So for our next session, we are fortunate to be joined by Danielle from Bioré. Bioré is a Japanese skincare brand. They're owned by the Kao Corporation, and they specialize in affordable and effective cleansing and pore-focused products, including their popular pore strips, face washes, sunscreens. And the brand's origins actually trace back to 1887 with the founding of Kao Corporation when they set out with a mission to create affordable, high-quality facial soap. And Bioré, as a part of Kao, has maintained loyalty and relevance through continuous innovation, leveraging its parent company's scientific research so they can offer new products, stay connected with younger audiences through modern marketing and engagement. And today, we're gonna explore how Bioré has successfully launched its UV Aqua Rich SPF product by leveraging influencer-driven social media content to create a powerful cross-channel campaign that surpassed expectations for both in-store sales and digital engagement. So a really different kind of story and a different way of thinking about how we're engaging with customers, which I'm really looking forward to. We're delighted to be joined by Dani, who's a senior brand manager at Bioré. She's a marketing leader who creates engaging omnichannel customer experiences for the brand by blending digital and retail strategies. Her expertise in CPG and marketing allows her to navigate consumer trends and use data-driven strategies to strengthen Bioré's market presence. I think we're gonna hear a little bit about that as we go through. Dani is gonna be joined by Lisa, who's the Senior Director of Owned Media at Blue Wheel. Lisa leads teams across SEO, organic social, community management, lifecycle, and she focuses on building integrated, customer-first -- theme here today -- strategies that connect brand storytelling with measurable performance. Lisa's data-driven leadership drives engagement, retention, and conversions. And it contributes to Blue Wheel's management of an over two billion in client revenue across Amazon, Walmart, and other D2C channels. And by collaborating closely with paid and earned media teams, Lisa develops cohesive and innovative strategies that strengthen client success and foster long-term loyalty in the retail marketing landscape. So a fantastic background from both our speakers, and I think they have a lot to share with us. So it's my great pleasure to hand things over to Dani and Lisa. Alright, well, I'm so happy to be here with you all this morning. Thank you for listening to our session. I'll start by giving you just a little bit more background on the brand and our company and the challenge that was put forth in front of us. As many of you know, and as it was set up, Bioré is this leading skincare brand. It's best known for the pore care and sun care solutions, and many of your probably recognize or have heard of Bioré because of the iconic pore strip, which is still around thriving, and that is also a huge pillar of the brand. So in the US, Kao USA actually holds a bunch of brands that you probably are aware of. So we have JERGENS, we actually have Oribe, we have John Frieda. So it's a variety of beauty brands. But our Kao Corporation that's headquartered in Tokyo has a wealth of businesses from chemical businesses to home care, to beauty and fabric care. So lots of different innovation, really rooted in science and heritage. So it's really interesting to be on a brand like Bioré and market it with knowing that it has Japanese innovation but making sure that it fits these Western insights and matches what our target audience is looking for. So Bioré UV Aqua Rich was an item that we were tasked with to bring to the US and grow that globally. It is actually the number one SPF brand in Japan. So it's already starting with a really great foundation, great credibility, amazing science. And we knew that US consumers were seeking a more advanced, lightweight facial sunscreen, and that's what this product delivers. So the question ahead of us was how can we break into this competitive US sun care market? As many of you may know, or maybe not, it's an incredibly saturated market, and there are some very dominant and established players in this market, which makes a challenge for new entrants. And even though Bioré has a long history of being in facial care, sun care is new for the brand. And so it's a harder market to break into. And so at the same time though, we knew that we had an opportunity here. We knew that consumers wanted something more lightweight, no white cast. We knew they wanted skincare ingredients in their facial SPF and for it to do more than just via sunscreen. And so we knew we had the opportunity to have a stance here and to make a splash. And so knowing that, we really had to figure out how to leverage the Japanese innovation and the credibility, but bring it to the US in a US branded Bioré voice with a great marketing tactic and digital-first strategies. We kind of soft launched it in 2022, and then it went much bigger into the next couple years. So the success grew over the last three years, but when we launched it originally, it was all very digital-first, very scrappy tactics. But we partnered with some, we did partner with some big influencers. So Meredith Duxbury, if some of you may know, she's popular by putting massive amounts of makeup on her face and then blending it out. We had her put massive amounts of sunscreen on her face and to show how blendable it is, even when she was overusing it. So very thumb-stopping, engaging content. That plus other tactics really helped this product go viral on TikTok. Which then snowballed into a lot of other success. We got the Allure Best of Beauty Award. We had multiple TV segments like the Today Show and lots of other press mentions that just helped the momentum of this brand continue. So at