Case Study: How Pilgrim created brand awareness by launching an extensive influencer marketing campaign

This Case Study explores in detail how Pilgrim -- a homegrown D2C Beauty and Personal Care brand, launched its first TVC with their haircare ambassador Yami Gautam and incorporated an extensive influencer marketing campaign to reach the correct audience. 

Category Introduction 

India's beauty business is growing rapidly and becoming a major industry. The beauty and wellness industry in India is fuelled by increasing disposable incomes and rising awareness about beauty products among the youth. According to a report by KPMG, the Indian beauty and wellness industry is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.6 percent and is estimated to reach $20 billion by the end of 2025. The industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19-20 over the next five years, with the increasing demand for beauty products and services.

The market for organic beauty products in India is expected to reach $1.7 billion by 2025 while the Indian haircare market is estimated to reach $4 billion by 2023.

Brand Introduction 

Founded in 2019, Pilgrim is a homegrown D2C Beauty and Personal Care brand. Pempowers Indian consumers to discover the world’s best beauty secrets to address specific hair and skin concerns. The brand is devoted to “clean beauty”, and is PETA-certified Vegan and Cruelty-Free. Pilgrim has raised around INR 13 Crores in a Series-A funding round led by Fireside Ventures, Rukam Capital, and Angel Investors including founding teams.

Summary

Pilgrim launched their first ever TVC with their haircare ambassador Yami Gautam on 5th April 2023. As the main premise of the film, Yami is shown kidnapped by the Koreans who want to know how she discovered their Hair Growth Secrets to which Yami wittily replies, “Pilgrim ne dhoond nikale”. This is the main hook line of the campaign. As part of the campaign, the brand collaborated with creators to give their own funny spin to ‘‘Pilgrim ne dhoond nikale”.

Objective 

The objective of this campaign was to highlight Pilgrim's discovery of Korean hair care secrets and promote their hair growth serum. To create awareness around the same, they collaborated with entertainment & beauty influencers who created funny and relatable content integrating Pilgrim’s discovery of Korean hair care secrets.

Brief

To highlight Pilgrim's discovery of Korean hair care secrets and promote their hair growth serum by leveraging entertainment creators who created funny and relatable content while incorporating the fact that Pilgrim has discovered Korean hair secrets and created brand awareness.

Creative Idea 

The aim of this campaign was to highlight Pilgrim's discovery of Korean hair care secrets and promote their hair growth serum. Therefore, to create awareness, Chtrbox collaborated with entertainment & beauty influencers who created funny and relatable content integrating Pilgrim’s discovery of Korean hair care secrets. It will position Pilgrim as a brand that not only cares about external appearance but also values inner well-being and personal growth. This innovative approach will resonate with the target audience and create a lasting impact in the beauty industry.

Challenges

To set Pilgrim apart in a saturated market where beauty/skincare brands often collaborate with influencers on a large scale, we creatively tackled the issue by exploring an unconventional genre, namely, entertainment. By handpicking influencers whose fan base overlaps with our target audience, we strategically ensured maximum exposure and resonance for the brand.

Execution 

Phase 1: This campaign was executed from 7th April 2023 to 13th April 2023. Pilgrim kickstarted the campaign with the first phase leveraging entertainment creators to build on their storytelling skills & drive awareness about the serum. The remarkable results were evident, contributing to a significant 90% surge in sales & 3x jump in ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) by influencers specifically. 

Phase 2: This campaign was executed from 26th June 2023 to 30th June 2023. Buoyed by this success, the brand proceeded with phase 2 of the campaign, which received a positive response from the audience. Retaining the humorous tone that had proven successful, the second phase further solidified our position in the market.

Results 

Quantitative

The overall marketing campaign for Pilgrim garnered a reach of 62,31,731 across Instagram for both phases. And total views of 76,06,974 creating an engagement of 85,23,977.

Qualitative 

Phase 1: In comparison to the final framework closed, the campaign has overachieved the estimated views by over 43.46% (initially estimated views - 2.6M; achieved views - 3.8M) and reached a whopping 100.05% (initial estimated reach - 1.6M; achieved reach - 3.2M) while simultaneously reducing the CPV by 29.54%!    

A total of 6 influencers, with an audience of 2.4 million, posted 6 Reels, which helped them achieve:

Phase 2: In comparison to the final framework closed, the campaign has overachieved the estimated views by over 122.7% (initial estimated views - 1.69M; achieved views - 3.7M) and reached a whopping 197.55% (initial estimated reach - 1.01M; achieved reach - 3.03M) while simultaneously reducing the CPV by 54.55%! 

A total of 5 influencers, with an audience of 1.6 million, posted 5 Reels, which helped us achieve:

"The "Pilgrim Ne Dhoond Nikaale" campaign was our attempt to talk about the Pilgrim story as well as our hero product Korean Hair Growth Serum in a clutter-breaking manner. With an impactful creative featuring Yami Gautam and an interesting set of comic/entertainment creators, we were able to create not only mass awareness with a whopping 7.5m views with comic creators alone but also bring about a 3x jump in Hair Growth Serum sales," said Shikha Chawla, Senior Brand Manager, Pilgrim.

"Our partnership with Pilgrim resulted in a remarkable outcome that exceeded all initial expectations. Through a careful selection of creators and a narrative that perfectly balanced relevance while retaining originality, we seamlessly integrated the campaign messaging via distinctive storytelling. This not only sparked extensive brand chatter but also translated into tangible outcomes, elevating the brand presence and resonance while achieving a sizable growth of 3x in product sales for their Hair Growth Serums," said Mrunali Dedhia, Vice President at Chtrbox.