Similar to the world of fashion, in recent years, the beauty industry has turned its attention to Asian celebrities. Tapping into these starsโ power, brands have introduced new ambassadors, campaigns, and even collaborations. However, in an ever-changing and fast-paced world, establishing ties with these celebs is only the start. As the industry continues to grow, beauty brands are also innovating the ways they communicate with their consumers.
To gain professional insights, EnVi caught up with Laurent Franรงois, Managing Partner of 180 LUXE โ the special luxury unit of the creative agency 180. Ahead, we discuss the state of the beauty industry, the appeal of Asian celebrities as beauty endorsers, and 180 LUXEโs award-winning Dior Addict campaign starring BLACKPINKโs Jisoo.
The State of The Industry
The rise of social media has contributed to an undeniable boom in the cosmetics and skincare market. With beauty at the forefront of social media marketing, part of this success has been driven by social influencers. However, as the streams of brands, products, and content increase, communication strategies have changed over time. In tandem, consumersโ demands and approaches to beauty have drastically shifted.
โBeauty has changed a lot in the last couple of years. Communities are exploring far more creative ways to play with makeup, whether thatโs connecting it with cultural trends, making it a marker of an era, or a topic to have fun with and debate,โ Franรงois, tells EnVi. โBeauty today helps create social interactions. It can be the latest craze, like the โsad girlโ beauty trend, gathering people on TikTok. Or it can be political, using makeup as a social artifact to demonstrate or manifest. On the other hand, skincare discussions online are [now] more than just product reviews; they attract like-minded users, who can talk together about self-confidence, self-esteem, and about their sometimes complicated journey with beauty.โ
Moving To New Frontiers
In such a panorama, the beauty industry faces the challenge of keeping up to day with consumers’ interests and conversations. As per the software and data company Launchmetrics, in their โBusiness of Beauty – Top 700 Performersโ report, despite being labeled as an โaffordable luxury,โ year after year, beauty continues to see a decrease in consumer engagement on social media. As they put it, this decline is an indicator of consumer fatigue. Likewise, the emergence of new channels and formats to share content has transformed the beauty landscape.
This convergence of factors invites brands to innovate. From a marketing point of view, this means finding out novel ways to communicate with the public and present campaigns. However, to do so, Franรงois says, brands first need to understand where opinions, trends, and social constructs are actually happening. โA good story requires a plot: the creative idea, audiences, and actors. Audiences and actors are beginning to merge. Audiences have become participants and shareholders of the narratives brands want to tap into.โ He adds, โThe great news is that for brands that know how to appear, and shape ties in the middle of these conversations, the reward is massive.โ
Dior Beautyโs Success Case
A prime example of how beauty brands are incorporating changes and expanding into new frontiers is the award-winning campaign that Dior Beauty introduced in 2022 for the release of Dior Addict Shine Lipstick. Along with 180 LUXE, the French brand collaborated with the communication platform Infobip for an omnichannel experience. Featuring Dior Global Ambassador and member of the K-pop group BLACKPINK, Jisoo, the campaign became the first of its kind, pioneering the use of the instant messaging app WhatsApp.
For this project, 180 developed a tailored communications strategy that consisted in delivering exclusive content (behind-the-scenes videos, AR experiences, product links and more) of Jisoo and Dior Beauty through a WhatsApp group. Fans could interact with a Jisoo bot and select the content they wanted to see. Needless to say, the campaign filled expectations. Not only the WhatsApp group reached its maximum capacity, but the released content was repurposed by fans, going viral on other platforms. The project was also recognized at the prestigious Grand Prix Stratรฉgies du Luxe Awards, with Gold in the Digital/Mobile category.
The Appeal of Asian Stars
The success of this campaign is a reflection of the power Asian stars and, in particular Korean idols, hold. As Launchmetrics reports, Dior Beauty claimed the throne in their 2022 beauty brand report, largely due to their association with Jisoo. โCelebrity posts on Instagram specifically has been Diorโs top source of Media Impact Valueโข(MIVยฎ); however, celebrities in general isnโt the strategy for Dior. One celebrity in particular, Jisoo Kim, has been the powerhouse behind Diorโs mega-reach and engagement,โ they wrote.
For Franรงois, the appeal of these celebrities lay in their storytelling and connection with their communities. โThe main difference I see is in how these idols or icons are handling their storytelling. Most Korean pop phenomenons are sharing highly crafted video series on top of their core talents like singing or dancing,โ he shares. โYou can see traditional music videos, but also a lot of additional content including behind-the-scenes, shorts, reaction videos, collaborations with other idols, special features as well as content series dedicated to each of the members [of a group].โ
As 180โs Managing Partner explains, this media and community model has turned Asian celebs into talents that can deliver a story as opposed to just modeling to endorse a product. The expert remarks on their ability to โenter the daily life of their communitiesโ at a personal level. โFollowers feel more engaged and more responsible because they also act as true supporters of their favorite idols. As the lifespan and the quality of this relationship between fans and celebrities is pretty unique, brands need to see how to incorporate their values or experience in ways that truly add to the narrative.โ
But beyond their strong storytelling and social media pull, thereโs a deeper cultural significance for beauty brands to partner with Asian stars. Franรงois elaborates, โWe also need to realize how Asian diasporas impact cultural trends, and how there are new compositions around the world. In France, we have first, second, and third generation French with origins in various Asian countries, leading to a melting pot of cultural references.โ He adds, โI think beauty brands are not just tapping into a market based on skin considerations but also because culturally speaking, the โnownessโ is made of this mashup of influences.โ
The Lessons Learned
Looking at the lauded and frontier-shifting work 180 LUXE has executed with Dior, Franรงois shares key insights and lessons learned from the project. โI have to say that the main learning for me has been how technology, pop culture, and communities need to โblendโ to fully reach peopleโs hearts. Weโve worked in a very integrated way at 180,โ he says of the Dior Addict WhatsApp campaign. โCultural storytellers teamed up with user experience specialists, PR teams, data analysts, developers, augmented reality artists and content creators, South Korean friends, and of course the magical Dior team.โ
In addition, the novel use of WhatsApp as a channel of communication has led to important findings. โWeโve redefined our vision of communications planning. By spreading our creative ideas and messages in a progressive manner, based on what a messenger app can offer, weโve realized that, at least for a very engaged core community, it was a very exciting way to build a story that people spend time understanding, interacting and asking questions [about].โ
Previously โ upon being awarded a Gold by the Grand Prix Stratรฉgies du Luxe in Paris โ Franรงois had also voiced the importance of understanding fandoms and strengthening ties between brands, ambassadors, and audiences. The expert once again emphasizes the power of community. โIโve been so pleased and grateful for Dior and Jisooโs [fan] communities. Yes, weโve designed an experience for them, but their level of gratitude, engagement and even their own input to make this experience better was incredible. They really used our creative platform as a community device that they, in a way, took over by resharing, creating memes, and adding their own narratives to our work.โ
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