Leo Burnett Asia's Elegant Ballet Holds an Inspiring Message

SK-II recently unveiled a new brand philosophy #ChangeDestiny with the launch of its biggest empowerment campaign to date. Developed by Leo Burnett teams in Singapore and Tokyo and shot by Indy8, the global launch film features acclaimed ballet dancer Misa Kuranaga. Holding the honor of being the first Asian to become Boston Ballet’s principle dancer, Kuranaga’s life story of defying the odds to achieve professional success takes center-stage in this inspiring video. 

Her story perfectly exemplifies the philosophy behind #ChangeDestiny, SK-II’s latest campaign to inspire women to change their own destiny, regardless of the little “dictators” in their life. 

Said Kylene Campos, associate marketing director, global SK-II, “A recent study we conducted found that long term use of SK-II proves that it is possible to beat skin’s risks posed by DNA to go beyond the skin women have been born with. This insight inspired the core idea for #ChangeDestiny – which is all about challenging the belief that destiny is set at birth and celebrating women who have gone beyond limitations to achieve success. More importantly, #ChangeDestiny –which is deeply rooted in SK-II’s product truth - is hopefully the beginning of a positive movement to inspire women around the world.” 

In this chapter of #ChangeDestiny, Misa shares the overwhelming challenges – or little “dictators” – she faced as she embarked on her career as a professional ballerina. Despite the immense challenges and rejection she faced, her grit and firm belief in taking control of her destiny contributed to her success today. 

Speaking about the creative idea behind the campaign, Delara Lalwani, creative director, Leo Burnett Singapore said, “Until now, the skincare category has always focused on women’s insecurities, we wanted to change that. #ChangeDestiny was created to inspire women to take a different view of destiny – to remind them that destiny is in your hands, in the decisions you make and the chances you take. To bring this idea to life, we needed a real story of a woman who took charge of her destiny. After a global search, we found her in the Boston Ballet. Misa’s life story of struggles, the demons she had to face and how she overcame it all, left everyone in the room with a lump in their throats. We knew then we had to take this story to the world.” 

The #ChangeDestiny campaign aims to champion and inspire women to take control of their destiny – whether in life or in their skin. For 35 years, SK-II, with its iconic Facial Treatment Essence, has helped women take control of their skin destiny to unlock crystal clear skin, no matter the skin DNA potential or risks they were born with. As proven in the brand’s recent groundbreaking Skin Destiny Study, it is possible for women to go beyond their DNA limitations to change their skin destiny. Based on the study, loyal SK-II users had lasting crystal clear skin even in their 30s, 40s, or 50s regardless of the skin they were born with.

To further empower women to transform their skin destiny, SK-II has also launched the first-in-the-world Skin DNA Concierge. Now exclusively available in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan, SK-II’s latest Skin DNA analysis service brings skin counseling to an entirely new level – more in- depth, more personalized, and delving right down to the genes – to understand your future skin’s profile.