Case Study: Starface

Rakuten Advertising developed a three-month long ad campaign with acne treatment brand, Starface, that ran on Rakuten’s media platforms, Viki and Soompi to reach their audience from a more refined angle.

11.8m

Impressions

97%

View-through Rate (VTR)

+71%

Awareness Lift

About the Brand

Starface launched its first product in 2019, a star shaped healing sticker called Hydro-Stars. This fun and unconventional acne treatment works towards normalizing treating everyday breakouts.

The Story

Starface wanted to continue raising brand awareness among their target audience, Gen Z customers. The brand found that acne can be a sensitive subject, and often carries a negative stigma that is uncomfortable for teenagers to discuss. To better reach their audience, for the holiday season, Starface wanted to try something new and engage customers on platforms where they be more receptive to the brand’s message.

“Viki and Soompi have been the best platforms for us in terms of brand awareness and conversion. As a small business the hardest part is finding platforms that will represent your brand and attract customers to your product. With Viki and Soompi’s young adult audience, it has been super easy for us to showcase our Starface World brand.” – Barry Arvie, Director of Starface’s E-Commerce and Growth Marketing.

 

The Goal

The brand’s goal was to reach 11M impressions and a 90% VTR over the course of a three-month campaign and generate brand awareness by:

  1. Advertising acne treatment as a desirable product.
  2. Expanding digital campaigns targeting Gen Z consumers.

Strategy

Rakuten Advertising helped Starface develop a campaign that would leverage first-party data and powerful targeting options. This strategy focused on:

1

Reaching the target audience.

2

Finding platforms that resonated with their audience and brand.

3

Sticking to one key message per ad with branding upfront.

4

Exposing audience to multiple ad products.

The Process

Partnering with Rakuten Advertising’s media team, Starface launched ads on Viki and Soompi to target young adults and parents who make purchases for them. The ads show Gen Z consumers, or anyone struggling with acne spots, that Starface patches are an acne solution that they do not have to be ashamed of.

Rakuten Advertising made strategic recommendations to achieve optimal performance by:

Banner Ads

Pairing banner ads with 15-second mobile, desktop, and CTV ads that each communicated one key message, with branding upfront.

Ad Formats

Incorporating multiple ‘how to use’ a pimple patch ad formats to keep viewers within the experience and increase product exposure.

Results

Key performance indicators were customer acquisition, impressions, and VTR. The overall campaign produced results that surpassed expectations on both platforms, including:

 

11.8M Impressions

Overall lift in brand awareness: This campaign drove a total of 11.8M impressions over the course of a three-month period.

+97% VTR

The launch of this campaign generated a view-through-rate that was seven percent more than the initial goal.

+71% Awareness Lift

Exposed respondents were 70.6% more likely to have heard of Starface through Viki or Soompi.

Key Learnings

Focusing on one key message highly engages viewers and resonates with the audience.

Targeting an audience on a platform they are already using makes them more receptive to the message, especially surrounding sensitive topics.

Exposing the audience to variations of ad products and continue creating brand awareness.