2020 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Challenges and Goals:
Consonant Skincare is an independent, Toronto-based company that produces Canada’s leading line of premium skincare. It has earned a reputation for innovative and highly effective products, but is still a bit of a niche brand.

Following an attention-getting campaign for its Queen Street flagship store in the summer of 2018, in which the texture and surfaces of the local neighbourhood were used to mimic skin textures, Consonant was looking for a stand-out follow-up retail activation.

The goal was to come up with an idea that would help Consonant expand its business base by exposing it to a new audience, and at the same time feature HydrExtreme, its most high-profile – and expensive – product.

Insight and Strategy
HydrExtreme outperforms the market-leading brand of hyaluronic acid and is clinically proven to be one the most potent hydration serums available on the market. Because of its potency, the product packaging is substantially smaller than usual for similar products. The agency took that small-but-mighty thinking and elevated it from a packaging approach to an entire shopper experience.

Execution:
To promote HydrExtreme and broaden awareness for Consonant, the agency launched a micro pop-up at a time when hydration is needed most – winter – and in a setting that made things more extreme: the business core of downtown Toronto, where a large population of people work in business towers with heating known to amplify dry winter skin.

The shop named the store, located in the underground PATH system, the Hydration Hub and made HydrExtreme the star product. The retail experience used the tiny space to maximum effect by finding every opportunity to create engagement. Smallness was the theme for every touchpoint, from the store’s small footprint to promotional pieces like micro-coupons that could be redeemed for 4-mm-high samples of HydrExtreme. Impossibly small swag bags were created to hold the samples.

To increase awareness and trial, the agency created a promo piece with a groundbreaking premise: it could be activated by one’s own dry skin. When pressed against your cheek, a non-toxic adhesive would lift tiny dry skin flakes from your face to reveal an offer for free HydrExtreme. Those Dry Skin Coupons were sent to influencers who shared the
experience with their followers.

A media plan in the immediate surroundings of the store spoke to the significant number of people who pass through the PATH every single day, and added to the overall experience. Outdoor executions focused on the business district via digital out-of-home boards and elevator screens. To communicate to consumers directly, a HydrExtreme coupon was AirDropped to a lunch crowd that eats with one hand and works on their phone with the other.

Results
During the three months the Hydration Hub was open, a new group of shoppers were exposed to the brand and converted. On-site results demonstrated the impact on visitors to the pop-up: 30% of visitors became customers. Among customers given samples, those making purchases generated an ROI that was two times the value of the sample. In addition, the customer data base grew by 5%, and online sales increased by 80% during the pop-up window.

By developing a seasonal activation that leveraged design to demonstrate a product promise in a meaningful way, the Hydration Hub created a shopper experience with measurable business impact.

Credits

Agency: Zulu Alpha Kilo
Chief Creative Officer: Zak Mroueh
Creative Director: Susie Lee, Gary Watson
Design Director: Ryan Booth
Designer: Kevin Sato, Gala Tanaskovitch
Art Director: Kevin Sato, Caroline Sierra-Bornais
Writer: Vinay Parmar, Monika Leck, Luke McNeill
Client (Company): Consonant Skincare
Clients: William Baker, Kristina Breckon
Studio Artist: Anna Harju, Ashleigh O’Brien, Andrew Martin, Brandon Dyson
Studio Manager: Greg Hepinstall
Agency Producer: Laura Dubcovsky
Account Team: Nadine Arsenault, Lisa Sousa, Skye Gandy
Photographer: Sarah Azzam
Printers: Seamliss Graphics & Marketing, Flash Reproductions