Submitted by Campfire

The INKEY List: Building a Skincare Education Community on TikTok

Campfire built The INKEY List a skincare education presence on TikTok, combining skinfluencers, mid level creators, 24 Licensed Dermatologists, brand posted content and paid media on the platform.

During the campaign, Campfire worked with 24 Licensed Dermatologists on the platform to create informative, educational and engaging content.licensed dermatologists worked with
Our partnership with Hyram has cemented INKEY as one of the top 3 brands on the platform.top 3 brands on the platform (TikTok)

Case in 60 seconds

Campfire was asked to build The INKEY List a TikTok presence that raised awareness and purchase consideration, lifted footfall in stores stocking the products, and drove traffic to global and US retail partners and a newly launched DTC site.

The campaign appears to turn on TikTok serving content from strangers, so distribution followed engagement quality rather than follower scale, which meant credibility in skincare mattered more for a creator than the size of an existing audience.

The organising thesis was to make The INKEY List the source of skin and hair care education on TikTok, owning the creation and spread of knowledge rather than joining trends other brands were chasing.

Content ran in three streams on TikTok: partnerships with skinfluencers including @skincarebyhyram, mid level creators using a hook that sent audiences to the brand profile for part two, and brand posted content from INKEY ambassadors and influencers. Campfire worked with 24 Licensed Dermatologists, added paid advertising through the TikTok ads feature, and built posts around transformations, routines, hacks and INKEYLife hashtag content.

Campfire reports that the partnership with Hyram cemented The INKEY List as one of the top 3 brands on the platform, and records the campaign as having worked with 24 Licensed Dermatologists on educational content.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

TikTok users interested in skincare, framed by the page as potential customers the brand wanted to empower and educate by sharing its skincare knowledge.
TikTok was new to brands and advertising, and few agencies understood how to speak on it, so a skincare brand entering the platform risked either silence or trend hopping that read as borrowed rather than earned.
Many brands were arriving on TikTok by joining trends, which made differentiation hard for a range whose case rests on ingredient knowledge rather than novelty, and the page describes brand communication expertise on the platform as minimal.
The INKEY List treats knowledge as the thing it gives customers, so the campaign cast the brand as the source of skincare education on the platform rather than an advertiser interrupting it.
Campfire's stated read is that the feed serves content from strangers and promotes posts through engagement thresholds, so a creator without a large following could still carry the brand where the content held attention.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • TikTok

Partners

  • Campfire (lead_agency)

Participation mechanic

  • Mid level creators asked audiences to follow and visit The INKEY List profile to find part two of their content, and the channel shared content users created under the INKEYLife hashtag.

Creator role

  • Hyram — creator

Results & Evidence

MetricValueResult type
licensed dermatologists worked withDuring the campaign, Campfire worked with 24 Licensed Dermatologists on the platform to create informative, educational and engaging content.output
top 3 brands on the platform (TikTok)Our partnership with Hyram has cemented INKEY as one of the top 3 brands on the platform.performance

Why Campfire's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Where a platform distributes on engagement rather than following, casting for subject credibility rather than follower scale appears to stretch a budget, because content quality determines how far each individual post travels.

  2. 2

    Recruiting licensed professionals, in this case 24 Licensed Dermatologists, gives an education strategy a source of authority that trend participation cannot supply, which is what separates a brand from competitors making similar product claims.

  3. 3

    A follow for part two hook converts borrowed creator attention into owned channel visits, so the creator layer feeds the brand profile rather than ending at a single view in a stranger's feed.

  4. 4

    Pairing one category authority such as Hyram with a wider mid level pool appears to buy credibility and volume at once, because the authority validates the brand while the pool supplies constant presence.

  5. 5

    Continuous brand posted content from ambassadors gives an audience a reason to return after creator content delivers the first visit, which is where awareness built through influencers otherwise leaks away.

Related Case studies