British beauty brand The INKEY List launches its first ever campaign in UK

The campaign takes a retrospective look at the difference ‘asking INKEY’ made to 11 of their community who they had developed a personal relationship with during the course of their skincare journeys, and felt compelled to tell their stories.

Shopping for beauty brands, people want transparency on and peer to peer experiences of products by people that actually use them. Community is also at the heart of the brand and so it felt natural to swap models for real-life The INKEY List fans, advocating the power of knowledge and how it changed their skin.

The 11 cast members selected for the shoot spoke about how The INKEY List had allowed them to address their skin concerns by giving them the power of knowledge, resulting in them being happier and more confident in their own skin.

Here, for instance, is a video of superfan discussing INKEY products.

The shoot was directed by Ryan Saradjola, who said: "The reason this project was so unique was because it became clear that instead of creating a conventional beauty, glossy commercial campaign and casting models who have no relation to the The INKEY List, they wanted actual people who use the product daily. I think this is brave but forward thinking and an honest, authentic approach. I’m really proud to be a part of this campaign and to work with some amazing people.”

In the UK, the campaign is being communicated through 30-second YouTube video ads reaching the “beauty and wellness” and “health and fitness” affinity categories, programmatic ads, Facebook, Instagram, influencer marketing, PPC and search, OOH, and a 30” TVC on Sky AdSmart.

The campaign has already launched in the US on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, with influencer marketing, PPC and search, plus the sponsorship of popular beauty podcasts including Fat Mascara and Naked Beauty.

Nickii Gray, managing partner at IMA, said: “The INKEY List is a fantastic global win for IMA and another example of our continued success in delivering integrated creative and media solutions for our clients.

The Knowledge is Your Power campaign perfectly communicates their brilliant point of difference, and we are incredibly proud to launch the campaign in partnership with them today.”

IMA has also designed and built the brand's first D2C website in March, which includes the INKEY recipe builder. It allows anyone to discover their perfect skincare routine in a few easy steps. It has already received over 400,000 completed recipe builds at the time of publication, showing that the power of knowledge is something consumers having being desperately seeking in skincare.

Founder of The INKEY List, Colette Laxton, said: ‘‘We’re truly delighted with the Knowledge is Your Power campaign. It is always a challenging brief for an agency to bring to life something that we, as a brand, feel so passionate about. IMA have beautifully captured the journeys of our community and made them feel so welcome and comfortable throughout the process.’’