LEAP Commerce lands two wins at SBR National Business Awards 2024

Despite having a limited media budget, the e-commerce enabler managed to strategically establish an impressive online brand presence for two massive brands in a saturated beauty e-commerce market.

LEAP Commerce, the one-stop end-to-end e-commerce enabler, has brought home two major wins at the recent SBR National Business Awards 2024 – Internet/New Media category win for the success of HUDA Beauty Launch and the Social Media Marketing category win for SK-II’s launch of PITERA™ Essence bottles. These wins are a testament to the enabler’s prowess in achieving all-around online commerce success for brands, and its rich in-house expertise in effectively navigating the complex online ecosystem in Southeast Asia, comprising a vast array of marketplaces and social media platforms.

HUDA Beauty, a beauty and cosmetics brand by award-winning beauty blogger, Huda Kattan, launched its official flagship store exclusively on Lazada across Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore in the first half of 2023. To engender a successful launch, LEAP Commerce partnered with the brand to develop a robust multichannel media plan to effectively engage with the target consumers. Furthermore, in line with the brand’s ethos, the ecommerce enabler also adapted and localised the brand’s social and content marketing strategies; the very elements which were pivotal in growing the brand into today’s billion-dollar global business.

The media content development was centred around HUDA Beauty's Eyeshadow Palettes, which included a compelling call-to-action, encouraging viewers to discover their next beauty “obsession” with the brand. To better capture the active online beauty shoppers, the team leveraged Lazada’s on-platform media activation and secured Lazada’s 'Super Brand Opening' programme, exclusive to select strategic brands. As such, optimal and impactful brand exposure was created across Lazada's extensive e-commerce and partner networks. 

To build deeper interest and educate consumers about the brand and its products, online engagement tools with a focus on personalisation were also deployed. These included an interactive quiz offering personalised product recommendations, livestreams hosted by local KOLs to address local nuances of each market, infographics and rich media including a video featurette of Huda Kattan, and a virtual-try on to enable consumers to make informed decisions on their makeup shades.

Meanwhile, HUDA Beauty’s complementary off-platform media activation plan maximised brand awareness efficaciously and captured a significant volume of quality leads. In addition to social media ads and PR-seeding, the brand hosted intimate offline events as well, leveraging key opinion leader (KOL) marketing, user-generated content, and online broadcasting via an audience management system to enhance audience catchment and reach. All in all, these efforts contributed to a hugely successful launch of HUDA Beauty, worthy of this massive and popular cosmetic brand.   

The second win is a showcase of how LEAP Commerce further extended the online success of the leading global prestige skincare brand, SK-II. In conjunction with the 2022 festive season and the 12.12 mega sales day, SK-II launched its HyperFestive Limited Edition Design PITERA™ Essence bottles in eye-catching neon shades of red and green, to the campaign theme of self-expression.

An array of social media-related programmes were deployed by LEAP Commerce to generate buzz around the campaign, to engage and guide eager customers to selected e-stores. Social media ads were also strategically deployed to emphasise the limited-edition collection as a 'must-have' and generate demand for the product as the perfect gift for the upcoming Christmas season.

For credibility, harnessing the power of authentic user-generated content, SK-II also enlisted KOLs to share their personal skin concerns and sincere feedback after using the PITERA™ essence over a period. In addition, the brand collaborated with prominent influencers on key platforms like Instagram and TikTok to create unique content tailored towards younger consumers, inspiring women to be unapologetically proud of who they are. Notably, these collective efforts helped to overcome the main impediment to online shopping, which is the brand’s relatively higher price-points. As a result, the brand earned a coveted spot on Lazada’s top 5 best-selling brands list, a feat given how highly contested the skincare category was during the 12.12 mega campaign.

SBR National Business Awards honours local and homegrown companies in Singapore for their exceptional projects, driving innovation and contributing significantly to the nation's robust economy.

The SBR National Business Awards is presented by Singapore Business Review Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2025 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's exceptional contributions to the local business landscape in Singapore, please contact Jane Patiag at [email protected].