SkinKraft conceptualized in 2017 is a New-age, digital-first beauty brand and India’s first AI-driven dermatologically approved customized personal care brand providing skin & hair care products for its consumers. SkinKraft was born to break the notion of one size fits all. Backed by the breakthrough SkinID profiling system and dermatologically validated ingredients, the company strives to provide the best care for all skin types. A collaborative effort from a team of expert Dermato-Cosmetologists, Pharmacists, and Pharmaceutical Engineers, has led to the creation of SkinKraft products. The beauty and personal care categories were among the first to bounce back post the coronavirus lockdown last year.
SkinKraft aims to be the go-to destination for everyone for their personal care needs, with the belief that customization is going to be really big with one in three people opting for it in the next five years. Technology in skincare has made massive developments in the industry so far. With this, SkinKraft is bullish on leading the custom-care segment in India, and offer the users the best possible results. SkinKraft, so far, has generated over 4 lakhs customers since the virtual platform was created, and is visited by at least 45 million users every month. With annualized revenue of Rs 100 crore, SkinKraft is expanding its product range for both women and men. The current landscape has further accelerated the need for digital retail to address the ask for customisation. The start-up is strengthening and expanding its research and development (R&D) labs, overall infrastructure, and enhancing the AI-driven data technology for even better accuracy. The recently applauded campaign #IAmMyType – celebrates the overall brand thought and aims at breaking stereotypes across genres.
Chaitanya Nallan – Co-Founder & CEO, SkinKraft Laboratories talks to us about the reason for launching SkinKraft, the #IamMYType campaign, and the way forward…
What made you launch SkinKraft?
We strongly believe that every skin type is unique hence the products we use should also be designed keeping in mind the skin and needs of one’s unique skin type. This realization resulted in the launch of Skinkraft, India’s first AI-driven dermatologically approved and scientifically customized skincare regimen. This idea was instrumental in making us launch the brand. Conceptualized in 2017, SkinKraft started retailing online in mid-2018. All our products are backed by over 10,000 hours of intensive research and collaboration with Indian, Taiwanese, and Japanese dermato-cosmetologists, pharmacists, and pharmaceutical engineers.
How is SkinKraft using AI to provide personalized skin and hair care products?
We are India’s first AI-enabled one-step solution for those who seek a skincare product that matches their skin type without having them experiment with several available products in the market. The system requires customers to take a complete skincare assessment test by simply clicking on the tab ‘Know Your Skin’ or ‘Know Your Hair’ available on our website. The test after assessing the skin type provides a personalized data-driven product that gets delivered at one’s doorstep.
Are we seeing a surge in DIY/ going back to traditional ways in this pandemic/lockdown as salons were shut?
Lockdown has in many ways made people independent and self-sufficient. With the current situation, there is a lot of concerns around physical proximity and a lot of DIY which people are trying. However, these would just be as temporary as the same trend was seen last time as well where the footfalls for the salons improved as the active cases came down along with the easing of the lockdown restrictions.
What is the TG you are catering to? Are you also seeing customers from Tier 2&3 markets?
For the last two years, we saw the sales dominating the tier 1 market since the design of the product is such. After the lockdown, we were glad to see that almost 40% of our sales came from tier 2&3 markets. We wish to reach out to everyone looking for a personalized solution to their skincare. We reach our customers who are spread across the locations through digital media as it makes it easier for us to reach out to the people in other cities.
Can you tell us more about the #IAmMyType campaign and what was the idea behind it?
The world loves to stereotype. But the truth is we are our own type,” says the voice-over of our first-ever brand campaign #Iammytype. The campaign highlighted the fact that “each individual has their own distinct personality, set of religious beliefs, habits, lifestyle, philosophies, political instincts and professions. So, why should their skin and hair care be generic and not tailored just for them?” The ad film was released in February this year with a 360-degree multimedia plan pan-India across TV, Print, Digital, Theatre, and Outdoor. The campaign was well perceived by everyone because of the strong messaging we tried to communicate through this campaign.
Recently, we extended the narrative of the campaign #Iammytype with a video series featuring opinion leaders, innovators, artists, and experts across the industries. The messages from this unique caliber of people have now been extended as inclusive, diverse, and progressive portrayals of independent individuals celebrating the movement of being unique. A special video series which is raw, unscripted, straight from the heart, shot on phones/laptop featuring these leaders reiterating the idea of challenging stereotypes, of being different without really being slotted into any one category, in a very distinct and unconventional manner; both on LinkedIn & YouTube.
Notable personalities who are part of the movement include Chander Kanta Gariyali – IAS, Social Activist & Author; João Pedro PaesLeme, Founder – Play9; Nand Kishore Chaudhary, CMD – Jaipur Rugs; Vivek Bhargava, CEO – Dentsu Aegis Network; GhanshyamTiwari, National Spokesperson, Samajwadi Party; AbhishekGoenka, Head RPSG, Capital Ventures; Kavindra Mishra, MD, House of Anita Dongre; Giuseppe Di Nuccio, Chief Executive Officer – Italian Creation Group SpA; Hendy Setiono, Founder & CEO– Baba Rafi Enterprise; Dr Ramesh Byrapaneni, Cardiologist turned Venture Capitalist; AshishKashyap, Co-Founder – Ibibo Group &IndMoney;; Shivani Poddar, Co-Founder- FabAlley&Indya; Payal Singhal, Fashion Designer; Prabhkiran Singh, CEO – Bewakoof.com; AtulJalan, CEO – Algonomy; GirishRamdas, CEO – Magzter, Manish Kapoor, CEO – Pepe Jeans London, Pallavi Barman, Brand Custodian – HRX by Hrithik Roshan; Richa Bahl, Interior Designer- Design Studio, Neha Kant, Founder & Director – Clovia; Abhishek Jain, Gujarati Film Director & Co-Founder of OHO OTT, TaranaLalwani, Senior Director, Innoven Capital Leading Venture Debt Fund and many more.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skinkraft
YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/c/SkinKraftOfficial/videos
How expensive is SkinKraft?
Once the customer visits the website they are directed to a ‘skinID’ questionnaire, which is designed by a dermatologist. It then recommends a three-step customized routine complete with a cleanser, a moisturizer, and a skin issue-specific product addressing their primary concern. The regimen kit starts at Rs 999.
Way forward?
We are currently focusing on expanding our online presence across tier 2&3 markets.
We are actively building on our presence in the marketplace. Amazon is already live with single SKU offerings along with the core regimen. Myntra, Flipkart is also in the pipeline. We have many exciting products underway for our own website as well as the marketplace.
How are you seeing the Skin Care and Hair Care market in India as compared to globally?
Customization is most definitely the future of the personal care industry in India. Not just skin & hair care, but body care, color cosmetics is how deeply customization as a proposition will penetrate. This is all due to the growing awareness of personalization.
