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Skincare brand SK-II takes on marriage pressure on young women in China in new campaign

A film from skincare brand SK-II called ‘Meet Me Halfway’ addresses the pressure to get married faced by young Chinese women from society at large and their parents in particular.

Created by Forsman & Bodenfors Singapore, the film is part of the ongoing #changedestiny campaign on SKII. It mines similar territory to previous advertising for the brand in the region with campaigns like ‘The Expiry Date’ and ‘Marriage Market‘. This time around, the commercial ties back to Chinese New Year.

It features three women who reach out to their parents after years of avoiding the trip back home for Chinese New Year, since they do not want to be pressured into getting married.

Instead, the parents and their daughters agree to meet at a halfway point from their homes, a metaphor for finding common ground and compromise.

The girls and their families were selected after meetings with several women facing such a predicament according to the agency. Forsman & Bodenfors art director John Bergdahl said: “We felt real women and their parents had stories that would hopefully inspire others to take the first step.”

Speaking about why the team opted for such a creative execution, Forsman & Bondenfors copywriter Joakim Labraaten said: “We wanted to build on our previous work.

“As the culture and attitudes slowly change in China, we saw an opportunity to not simply shed light on this tension – but to provide some hope, some sort of call to action.”

Global marketing director of SK-II Kylene Campos added: “Brands may approach women empowerment campaigns as a one-off, resulting in efforts appearing inauthentic.

“This creates the impression that the problem is solved after just one campaign.  The reality is the issue will not go away anytime soon.

“For the past few years, SK-II has been committed to tackling the specific area of age and marriage pressure as we know this matters the most to our target consumer.

#ChangeDestiny was created as a platform to address this and empower women with the courage to break barriers and overcome limitations.

“There is still so much more to do and this is just the beginning.”

Speaking about the campaign, SK-II’s vice president global Sandeep Seth said: “We want to tell women worldwide: Destiny can change, when you have the courage to take the first step to meet halfway.

“We hope the stories of these three brave women can inspire other women to take the first step, start a conversation with their families about marriage pressure and in the process, empower them to live life on their own terms and shape their own destinies.”

According to SK-II, the campaign has been very well received with 16 million views and lively discussion on Chinese social media like Weibo and Wechat.

Credits:

Client: SK-II

VP of SK-II: Sandeep Seth

Global marketing director of SK-II: Kylene Campos

Creative Agency: Forsman & Bodenfors Singapore

Account supervisors: Susanna Fagring, My Troedsson, Abbe Hale

Account managers: Hongi Luo, Patrik Danroth

Art director: John Bergdahl

Copywriter: Joakim Labraaten

PR-strategist: Amat Levin

Designer: Jason Feng

Planner: Leo Bovaller

Agency producer: Alexander Blidner

Production company: Tool of North America

Postproduction: Cabin editing company

Director: Floyd Russ

Producer: Andy Coverdale

Executive producer: Brad Johns/Nancy Hacohen

D.O.P: Christophe Collette

Music: Victor Magro/Future Perfect

Editor: Isaac Chen

Sound: Lime Studios

Activation strategy and orchestration: Mano Copenhagen

Strategy director: Thor Otar

Client lead: Jakob Stigler Orchestration

Lead: Liv Sørensen

Distribution partner: Verizon Media (Ryot Studio)

Account director: Jesper Laumand

Distribution strategy director: Yangze Wang

Planner: Mads Linnebjerg

Editorial distribution: Sandra Rasmussen

Social distribution: Nicklas Fjelsted Holm

PR Distribution: Anna Taussi

Researcher: Troels Ringsted

Account Manager: Annie Aa

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