this point, we knew that the UV portfolio had legs, but it was only e-commerce only. So we quickly realized that we needed, that there was an opportunity to turn this viral moment into sustainable growth and go further into distribution in the market. So we started a really big awareness campaign through 2024 and into this year, which all leads to the success that we'll talk about here in the coming moments. But as it continued to grow, we had a really full-funnel approach. So we went much bigger with our marketing last year and this year. So we partnered with more top-tier creators. We also partnered with trusted dermatologists. So it's great to have that backing and build credibility. And then we partnered also with a couple of culturally relevant events. So being where our audience is helps keep this brand top of mind and also helps with trials, so people can sample it and try it. So you would have seen us at Stagecoach, Coachella, sporting events. And then, we also had a global ambassador, a K-pop band, which is, their name is the Stray Kids, which I didn't even know how popular they are, but they're extremely popular in the US as well. So those moments coupled together with our engaging, thumb-stopping content, a heavy paid media plan, helped garner more press, so the buzz and the momentum was just continuing to swell as we went into the next phase to ensure that the product continued its growth. And all of that led to, and it was years of work. These things don't happen overnight. So years of working and being very strategic, we were offered an opportunity to have packs in the Costco in the US. This was a major win. If anybody on this call is in a CPG company and has tried to gain distribution at Costco, it is very hard to do. They're very, very selective about the brands and the packs that they select. So this was a measure win. Costco was very impressed by the virality of the brand. They love to have items in store that consumers have seen on social media and have a strong fan following. They loved the unique proposition of it having the Japanese innovation, really great skincare benefits, but at an affordable and accessible price. And then the global presence really helps to help them know that it was gonna be a sustainable and had really good staying power to sell through in their stores as well. So together with all of these, that led into now we're at the point of, okay, we have this distribution. It is only in 55 stores, so it wasn't national. So we had to figure out how do we drive traffic and awareness to these particular stores and let them know, you know, drive that call to action to get them to the store to then purchase to make sure that this was a successful partnership with Costco. So I'll pass it over to Lisa to explain how we went through the process, our strategy, and how we gained success. Dani teed it up really well. It wasn't nationally available. It wasn't available at every Costco. So, you know, there were a number of challenges with going through this sell-through successfully. First up, thinking about consumer fragmentation. So there was just 55 warehouses that had the product. And so driving national awareness wasn't going to be effective. We didn't wanna spend energy or dollars in that way. We really wanted to think about a geo-targeted approach. And then, of course, retail pressure is high, right? So, as Dani mentioned, this is a major partnership. We want Costco to be successful. We want to be able to continue to drive momentum. And, you know, there's this expectation to move product quickly, especially with sun care, right? You have a limited season. And so we're looking at category benchmarks on what are the expectations for the timeline of selling through in our stack that's in the stores. And then where are our customers? So beyond the geo-targeting, we also have these sort of data silos where we don't necessarily know the path for the consumer to Costco in a one-to-one map, right? Especially with younger shoppers and the opportunity to kind of capitalize on TikTok and shorter segments of content. We really looked at what can we do in an omnichannel strategy, where we can start to look at the benchmarks as a whole and think through, you know, getting through the skincare launch and passing a 15 to 25% sell-through rate. That blueprint really came to life when we thought about the brand awareness that had already been at play, right? So Dani mentioned there was a number of different in-person events, different online events, and then of course press. And bringing that to light, thinking about how we were successful in those ways for Bioré, the approach ultimately followed four steps, building further awareness with activation. So creator-led content on TikTok and Meta. There was quite a journey to get the product in the hands and find creators that were in the areas of the stores that had the product. We also had the opportunity to amplify our campaigns using Emarsys. You know, with SAP Emarsys, we have this fantastic database that we built up of Bioré email subscribers, and we were able to reach out to people that were within 50 miles of driving distance of Costco's that had the product, and then get them the information, encourage them to come to the store. And so now we're leveraging the AI personalization in our subject lines and our dynamic content. One of the data silos we had was not being able to necessarily identify who may have already purchased the product in store. So again, you know, we're trying to offer messaging that is a little bit more broad in that, you know, "We're excited about this launch. You can find it here. And then if you are already all set because you've got product in hand, then here are some related products that might be of interest to you." And then finally, measuring the data, right? Understanding what was our opportunity to