Users Stay on the Brand's Website 4.3 Times Longer With YouCam for Web Virtual Try-On

KAO’s makeup brand ‘KATE’ has been actively utilizing virtual makeup as their communication tool since Spring 2019. After introducing virtual makeup at a physical event in May 2019, KATE has been providing online content such as ‘CC personal RED lip recommendation’ for suggesting the perfect red lipstick shade for your skin tone and ’Red Nude Rouge’ for users to virtually try on layers of red and nude shades. We asked KATE’s marketing representative for insights on the launch of the service and the results.

Eye-catching communication method among overflowing online information 

The brand’s target audience is 10s – 20s. ‘CC Lip’ is especially popular among younger generations including high school students, and ‘Red Nude Rouge’ is popular among consumers who are keeping up with the latest trends. When we were planning promotional activities for our products, we felt that it was not easy to communicate with our target audience. Since we are living in the age of information overload, we were looking for a new communication approach that would truly stand out.

In 2019, KAO announced its partnership with Perfect Corp. to further advance brand’s digital planning efforts. After seeing the virtual makeup try-on demonstration from PERFECT, KATE was impressed with its incredible realism. 

We launched the new solution in May 2019 at a physical event. We had a corner where visitors could try on makeup virtually on an iPad and users were very interested and excited to engage in a new virtual way. The colors were very realistic, and we were able to offer ‘fun elements’ to our visitors to play with.

Virtual Markup is a tool for creating and maximizing engagement

For ‘KATE’, virtual makeup try-on is not directly aimed at getting higher sales figures, but rather positioned as a communication tool with consumers. It has been an important tool for creating and maximizing user engagement in various situations.

When ‘Red Nude Rouge’ was launched in January 2020, we were mainly using Twitter to promote the campaign site. We had 430K virtual try-ons in January. We also had users staying 4.3 times longer on the revamped campaign site compared with our previous campaign site without virtual makeup features. This proved that an enriched brand website experience leads to a more interactive and satisfying consumer journey. We anticipate that virtual makeup solution will be a ‘trigger’ for our consumers to connect with our brand and bring them to the store to make a purchase.

Future of AI utilization

In the future, we want to utilize AI as a tool for ‘achieving who you want to be’. We are delighted to know that AI technology is constantly evolving, and by increasing the number of textures and makeup looks, the opportunity for self-expression through virtual makeup try-ons can be expanded even further.