Today’s skincare consumers are increasingly savvy. From ingredients and actives to formulations, they no longer ‘buy blind’.

For SK-II, a brand synonymous with its proprietary ingredient PITERA™, this posed a unique challenge.

For decades, PITERA™ was accepted and desired as a ‘miracle’ skincare ingredient. But it takes more than a legend to convince today’s skincare consumer.

While SK-II and PITERA™ enjoy high awareness in Asia, unlike common skincare ingredients for which information is easily accessed and shared, information on PITERA™ is limited and often inaccurate – resulting in misinformation and low relevancy of SK-II’s PITERA™ products. PITERA™ had become just another ingredient amid many.

It was critical for SK-II to educate on the uniqueness, craftsmanship and superiority of PITERA™, but how?

A multi-sensory, immersive exhibition designed to tell a whole new story of PITERA™.

Skin secrets are all the rage. Be it glass skin or skin cycling, Zillennials want to be ‘in the know’.

We dug into SK-II’s heritage to find an angle of PITERA™ that would make our audience sit up. From formulation to scientific discoveries, brand origins and rituals, we left no stone unturned in our quest to construct a compelling story of PITERA™’s lesser-known facts. Starting with the fact that the ‘SK’ in ‘SK-II’ originally stood for “SECRET KEY”.

The idea: PITERA™, THE SECRET KEY – the ‘secret key’ for those ‘in the know’ to unlock their transformation to crystal clear skin.

We visualized THE SECRET KEY into a social-first immersive exhibition in Tokyo, Japan – the birthplace of SK-II. Reimagining PITERA™’s ‘secrets’ into multi-sensorial artistic installations, The SK-II SECRET KEY HOUSE was where visitors could learn and create highly aesthetic social content while unlocking the secrets to Crystal Clear Skin.

To strengthen PITERA™’s equity as a unique, complex ingredient, we had to shift our storytelling strategy from how PITERA™ transforms skin to what makes it the ‘secret key’ to skin transformation.

Media: In Japan, the SECRET KEY HOUSE was emphasised as SK-II’s first large-scale public activation since COVID-19, giving an unprecedented look into PITERA™’s secrets. As the physical activation was less relevant in other markets, we focused on sharing secrets about PITERA™’s origins, nature and the 28-day application ritual.

Influencers: We focused on skin-science KOLs and skin-trend KOLs to create evergreen content about PITERA™ that could be amplified beyond the SECRET KEY HOUSE. Skin-science KOLs uncovered PITERA™’s research and discoveries, while skin-trend KOLs focused on PITERA™’s origins, innovations and skin transformation ritual.

Ambassadors: We maximised MINA from TWICE to drive social buzz through influencer and fan meets, and longstanding SK-II ambassadors Ayase Haruka and Tang Wei for traditional media buzz.

We hosted private content creation sessions with influencers across Asia at the SECRET KEY HOUSE, with all content localized for each market.

China: Tapping on Chinese consumers’ penchant for livestreams, skin-science KOL Ma Shuai hosted a full-day Douyin livestream about PITERA™’s secrets and SK-II’s innovations.

Japan: Testimonials are key so we focused on the 28-day transformation challenge. Skin-trend KOLs posted consistently on Twitter and Instagram about their ritual of using SK-II’s PITERA™ Essence.

Southeast Asia: Tapping on the region’s love for Asian idols, we gave KOLs exclusive time at the SECRET KEY HOUSE with celebrity ambassador MINA from TWICE to generate initial buzz on Instagram and TikTok, followed by a video series explaining PITERA™’s origins, research and 28-day challenge.

Hong Kong and Taiwan: Skin-trend KOLs went big on visual impact, leveraging every corner in the SECRET KEY HOUSE to tell the story of PITERA™’s origins and innovations through stunning visuals.

THE SECRET KEY HOUSE redefined SK-II, breaking misconceptions of PITERA™ and putting it back on searches and social feeds

Business Impact

• Visitor tickets for the SECRET KEY HOUSE were sold out in just 6 hours, with successful sales conversions on-ground

• 30% increase in sales in Japan on Rakuten Brand Day vs previous year

• SECRET KEY HOUSE’s creative consumer experience convinced Tokyo’s top department store, SOGO, to give SK-II a hotly in-demand retail pop-up space for the festive season

Comms Impact

SECRET KEY HOUSE inspired over 1,800 pieces of coverage and 3.2 million social engagements across Asia, delivering massive impact in SOV and consideration:

• Brand SOV against top competitors increased across all markets during the SECRET KEY HOUSE with #1 SOV in Japan, Hong Kong, and Indonesia, #2 in Taiwan, and #3 in Singapore

• China’s top skin-science KOL Ma Shuai’s livestream pushed SK-II to the #1 prestige brand rank on Super Brand Day with 2.6 million engagements and 99.98% positive sentiment

• Record-high talkability in Japan for SK-II with brand searches spiking at 36% increase during the SECRET KEY HOUSE versus previous year, and sustained at 2% increase for two months

• Over 25% of total comments on Southeast Asian KOLs’ posts directly interacted with SK-II and PITERA™, expressing interest, curiosity, and purchase intent