KIEHL'S MALAYSIA
The skincare brand ran a campaign in Malaysia during Ramadan that included a series of Instagram Live events hosted by beauty content creators, delivering an 8X return on ad spend.
Kiehl’s is a personal care brand specializing in skin, hair and body care products. Founded as an apothecary in New York’s East Village 170 years ago, its history blends cosmetic, pharmaceutical, herbal and medicinal knowledge. Kiehl’s now operates more than 400 stores worldwide and is known for its branding that describes product ingredients and attributes in detail on the packaging.
return on ad spend for campaigns across Facebook technologies and programs
of new customers in first half of 2021 came from this campaign
of online sales earned during the campaign period are attributable to the Facebook Shop, Instagram Shop, Messenger and Instagram Direct
sales conversion rate from qualified leads who engaged in conversational commerce via Instagram Direct
To effectively reach Malaysian customers and boost sales during the competitive shopping period that coincides with Ramadan, Kiehl’s Malaysia aimed to run a multi-phased (“full-funnel”) campaign to guide people through the customer journey.
THE SOLUTION
Hosting a virtual open house
After gaining insight into how people discover beauty products over Instagram, Kiehl’s Malaysia ran a campaign to promote its skincare product range during the Ramadan festive period. Taking inspiration from the Ramadan tradition of home visits, Kiehl’s wanted to evoke the idea of togetherness despite the continued lockdowns in Malaysia due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. So it created a campaign based on the idea of an open house event, featuring a series of Instagram Live events hosted by Kiehl’s beauty advisors.
In the days leading up to the livestreams, Kiehl’s ran a series of dynamic ads, video ads and event ads in Instagram feed promoting the Virtual House, as well as photo ads in Instagram Stories. The ads in feed featured colourful images that appealed to people observing Ramadan as well as non-observers, and communicated the date and time of the Live events. The ads also promoted various activities, such as virtual quizzes and games, that people could play on the Kiehl’s website, where they could also register to receive free product samples.
On Instagram Stories, Kiehl’s promoted the Live events and various products and offers, such as limited-edition travel sets and complimentary skin consultations for customers who visited a physical store.
During the Instagram Live events, Kiehl’s beauty advisors shared information about its products, as well as skincare tips and tricks that would be useful during Ramadan. The advisors also encouraged people to make a purchase by either: 1) commenting on the brand’s Instagram ads with a specific hashtag that automatically opened a conversation in Instagram Direct, 2) visiting the Kiehl’s Instagram Shop or 3) visiting the Kiehl’s website.
For the remainder of the Ramadan period, Kiehl’s ran simultaneous campaigns that featured dynamic carousel ads and ads with product tags in Instagram feed, as well as ads that click to Instagram Direct in both Instagram feed and Stories. When people interacted with the ads by clicking or swiping, an Instagram Direct conversation automatically opened that invited people to make a purchase or ask questions. Kiehl’s worked with Facebook Business Partner Jumper.ai to build its automated experience for Instagram Direct.
Kiehl’s Malaysia successfully reached its audience virtually, acquired new customers and increased sales during the competitive Ramadan holiday season. The seven-week campaign received the following results:
8X return on ad spend for campaigns across Facebook technologies and programs
50% of new customers in first half of 2021 came from this campaign
59% of online sales earned during the campaign period are attributable to the Facebook Shop, Instagram Shop, Messenger and Instagram Direct
29% sales conversion rate from qualified leads who engaged in conversational commerce via Instagram Direct