Japanese-born global skincare brand SK-II is committed to help women change their destiny by taking an unconventional approach to female empowerment.

Instead of blaming external forces, which most likely will always exist in one form or another, SK-II focuses on internal pressures women face in order to help them change their destiny, as pressure should never dictate choices.

SK-II believes in the power of storytelling to influence culture, overcome biases and create positive change. Over the years #CHANGEDESTINY campaigns have inspired millions, focusing on controversial topics like marriage pressures and other societal expectations women face globally.

When the Tokyo 2020 Olympics were rescheduled to 2021, SK-II saw opportunity in taking its sponsorship of the event to another level by proving its support of women athletes and highlighting not only their Olympic triumphs but also their personal struggles and the inner demons they overcome on way to changing their destiny.

True to our #ChangeDestiny moto SK-II would stand-up to the external forces that are pushed on women every day and the internal pressures they generated more than ever-before during Covid. SK-II would support her in her internal struggles and help her confront her inner demons to help her realize destiny is her choice, not society’s chance.

Change Destiny is about taking responsibility, one shouldn’t wait for the world to change and there is little use in blaming it for your fortunes or taking the victim route, the important thing is to not let these external forces get to you.

SK-II’s Olympics campaign would focus our storytelling on elite athletes who despite their immense success are fighting similar internal demons like our prospects face. In true Japanese spirit those internal demons would be brought to life via animated mythological monsters called Kaijus the athletes must defeat to pursue their destiny.

Change Destiny is at the core of SK-II’s longstanding messaging and the brand connects with its target audience of young adult women on an emotional level by addressing the real issues impacting their confidence.

We would establish SK-II Studio™, a film production house dedicated to tackling social pressures impacting women. Bringing together world-renowned film-makers, animators, musicians and content-creators we will use the power of long-form storytelling and the combination of real-life footage with animation to bring to life the internal struggles of our ambassadors, with imagination, authenticity and sensitivity as well as the passion to inspire positive change.

SK-II Studio™ film releases would sit at the heart of our campaign, as we replicated the media strategy used by major global movie launches with star-studded premieres, teaser events and behind the scenes footage.

Our campaign would spark conversations around social pressures and the inner struggles they trigger for many women.

“Vs.”, our Olympics-themed anthology inspired women to take charge of their own destiny with six episodes that interpret the personal journey of SK-II sponsored athletes, detailing how they changed their destiny.

Combining animation and real-life footage, each episode explored overcoming societal pressures such as trolling, beauty rules, image obsession and self-doubt, all dramatically brought to life as a “kaiju”, a Japanese monster, representing an inner demon the athletes must defeat.

The teaser event in New-York’s Times-Square featured Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, followed up by a star-studded premiere in China and a global teaser campaign.

Augmented-Reality social retail pop-up stores were set up in conjunction with an immersive SK-II City experience, where one could stroll the virtual streets of Tokyo and watch “Vs.” in our virtual cinema.

Each view triggered a donation to SK-II’s #CHANGEDESTINY Fund supporting women owners of small businesses in Tokyo who had suffered due to Covid.

“Vs.” touched the hearts of millions to become the most successful #ChangeDestiny Campaign of all time amassing 1.4bn views globally, enjoying overwhelming positive consumer sentiment (99%) and driving up global sales by 11%.

• 970 organic PR stories globally in top publications including CNN and Vogue.

• Launch premieres delivering record-breaking viewership/engagement.

• Close to 1m consumers engaged in social media conversations.

• “VS” ranked among the top six Weibo movies in China!

• Pop-up stores delivered 50% incremental traffic and 15% incremental new users.

SK-II’s campaign also proved its deep cultural relevance in an unplanned way when gymnast Simone Biles, captured the world’s attention upon withdrawing from Olympic competitions due to mental-health demons. She then came back to win a medal and show how you can #changedestiny.