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- Skincare Unboxed | Can brand still win in a market built for ROAS?
Skincare Unboxed | Can brand still win in a market built for ROAS?
Plus, SEEN Hair Care shows why your haircare may be hurting your skin
Sophie Bruxner-Randall
June 25, 2025
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Welcome to Skincare Unboxed — your weekly drop of skincare eCommerce trends, campaigns, and category standouts.
Editor’s Pick ✨
What Cannes 2025 Got Right (and Missed) About Brand
✍️ By Sam Carter, CEO of Fospha
At Cannes Lions this year, one word kept surfacing: brand.
In a performance-obsessed world, brand feels harder to defend. It doesn’t show up in ROAS or fit neatly into a reporting cycle. But that doesn’t mean it’s not driving results.
As Rory Sutherland put it, “A brand is like a pension… one day you wake up and go: bloody hell, where did all this equity come from?”
He’s right. Our data at Fospha shows brands investing more than 10% in upper-funnel activity see 2x the overall marketing efficiency. But belief isn’t the issue — buy-in is.
To protect brand budgets, we need better evidence. That’s why we’ve identified early signals—like branded search and engaged visits—that connect brand activity to business outcomes.
Sector Spotlight 🎥
BEAUTY MARKET TRENDS
Estee Lauder, Coty, and European Wax Center are maintaining stability amid difficult market conditions, focusing on eCommerce, digital advancements, and innovative products. This approach helps counter rising operational costs and evolving consumer behaviors, providing strategic insights for marketers grappling with similar economic challenges.
BEAUTY MARKETING HIGHLIGHTS
Beauty marketing has transformed with a focus on inclusivity, digital engagement, and authenticity, shaping how brands connect with audiences. Notable campaigns include Fenty Beauty's extensive shade range, Glossier's community-driven engagement, and e.l.f.'s TikTok success, highlighting the importance of cultural relevance and innovative branding for marketers today. These examples illustrate that understanding cultural trends and digital channels can significantly influence brand perception and success in a swiftly evolving marketplace.
HAIR-SKIN CONNECTION
SEEN Hair Care, founded by Iris Rubin, MD, addresses the link between hair care products and acne-prone skin, filling a gap with non-comedogenic formulations. Hair care residues affect skin, contributing to acne and irritation. SEEN's dermatologist-backed approach leads to improved skin health, aligning with the "skinification" trend.
AI SKIN ANALYSIS
EveLab Insight's new dynamic wrinkle detection technology, showcased at VivaTech 2025, utilizes advanced AI-driven, video-based analysis of skin. This enables real-time tracking of skin reactions to expressions, offering deeper insights for personalized skincare strategies. Such precision aids beauty professionals in crafting tailored recommendations based on each individual's unique skin behavior.
🏆 Announcing the ClickZ 25 of 25 Awards –
Powered by Fospha
While the world’s eyes were on Cannes last week, we’ve been spotlighting a different kind of creativity.
The ClickZ 25of25 Awards spotlights 25 standout DTC and digital-first campaigns that drove real impact this year — across five key sectors: luxury, beauty, wellness, home, and fashion.
Each winner represents smart, scaled, creatively sharp marketing — and we’re thrilled to celebrate their work.
You’ll find the full list — plus sector breakdowns and creative highlights — in our full awards report.
📥 Download the full report below
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👉 Got a standout campaign or behind-the-scenes story to share? ClickZ is always looking to spotlight fresh creative — reach out to us, we’d love to hear from you.
Optimization Hub ⚙️
OMNICHANNEL STRATEGY
Omnichannel plans enhance customer retention by integrating diverse communication channels, offering a seamless customer experience. This approach fosters loyalty as customers feel understood across platforms such as SMS, email, and WhatsApp. For marketers, leveraging this strategy ensures consistent engagement and insight into customer needs.
RETAIL MEDIA INSIGHTS
Brands are overspending on retail media without achieving customer loyalty due to impersonal marketing experiences. The SAP Emarsys report highlights a 68% consumer preference for tailored experiences, yet only 32% of marketers provide personalized campaigns due to data fragmentation and outdated tech. Marketers should prioritize real-time insights over media spend to enhance engagement.