Jane Iredale’s AR Ad on YouTube Drove 11% of Viewers to Virtually Try On a Shade, Versus a Standard 1% Click Rate
Iredale Cosmetics is a clean makeup brand that embraces the holistic approach to beauty developed by founder Jane Iredale. The innovative, cutting-edge powder foundation that launched her eponymous cosmetics line, jane iredale, more than 20 years ago was the first to offer healthy skincare benefits in addition to beautiful coverage.
Today, the jane iredale brand has grown into a comprehensive collection of clean makeup and skincare products that nourish the complexion inside and out while enhancing its natural beauty. From its headquarters in the beautiful Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts, jane iredale makeup and skincare is offered in more than 50 countries through fine spas and salons, destination resorts, apothecaries, medical offices and luxury retail.
When the COVID-19 pandemic caused many brick and mortar establishments to temporarily close, the company saw it as an opportunity to expand its digital outreach—using augmented reality (AR) as a key element.
“Wanting to grow the brand, we recognized an opportunity to tell our story to consumers through digital,” says Ross Miller, Vice President of Digital at Iredale Cosmetics, Inc. “I defined our number one strategic objective as customer acquisition, introducing the brand to new customers and having them make their first purchase online. To do this, we knew we had to provide an exceptional virtual try-on experience with the very best augmented reality.”
Exploring the beauty of jane iredale with virtual try-on.
Iredale Cosmetics chose Perfect Corp. and the Perfect Corp. AR platform. Perfect Corp. combines powerful AI with its industry-leading AR to provide stunningly lifelike results.
“We looked at other companies, but Perfect Corp. is clearly the leader in AR technology,” Miller says. “We went live in March 2021, providing virtual try-on for all of our color cosmetics, which is about 80% of our product line.”
The company placed special emphasis on its Beyond Matte Lip Fixation Stain, because it is hydrating and doesn’t transfer onto other materials—something especially important as face masks were a prominent consideration for makeup during the pandemic.
Iredale Cosmetics integrates the Perfect Corp. AR platform into its website, and also features its products on Perfect Corp.’s YouCam site.
The company is so impressed with the hyper realism Perfect Corp. AR brings to its products that it has integrated VTO across its marketing efforts.
“We have made VTO as prominent as possible, using it across all of our color products,” Miller says. “We feature our VTO product experience on our homepage, in emails, in organic and paid social, as well as integrating it into our monthly content stories.”
One of the innovations jane iredale embraced is giving viewers the opportunity to virtually try on products while watching a YouTube TrueView in-stream ad. While the YouTube TrueView in-stream ad is playing, a pop-up box appears on the screen, inviting the viewer to try on the advertised product, in this case Beyond Matte Lip Fixation Stain, for themselves. Using a picture-within-a-picture format, the viewer will see their own face, and apply the product, at the same time they are watching the influencer.
This interactive VTO experience has proven captivating for jane iredale customers.
“We’ve seen very impressive results from integrating VTO into our advertising,” Miller says. “We plan on making this a regular part of our digital playbook going forward.”
YouTube ad for jane iredale invites users to try on Beyond Matte Lip Fixation Stain, virtually.
Iredale Cosmetics has found a number of benefits since deploying the Perfect Corp. AR platform, including:
The jane iredale team is delighted with the impact their Perfect Corp. virtual try-on experience has had on converting shoppers to buyers.
“Virtual try-on actually more than doubles conversion, as customers who try VTO convert at a 117% higher rate,” Miller says.
Along with the higher conversion rate, Miller reports that average basket size increases by 10.6% when customers experience jane iredale products through virtual try-on.
The jane iredale VTO experience is so captivating that those who explore virtual try-on are spending three times longer on the site than those visitors who don’t.
“We were surprised with how immediately and deeply our customers embraced exploring jane iredale products through our VTO experience,” Miller says. “We saw more than 1.5 million try-ons during just our first few months of going live. Average time spent on our site has gone from four minutes to 13 minutes for those using VTO. That’s a 300% increase in session time, with the average shopper trying on 31.4 different shades.”
Miller sees the longer session time as a contributor to the doubling in conversion rates, and he also sees it as creating a stronger bond with jane iredale customers.
“When you see customers spending more time on site, and trying on so many different shades, it’s a sign that they have found an enjoyable and captivating experience,” Miller says. “This facilitates great brand discovery, builds a tighter customer bond, and contributes to higher sales.”
YouTube Ad with VTO Supercharges Engagement “Tremendous Innovation Success—51% View Rate”
Iredale Cosmetics worked closely with Perfect Corp. to create the YouTube TrueView in-stream ad for jane iredale’s Beyond Matte Lip Fixation Stain, which incorporated VTO.
“The ad proved to be a tremendous innovation success,” Miller says. “The ad had a 51% view rate which was almost double what we expected to see. We were also excited to see that 11% of those who viewed the ad actually joined the fun by activating their own VTO experience to go along with the video. That’s a big number because viewer click-through for ads in general is usually less than 1%.”
Miller adds: “Our Augmented Reality True-View in-stream ad drove a 73% stronger view-through rate versus non-VTO True-View In-Stream ads, and at similar CPV [cost-per-view] efficiencies.”
“Integrating VTO into our YouTube ad really worked well for telling our story,” Miller says. “The user response we had makes this a game changer for us, something we plan to continue doing.”
22% Lift in Brand Awareness “If You Don’t Stand Out, You Blend In”
Because of the high viewership of the ad, and the way it captured the attention of viewers, post-run surveys found a significant lift in brand awareness for jane iredale.
“Our augmented reality VTO TrueView ad drove a 22% lift in brand awareness,” Miller says. “The survey, conducted by YouTube, asked questions about which brands viewers had seen ads for, and which products they were considering. Someone once told me that if you don’t stand out, you blend in. Bringing VTO into our ads is helping us to stand out.”
Precise Hyper Realism of Perfect Corp.’s AR Beauty Tech is Unrivaled
Miller says that the AI-powered AR of Perfect Corp. is so realistic that it even impresses the product teams within jane iredale. “We test everything for accuracy and are always amazed by the realism of Perfect Corp.’s augmented reality,” Miller says.
He recalls the AR technology impressing company leaders recently when he gave a brief demonstration at the end of a long internal meeting.
“It had been a three-hour long meeting, and I presented at the very end,” Miller says. “I told the leadership group that virtual try-on had been an amazing success for us, and then I gave a demo, shared my screen, just used my face, and started flipping through lipstick shades. Team members across different functions like Finance and Sales were amazed. They were blown away to see VTO in action.”
About Perfect Corp.
With over 900 Million downloads globally, Perfect Corporation is dedicated to transforming how consumers, content creators and beauty brands interact together through advanced AI and AR technologies. Our experienced team of engineers and beauty aficionados are pushing the frontiers of technology to create the beauty platform of the future—a fluid environment where individuals express themselves, learn the latest about fashion and beauty, and enjoy instant access to the products from their favorite brands. Further information about Perfect Corp.can be found at perfectcorp.com.
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