For its newly launched moisturizer, the Bio-Active Ceramide Repairing and Plumping Moisturizer ($20), The Inkey List is kicking off the new year with its biggest campaign yet. It’s inclusive of out-of-home ads, events in partnership with Sephora and a social media campaign.
A representative declined to comment on the brand’s spending on the campaign, though they said it is its biggest campaign investment to date and includes channels it is playing on for the first time — that includes out-of-home, which has recently been a popular choice among marketers. The brand launched in 2018 in the U.K. and 2019 in the US. It is targeting $10 million in sales for the new moisturizer. The Inkey List declined to comment on revenue, but industry sources linked to the brand predicted that its 2023 revenue would hit over $100 million.
As for the product itself, it builds on current industry trends, but not fads. “Ceramides have been hot for a while. And likewise, ‘skin barrier’ is an increasing term in people’s skin-care vocabularies, for all the right reasons,” said Inkey List co-founder Mark Curry. In clinical tests, the brand found that 100% of users saw an improvement in six signs of aging. They included fine lines, wrinkles, plumpness, lift, firmness, elasticity and barrier function.
In the past, regarding the brand’s assortment, Curry said, “We have been quite biased toward lightweight types of moisturizers. We’ve never put out a real luxurious, velvety cream such as this. And we are asked for it quite often [via our ‘AskInkey’ platform].”
“We want to make products for everybody and products that lean into different needs states,” said co-founder Colette Laxton. That said, the brand’s core community has been millennials, who are now “in an interesting stage in their life where they’re starting to see changes on their skin,” Laxton said. The community was primarily built on Instagram (570,000 followers), she said.
The brand is approaching “anti-aging” delicately, according to Colette Laxton. “I’m 37. I don’t consider myself in the anti-aging category. But my skin’s starting to tell me otherwise; [it’s] starting to change. And I’m going to need more for my skin. Do I want to be starting to use anti-aging products? No. But I want something that’s going to work harder for me,” Laxton said. The target customer for the moisturizer is someone in that same position, she said.
The corresponding campaign will live on subway cars in NYC and wild postings in both NY and L.A. The brand will also advertise via connected TV in key markets including New York, California, Florida, Texas and Illinois, as well as through paid ads on social media via Instagram, Meta, TikTok and YouTube.
The campaign content will include a video series the brand has dubbed “Beauty through the ages.” It spotlights five influencer pairings, in addition to Laxton and her sister. Creators featured will include Danae Mercer (280,000 followers on TikTok), Candice Braithwaite (369,000 followers on TikTok) and Louise Boyce (mamastillgotit_; 387,000 followers on TikTok).
“As part of the campaign we wanted to capture candid, nostalgic conversations between friends. Each conversation reflects the individuality of a skin-care journey, including how skin changes and how someone feels when it does. And the chats capture everything from the lighthearted nostalgia of past beauty faux pas to emotive words of encouragement for the influencers’ younger selves,” said the brand’s CEO, Stephanie Davis Michelman, who joined its team in May. She added that the content series will be featured on both the influencers’ channels and on The Inkey List’s social channels.
The brand will also work with lifestyle influencers to tell their own stories of skin change, as well as with dermatologists to speak to the science. In addition, it will host more than 70 events in Sephora stores across North America, as well as multiple community events across several markets which will give its influencer partners the opportunity to engage with the brand founders and the new product.
The Inkey List plans to invest especially heavily in TikTok and Instagram. “TikTok is a key platform where we have robust brand engagement with our core Gen-Z audience,” Davis Michelman said. That said, she said the specifics of the launch enable the brand to extend its reach to its millennial audience, as well, as millennials are a fast-growing segment on TikTok.
“Moisturizers are the biggest category in skin care, and there is a lot of competitive activity in the space,” Davis Michelman said, speaking about the launch’s motivation. “We knew that if we wanted to have a big impact within this category, we needed to leverage our consumer insights and deliver strong innovation — something the market had not yet seen. Our investment in this campaign is fueled by our belief in the Bio-Active Ceramide technology. From the clinical trial performance that exceeded all expectations in addressing fine lines, elasticity and barrier function, to the rich, velvety texture, it is a major innovation for us.”
She added, “This launch gives us the opportunity to expand engagement with our millennial audience, who is underrepresented in the skin aging conversation, yet is looking for products to address their first signs of aging.”
