Skincare · D2C
Dot & Key
Paid media and creator partnerships for a skincare brand scaling across India.
- —Return on spendrevenue over total spend
- —Creator reviewsper quarter
- —Hero productsscaled
Results are shared with prospective clients on request, with the client’s permission.
The work
The challenge
A skincare brand with strong products and a catalogue wide enough that paid budgets were spreading thin across too many heroes at once.
What we did
Paid media concentrated on the products with the clearest repeat-purchase behaviour, creative built from creator reviews rather than studio shots, and creator partnerships run as a continuous programme rather than one-off campaigns.
What changed
Clearer hero products, creative that converts because it is proof rather than polish, and a paid programme measured against the store.
Inside the engagement
Too many heroes
Dot & Key's catalogue is one of its strengths — and, for paid media, one of its traps. With dozens of strong products, budget spread across the range meant no single product line ever got enough spend to compound. The fix was editorial: pick the products with the clearest repeat-purchase behaviour and let them carry the account.
Proof beats polish
Skincare buyers trust other people's skin more than studio lighting. The creative programme was built on creator reviews rather than packshots: real routines, honest lighting, textures on skin, before-and-after framing where claims allow. Creators were briefed for usable ad assets — hooks in the first two seconds, product name on screen, vertical-first.
The best creator cuts were licensed and run as paid media, so the content that earned attention organically did the conversion work too.
A programme, not campaigns
Creator work ran as a continuous programme — a standing bench of creators in rotation, refreshed quarterly — rather than one-off campaign bursts. That keeps a steady supply of fresh creative entering the account, which is what paid delivery increasingly rewards.
As with every Markey engagement, results were measured against the store, not platform claims. Specific figures are shared with prospective clients on request.
Questions about this work
Why creator reviews instead of studio creative?
Skincare is a trust purchase. Review-style creative shows the product on real skin in honest lighting, which is the proof a buyer is actually looking for. Polished packshots build the brand; proof converts.
How are creators selected?
For audience fit, checked before any product ships: does this creator's audience already buy in the category? Follower count is a tiebreaker, not a criterion.
Who owns the creator content?
Usage rights are agreed up front, so winning creator cuts can run as paid media under the brand's handle for an agreed period.
Where are the numbers?
Campaign figures are shared with prospective clients on request, with the client's permission — they are not published on this page.
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