Brand & Content Strategy
Small Canadian retailer Kiyoko Beauty was a David struggling to stand out amongst Goliaths in the over-saturated, highly competitive Asian beauty market. As Content Specialist, I helped create a refreshed brand strategy that positioned Kiyoko as an approachable authority within the Asian beauty industry serving new category users, with a TikTok content strategy to support it.
The result? A six-figure business, multiple viral videos, and a TikTok audience that had grown to over 100k in two years.
Kiyoko Beauty
Curious Claires
Through our research, we found that other Asian beauty retailers in North America primarily focus on targeting people who were already familiar with and using Asian beauty products in their routines. Instead of competing for their attention, we realized we could tap into a large, yet underserved segment of the market: Curious Claires. These people are potential new category users; they know nothing about Asian beauty, but are curious abut making the switch away from their Western beauty routines.
Your Best Friend in All Things Asian Beauty
Curious Claires are more than just curious; they’re also cautious and confused. They’re scared of diving into the world of Asian beauty alone, but don’t know who to trust to guide them.
That’s where Kiyoko’s refreshed brand strategy comes in. By repositioning ourselves as your best friend that they can always turn to for Asian beauty advice, we were able to earn the trust (and business) of thousands of Curious Claires. We communicated this new brand message where Curious Claires are look for information and beauty advice: TikTok. Talking-head style videos breaking down simple Asian beauty concepts and explaining how to choose the right products for you grew the @kiyokobeauty TikTok account to over 100k followers with several viral videos.
@kiyokobeauty TikTok Followers
Asian Beauty for All
However, Curious Claires also skeptical. Will Asian beauty work for me if I’m not Asian?
The success of videos like “American vs Asian approaches to skincare and Asian vs Western skincare and What does “whitening” really mean in Asian skincare? helped us realize that Curious Claires need more that entry-level information about Asian beauty products and routines. They need reassurance that it’s worth making the switch, and that Asian beauty products will work for them.
Facing this skepticism head-on was the play. In response to a comment on a video talking about &honey haircare products with 10k views, I created a video discussing how different hair porosities may react to the Asian haircare brand. The follow-up video garnered over 800k views, spawned a wider discussion about hair porosity with other heavy-hitting videos with other 100k views each, and ultimately helped position Kiyoko as THE voice to trust in the Asian beauty space.
