Aug 25, 20233 min read

Helping Amika Become Number 1 in Sephora

Updated: Sep 8, 2023

How 'Let's get cleanical' made Amika stand out among more established competitors

Building on 2022 Success

Last year, we launched ‘Love all your hair days’, our first campaign for Amika, after winning a pitch against several US agencies. This was their first national campaign, with a new media mix including OOH and connected TV, as detailed here by Glossy. It resulted in a 31.5% increase in brand awareness and a 24.4% increase in brand lift and Sephora sales.

Building on that success, in the summer of 2023 Amika challenged us to launch their shampoo + conditioner line, consisting of 5 product pairings, each one with their ingredients and benefits.

For example, Bust Your Brass shampoo + conditioner, with mango butter, is great for toning brassy hues. Hydrorush, with coconut water, offers 72 hours of hydration. While Kure shampoo + conditioner delivers 7 times more repair using bond cure technology.

Fun, But Make it Clinical

Aside from the complexity of the ingredients and benefits, the main challenge was to highlight the science behind the products, while maintaining the colorful spirit of the brand. Brands like L’Oreal are naturally perceived as clinical and science-backed. Amika, despite its cult following, needed to build a clinical reputation.

Our solution was ‘Let’s get cleanical’, an 80’s inspired campaign with an intentional typo, where the Amika R&D department takes the stage, walking us through some of the most impressive clinical highlights of the new shampoo + conditioner range. A playful take on the ‘cleanical’ trend, that delivers the facts without compromising the brand tone of voice.

An Effective Production Formula

The production approach for such a unique campaign had to be unorthodox as well. We partnered with French photographer and director Boris Ovini, known for his edgy editorial work, or his Skims campaigns. On the other hand, we brought in Brooklyn-based Heidi’s Bridge, an established photography and set design studio with extensive experience in food, to create the juiciest product compositions, as well as the set design of the campaign. The combination of these two teams truly delivered something fresh and unexpected.

Results, Results, Results

The campaign's results speak for themselves. It was the strongest-performing branded content to date with 12.8% lift on YouTube and a 22% lift among the 25-34 demographic, Amika instantly became the Number 1 haircare brand in Sephora and the most trafficked brand on sephora.com. Lastly, it produced a +35% growth in their shampoo and conditioner category.

Below is a quote from our lovely client Kelley Martin, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Amika.

"The Let’s Get Cleanical campaign represented another winning partnership between Amika + RXM. The campaign has delivered incredible results across all marketing + business KPIs.The media videos have been our strongest-performing branded content to date, delivering a +12.8% awareness lift on YouTube, with a +22% awareness lift with our target 25-34 customers. The brand achieved #1 hair brand at Sephora in July and was the #1 trafficked hair brand on sephora.com in June!"

Kelley Martin, Senior Vice President Marketing