created an unprecedented engagement from the Japan audience and Media with positive consumer sentiment reaching highest ever levels (99%).

Our entrepreneurship support program was joined by more than 550 businesses 88% of them women owned small businesses affected by the pandemic and suffering a major drop in sales. Program participants found that it led to their acquisition of business know-how, and the building of networking among women entrepreneurs (based on post program survey).

All of the above led to SK-II sales growth in Japan of +30 pts ahead of FY 20-21 growth. New users (penetration) grew +7 pts ahead of FY20-21 growth.