Unilever Asia emerges triumphant at FMCG Asia Awards 2024 with three titles
Its global beauty brand POND’S SKIN INSTITUTE has launched several initiatives across Southeast Asian countries.
Global consumer goods company Unilever Asia landed three major wins at the prestigious FMCG Asia Awards 2024 for the success of several events launched by its pioneering global beauty brand POND’S SKIN INSTITUTE.
In Thailand, POND’S SKIN INSTITUTE hosted the groundbreaking Miracles Happen event at Parc Paragon in Bangkok in March 2024 to introduce the brand’s Bright Miracle and Age Miracle collections. This international celebration marks a new era of making “Miracles Happen” through its groundbreaking science and innovation.
It features celebrity ambassadors Tzuyu Chou and Urassaya Sperbund, as well as other VIP guests and beauty creators from across Southeast Asia.
Unilever Asia partnered with multiple retail partners, both offline and DCommerce, leading up to the event and saw over 18% uplift in sales during the promotion period. The event has also reached 140 million people, recorded 850,000 social engagements, and boosted commerce sales by 4.5 times.
The event has also garnered the media’s attention, generating over 132 earned coverages in the span of 24 hours after the event, with key messages covered in 100% positive sentiment. POND’S SKIN INSTITUTE received 240 pieces of online coverage and one exclusive piece of print coverage, with a total PR value of nearly THB22.9m.
VOGUE Thailand, the official magazine partner of the event, has also reached a total of 696,074 with 1,093,494 impressions and 2,643 engagements in its website advertorial and videos across Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.
“This initiative elevated our mass-market brand, sparking brand reappraisal and increasing preference amongst our target audience. These efforts not only strengthened brand affinity but also enhanced the customer experience, extending beyond their usual beauty routine,” the company said.
The event earned POND’S SKIN INSTITUTE the Customer Experience Initiative of the Year - Thailand category win in the prestigious awards programme.
Meanwhile, POND’S SKIN INSTITUTE has also developed an Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) Skin Expert to address the common challenge of navigating overwhelming skin care options by leveraging AI technology for personalised skin assessments and product recommendations.
Relaunched in December 2023, A.I. Skin Expert is built upon the brand’s Skin Advisor Live tool which was launched in 2021. This improved A.I. tool features a robust database that analyses user selfies and performs a comprehensive skin assessment. This technology not only identifies individual skin care concerns but also provides customised product recommendations from the POND’S SKIN INSTITUTE’s latest Bright Miracle and Age Miracle range.
The solution also ensures that consumers can select products that address their specific needs with confidence. This innovation empowers users to make effective choices and enhances their overall skin care experience.
A.I. Skin Expert has proven to be a stellar success, achieving 104% analysis completions versus the set target in the first half of 2024. It is also on track to achieve more than three times the full-year completions than its previous chatbot activation.
It has also received positive feedback from consumers, with 86% agreeing that the analysis results, product recommendations and educational content made sense, and 86% rating the consumer experience as Good or higher. The solution has also seen 30% higher product Buy-It-Now clicks versus a similar skin analyser app.
At the same time, the technology has positioned POND’S SKIN INSTITUTE as a leader in integrating AI into consumer skin care solutions, empowering its consumer base and transforming how skin care products are perceived and purchased.
Amidst A.I. Skin Expert’s success as an online app, POND’S SKIN INSTITUTE has also deployed physical activations through events and booths, QR codes at POSM stores with beauty advisors who guide consumers in selecting the best products for their skin, and on-the-packs of sampling sachets coupled with an informative skin analysis.
“As a tool that empowers users with informed choices and adapts to future advancements, it stands as a testament to our commitment to enhancing skin care experiences,” the company said.
For this remarkable feat, POND’S SKIN INSTITUTE received the Digitalization Initiative of the Year - Indonesia category award.
Another innovation that the POND’S SKIN INSTITUTE has launched is its Microbiome Analyser, which is designed to analyse the skin microbiome and recommend a personalised skin regime based on consumers’ skin goals.
The brand partnered with health and beauty retailer Watsons in the Philippines on the rollout of its experiential beauty tech. The Microbiome Analyser deciphers the complex ecosystem of microorganisms residing on the skin and delivers insights that empower consumers to make more precise choices for achieving their ultimate skin.
It provides users with a tailored product recommendation for a complete day and night skin care regime that best suits users’ skin needs, enabling them to reduce the trial-and-error needed to achieve their ultimate skin goals.
This project has received overwhelming response from the public and media, noting an exceptionally high consumer satisfaction in the post-analysis surveys: 100% of respondents expressed that they are very likely or likely to purchase POND’S SKIN INSTITUTE products after analysis, and amongst which, 87% agree that their perception of the brand has improved greatly.
It has also attracted €132,000 worth of global press coverage across the world, with key local news publishers in the Philippines such as The Manila Times, Cosmopolitan.PH, and BeautyHub.PH featuring the launch.
Moreover, the event generated a huge social buzz amidst the appearance of A-list celebrity Belle Mariano, recording more than 20,000 posts from the public.
Beyond its immediate impact, the Microbiome Analyser launch also raises the bar in the beauty industry, which is still dominated by selfie technology, thereby shaping the future of skin care by revolutionising the way consumers identify and address their unique skin care needs.
POND’S SKIN INSTITUTE nabbed the In-store Marketing Strategy of the Year - Philippines category title in the awards programme for this milestone.
Organised by Retail Asia, the FMCG Asia Awards celebrates the most outstanding companies in Asia’s FMCG industry, recognising exceptional products, innovative initiatives, and remarkable projects.
The FMCG Asia Awards is presented by Retail Asia Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2025 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's exceptional products or initiatives in the FMCG industry, please contact Jane Patiag at [email protected].
