The Brand Identity of Cosmetics Empowering Modern Women: SK-II

Hi fellow brand enthusiasts, 

When we talk about brands that have strong 'brand identity', what comes to your mind? For me, one of those is the Japanese cosmetic brand under the P&G umbrella- SK-II.

(Credit: sk-ii.com)

First of all, the 'brand identity' system consists of mainly 5 components per suggested by Klopper and North (2011:66):
1) Brand Vision
2) Brand Purpose and Positioning
3) Brand Personality
4) Brand Values
5) Brand Mantra and Tagline


All of these are channeled into visible output and reflected through the visual and verbal language of the brand's identity.

Let me take you through the journey of exploring the brand identity system of SK-II!

1. Brand Vision

A brand’s vision is something inspiring that the brand wants consumers to believe; it is like the ultimate goal for its followers to aim towards achieving. More than often, the brand vision can be found through its brand philosophy to highlight its objective.

Personally, I think that SK-II produces one of the most captivating and memorable brand philosophies. The brand’s philosophy is to “empower and inspire women” and this is exemplified through its global campaign of "#ChangeDestiny".

(Credit: leoburnett.com)

This campaign, launched in 2015, was set to challenge the belief that one's destiny is set at birth. Its intention was to start a positive movement to empower women to transform their destiny and celebrate those who have overcome limitations to achieve success. 

2. Brand Purpose & Positioning

Brand purpose defines how a brand should be experienced and viewed by stakeholders; this is important in helping a brand to identify its positioning among competitors. SK-II uses the brand story of how its brand's symbolic ingredient PITERA™ was discovered in the process of fermenting sake using rice and that the elderly workers at the brewery had exceptionally smooth hands. It was then found out that the yeast Koji contained a certain youth preserving substance which SK-II further developed into PITERA™, the winning element to position itself as a 'natural skincare' from other competitors.

 (Credit: SK-II website)

PITERA™: "A clear liquid rich in vitamins, amino acids, minerals and organic acids... derived from a strictly controlled natural fermentation process", PITERA™ is a recognisable trademark that is being used widely in its marketing collateral including website and advertisements.

(Credit: SK-II website)

'Miracle Water': One of the signature products that is said to contain "90% PITERA™" is the Facial Treatment Essence which is also known as the Pitera Essence. In many of its advertisements within Asia, the product is mentioned as 'Miracle Water' so this is a brand symbol of SK-II that differentiates itself from numerous skincare products.

3. Brand personality

Brand personality is the character of the brand which tells you why it exists and what it hopes to fulfil. We can see from the below example to find out SK-II’s brand personality through its brand tone of voice.

According to Heald (2015), one of the ways to describe the brand tone of voice is to summarise in three words. In the case of SK-II, the brand tone of voice is 'confident', 'empowered' and 'natural'. In its 'Bare Skin Chat' campaign in 2019, the brand made a short film featuring four celebrities in Japan and the United States; one of them was Naomi Watanabe, a Japanese comedian who is comfortable in her own skin to wear colorful outfits and show confidence in her size.

In the "Bare Skin Project", six global celebrities took on the challenge to show their au naturel face.Through the voices of these celebrities in campaigns that promote a different cause from the usual beauty standards, SK-II creates a unique brand tone of voice from other cosmetic brands that encourages confidence by being comfortable in your own skin.

(Credit: SK-II website)

The logo is also another visual language to display the brand personality. SK-II has a distinctive colour use of white font on deep red background in its logo and this is consistent across its website and product packaging. White often symbolises ‘pure, natural’ while red signifies ‘bold, confident’. These elements are packed into its logo to show the character of the  brand.

4) Brand Values

(credit: lifestyleasia.com)

#NoCompetition

This year, SK-II started another campaign that is timely to catch the "Olympics 2020" which is slated to take place in Japan. Featuring six sportswomen who excel in their area of competitive sports, the #NoCompetition in contrary is to challenge the notion of 'comparing one's beauty'. This campaign places emphasis on the individual's achievements and to face competition positively; nonetheless, beauty should not be judged upon based on any form of standards.

Such powerful and empowering stories from the brand allow consumers to resonate with the ideal beyond the product itself. Overall, I think SK-II does a very wonderful job in its visual and verbal language to portray the brand identity.

5) Brand Mantra and Tagline

The brand mantra is aimed at the internal stakeholders of the brand (that is, the people of the brand, employees). It needs to express the brand positioning and purpose, and be inspirational to employees to guide them in delivering the brand promise and living the brand values. On the other hand, brand tagline is a slogan targeted at external stakeholders to form an emotional connection through building a consensus. This is usually used on their marketing materials and promoted during campaigns. 


(Credit: koreaboo.com)

From the various campaigns that SK-II launched, we can infer that its brand mantra is 'empowering women' with its tagline being 'change destiny'. In one of their earlier series of #changedestiny campaigns, SK-II addressed a nearly-taboo topic of Asian single women having no 'expiry date'. This bold move sparked mixed reactions and huge discussion but achieved high online participation by females including Korean artistes to post on social media reiterating their support for the #INEVEREXPIRE campaign. At the same time, one of the interviews featuring the brand's Associate Marketing Director as well as a quick check on Linkedin could tell us most of the brand leaders are women. This further demonstrates the brand mantra of empowering their female staff to lead the brand development.

SK-II never fails to surprise the audience with its exciting theme for its every campaign that speaks the same massage 'change your destiny'. From its brand management activities, we can see how a skincare product is not just a product; it is a powerful tool that gives female consumers the confidence to empowerment oneself and not succumb to societal pressures in terms of psychological youth, natural beauty and age.

References:

Klopper, H.B. & North, E. 2011. Brand Management. Cape Town: Pearson

Campaign Asia, 2019. SK-II’s Bare Skin Chat campaign is high on humour. Available:
https://www.campaignasia.com/article/sk-iis-bare-skin-chat-campaign-is-high-on-humour/450589 [2020, March 22]

Marketing-Interactive, 2015. P&G’s SK-II unveils a new brand philosophy. Available: https://www.marketing-interactive.com/pgs-sk-ii-unveils-new-brand-philosophy [2020, March 22]

Heald, E. 2015. 5 Easy Steps To Define And Use Your Brand Voice. Available: http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2015/10/define-brand-voice/ [2020, March 22].

Yaoqi Lai 2015. How P&G Uses Crowdsourcing To Build The SK-II Brand #ChangeDestiny. Available:

https://news.eyeka.net/2015/11/how-pg-uses-crowdsourcing-to-build-the-sk-ii-brand/ [2020, April 15]