Half of Murad's new products went viral on TikTok in 2022, including the brand's Targeted Wrinkle Corrector and Deep Relief Acne Treatment, which were designed to mimic in-office derm treatments.
"TikTok is more democratic [than other platforms] in the sense that anyone can go viral," says Murad CEO Paul Schiraldi. "The platform learns your behavior and interests and thus curates your page based on these learned interests. TikTok is also less produced–making the content feel more authentic."
He adds, "In the past, users would go to Instagram for aesthetically curated content; now users are visiting TikTok to learn. It’s an education-heavy platform and people stick around because there’s so much to learn. An interesting anecdote is that we’ve seen a lift in people use TikTok as a search engine vs. Google. It’s become a one stop shop for many."
The virality led to challenges for Sephora, Ulta and other retailers keeping products on shelves. For instance the Targeted Wrinkle Corrector sold out within four weeks on both M.com and Sephora.com, per the brand.
How did the brand achieve these results? To begin, Murad focused on product design that would create a visual hook on digital and social platforms. It also focused on expert-backed efficacy, reflecting shopper interest in clinical skin care.
The result was a topical Botox alternative, the Targeted Wrinkle Corrector, and a topical steroid shot alternative, the Deep Relief Acne Treatment.
"The launch of Targeted Wrinkle Corrector in January 2022 is part of our Resurgence Collection (AKA green collection)," says Schiraldi. "The viral video with @edwardzo (2M followers) hit, resulting in helping the entire Resurgence Collection grow high double digits at national (which includes Sephora, Ulta and other various U.S.-based accounts). Targeted Wrinkle Corrector sold out on both Murad.com and Sephora.com."
Schiraldi adds, "The launch of Deep Relief Acne Treatment in July 2022 [the same month Murad launched its own TikTok channel] is part of our Acne Control Collection (aka blue collection). The viral video with @lalaluvbeauty (160K followers) hit, resulting in 1,000%-plus increase in sales at national (which includes Sephora, Ulta and other various U.S.-based accounts). Additionally, on Amazon, where our Acne Collection performs well (due to Amazon being an everyday replenishment platform), Deep Relief sold out within days of the viral video."
He concludes, "Targeted Wrinkle Corrector and Deep Relief Acne Treatment became our top selling SKUs and have remained there since the videos launched."
As for Murad's social strategy, the CEO explains, "We typically lead with creator-led content when launching. We first and foremost spotlight creators and even when it comes to brand led content, we focus on material that doesn’t push product but rather education around skin care and skin needs/concerns–essentially content that is overall more neutral and interesting to our viewers. We let the content creators tell their story, share their insights and we don’t manage the UGC (user-generated content) message. We stand behind our products and innovations and let the content be driven authentically by the creators."