essentially scale and repeat this process for some of our future launches. It's really turning the buzz into retail success for more than one product as we look at future launches and other retail partnerships. When we dig into the online presence, I mean, there was such a fun energy about the in-store shopping and having these influencers come to the stores. In the first two weeks, we had nine content creators generating over 3 million video views, and then almost 7 million impressions. And it was just two weeks. It was very quick. The TikTok thumbstops, so thumbstops actually one of Dani's favorite metrics. So really, when you're scrolling through and you stop. That engagement, it was 15%. It was three times the average that we were seeing. And it was just fantastic to see that this content was really attracting attention. In Meta, we saw almost 5 million impressions with a 3% thumbstop. And TikTok just really blew it away. It was above category for us, and it outpaced skincare norms. So that was just really exciting. And again, when people are coming to Costco, they're not necessarily aware of what's going to be at the retailer before they get there. And so when customers come to the beauty section to see what's there, now they have that awareness of the product. They know what they're looking for, or they've heard about it before. Maybe they didn't stop in the aisle specifically for it, but they've seen our content. They're aware of the products. They understand the backstory of, you know, this is number one in Japan. And then it's such a great deal. So it's an opportunity for them to get it in their hands, try the product, and become a loyal fan. I talked a little bit about the emails. So we had a great base for our contacts to dig into and look at who was within 50 miles of Costco. And we used those AI-driven subject lines and dynamic product recommendations to really personalize the experience. We saw fantastic results. We had over 56% open rate and a 6.6% click rate. So that's much higher than our benchmarks, right? So 14% open rate is more average, and then a 3.5% click rate. So double the click rate, and as you can see in the email creator, we gave them the opportunity to go check if their Costco has it. The secondary CTA was to just go buy it from the .com. Now the same offer was not available online, but if it was something where a consumer might not be able to get to the store, they could still get the product in their hands. Now we saw this fantastic halo effect. We saw a 900% year-over-year Google search lift for the product terms. So on the product detail page, there was just this surge of traffic during the sell-through period, and ultimately we saw a 30% sell-through in three weeks at Costco. So people were looking for the product specifically online. And again, just this great halo effect where they're looking for the product. They're very aware of it. They want to get it in their hands and use it during sun season, which was ultimately our goal. So zooming out, looking at the full picture, right? We had that 30% sell-through in three weeks, which is just phenomenal. We were all very excited about this. It really helped solidify the partnership and the momentum. That 900% lift in exact-match terms, people really looking for this product, excited about it. Over 24 million total impressions. So the data just kept rolling in. Dani and I were checking metrics and working with our teams, just seeing the numbers flooding in. It was fantastic. That thumbstop on TikTok over 14%. Again, that's just something that we're really proud of, and we're happy with the creators that we partnered with. The TikTok click-through rate at that 0.23% is well above benchmark. And we're excited to try more initiatives like this with new product launches. And we are always looking for opportunities to expand on our email efforts and think about, you know, where can we follow up, and what are some of the complementary products that a new Bioré customer might like to try? So that's something that, as an omnichannel strategy, we're looking at every channel and how it plays into the bigger picture of a customer journey. I'll wrap it up with the payoff. So if you are working with influencers, there are some metrics that we like to look at. Ultimately, when you're investing in influencers, there's a different ROI than there would be in paid advertising. And so for this particular launch, we saw 26 times the ROI from our influencer generated content. And ultimately, all of these different channels working together, we had 30% sell-through in three weeks. The major lift in Google search interest, emails that were continuing to keep the flywheel going. Keeping in touch with these contacts and that sort of one-to-one in-box relationship. And then, of course, TikTok and Meta, right? Just millions of impressions and engagement. Dani, do you want to talk about what's next? Sure. We will continue to double down on these creator-led retail strategies. So, we definitely have content that we create of shop-alongs and get ready with me. I bought this at XYZ retailer. But I think how heavy we did this is really telling. And so for any of our other brick-and-mortar accounts, we will work with creators that are specific to those accounts or show them doing shop-a-longs there, and put more pay behind them as well. I think that was just, this whole campaign was a testament to how well that works for the future of Bioré UV. It's continuing to grow. We're going into the off-season right now of SPF, but the fact that it is still a facial moisturizer with SPF, we change our strategy in the off season to be more about the moisturization. And there are still UV rays out there. Even if you're not going to the beach or laying out at the pool. So the content at this time will start to change, and then we will be planning for another