Citra, a well-established skincare brand in SEA, suffers from a fragmented brand identity and falling brand engagement since 2009. Citra wanted to refresh the brand and create a unified, consistent visual communication across its SEA markets. They wanted to be more relevant to consumers and have a greater presence in the social space where consumers are. The budget for the refresh campaign was €500K and spanned across 6 countries (Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos), to include all consumer touchpoints, including film, print, outdoor, point-of-sale, digital content, and social media.

We reexamined our brand’s communication in the past 5 years and mapped it against consumer trends and social listening studies. We found that to be highly recognizable and relevant, we need to start with what Citra stood for to be distinct, instead of being a ‘me-too’ brand chasing superficial fads. Stemming from our brand core, naturalness was the key thread across all executional considerations. We focused on telling a rich ingredient story and conveying our craft process. We moved away from computer-generated visuals and shot all elements live in-camera for stills and films. The ingredients we show are never larger-than-life, but kept to real proportions next to the product packs. We also transformed from contrived poses and exaggerated expressions in our talents portrayed, to showing women who are independent and have self-confidence, without needing external validation. The new brand experience across 6 SEA countries was natural, authentic, relevant, and contemporary