big ramp-up in 2026 season. Thank you so much, Lisa and Dani. That was such an inspiring story. And as a marketer, it just warms my heart to see what collaboration and creativity can bring to the party. Data and analytics and segmentation, all the things we talked about, they're so important, but we're also marketers at heart, and we want to think about how we can express our creativity as we're using all these incredible tools. And I think this campaign is such a great example of how powerful storytelling and influencer-driven content really can actually fuel cross-channel success and a reminder that creativity isn't just a differentiator. It's actually a loyalty builder. And I think you showcased that really quite remarkably. We've got a few minutes. I got a couple of questions that popped in, if that's all right, before I let you both escape. I'd like to focus on some of the creative and creativity elements of it, because I think that really sung through not just your numbers, but everything through this campaign. So love to hear from both of you on this one. Why is it so important to optimize creatives for digital? And where, because you guys did that so beautifully. So why is it, and then where do you see, where is it easy for marketers, for all of us to go wrong and lose the impact we're looking to have? In the digital world now, I think a couple of years ago, they said the attention span of people watching online was six seconds. It's probably two or three seconds now, probably less, one second. You're scrolling through. So you have to have what Lisa likes to call the thumbstop. You have to a really good hook, and it has to be something so engaging up front that you want to stop and watch it. And then after that, you get past the two to three seconds, you have continue to make sure that you have good storytelling. And not only that, but you have to make sure that the content is right for the platform. What works on YouTube doesn't work on TikTok. What works TikTok may not work on Instagram, and none of those are gonna work on TV, if you're doing TV. So you have make sure that you tailor the content for the platform. And particularly for this, we led heavily more into TikTok creators, but there can be a little bit of a mix between TikTok content and Instagram reels. So we did have some efficiencies there, which was really helpful. I think the other, one of the pitfalls that I think we see a lot in other brands' marketing campaigns, and we've learned it ourselves, is that you do not have to be so heavily focused on aesthetics and brand messaging. Those things we've had to, in our very trained brand marketing minds, let go a little bit. The content has to come through authentic, otherwise it feels too salesy. And people like to see authentic content, someone truly giving their opinion, and that's what makes someone feel like they wanna go buy. Someone's talking about it that looks like me, has the same issues as me. Now I need that product, because they explained it in a way that was so authentic to their audience. So I think those things we took into account with this campaign and other, all of our other campaigns we do as well, that work really well for us. Lisa, can I ask you a question a little bit more about loyalty programs and lifecycle marketing and how you see that supporting kind of some of the retail sell-through in launches like this one? With the purchase journey, there's an opportunity to check in with customers post purchase. And so, I mentioned, we don't have a one-to-one of who went to Costco and bought it, but we do have our audience, we have our email subscribers, and we can check in with them on, "hey, did you check it out?" I really love to send like one-question surveys in email. So essentially that your main message is, "did you buy this at Costco after you saw it, yes or no?" And then when they click through, they get a landing page, and it's a little bit more focused from there, right? So, if they said yes, now you can explain follow-up products that are complementary. And then, when they purchase through the website, they can also become a loyalty member, right? And so, now you have the sustained velocity where your email and touchpoints are really bringing to surface like all of the benefits of being a loyal customer and what some of the perks are, right? So, if you make so many purchases, you get this promotion, you'll be the first to know about next launch, and especially with like a Costco, with that value pack, now you could be first in line to get on the list and know about it before it's out on the shelves. So, great ways to throw in perks. It doesn't necessarily have to be a dollar value. Sometimes it's just being first in line is a nice perk. I love that. So, that you're not at the end of that giant line and by the time you get to the display, they're all gone, which is the last thing anybody wants. I mean, again, we've all been there, right? So, that's not what you're trying to achieve. You wanna make sure that that really valued customer gets there first, gets the product they want, feels good about it, and then is coming back hopefully for more and is engaged with you as a brand. Well, thank you both very, very much. I think it was a really fantastic story, and I think we all really enjoyed being exposed to a really different way of thinking about it, and your results were impressive, to say the least. So, congratulations. I'm sure that's a very exciting foundation to be building, I'm sure, your next set of campaigns, and looking forward to hearing more and perhaps having you back another time to explore some more of your successes. So, a huge thank you again to Dani and Lisa. If you'd like to connect with them on LinkedIn, you can follow the QR codes on the screen, and Dani, Lisa, thanks so much, and we look forward to seeing you back another time.