Colgate Optic White Purple x IU / 2025 - 2026

Scaling a Culturally-Led Content System Across APAC

100M+ TikTok Views. USD $24M in Year One.

Role: Creative Direction, Art Direction, Production | Deliverables: Campaign Toolkit | Region: APAC (Global rollout)

Context

Following the success of Colgate Optic White Purple, the brand aimed to scale its breakthrough success and deepen cultural relevance through a high-impact collaboration with IU, Queen of K-pop.

The challenge was to evolve the campaign beyond product demonstration into a culturally relevant content system that resonates with digital-first audiences across APAC.

Strategy

I led the content strategy and creative direction, developing a culturally-driven content framework designed to scale across markets.

Each content pillar was designed with distinct hooks inspired by:

  • K-pop fan culture

  • TikTok-native behaviours

  • Social consumption patterns

This approach translated product benefits into engaging narratives, allowing the campaign to feel authentic, entertaining and shareable, rather than purely functional. The framework was built to be scalable across markets, ensuring consistency while enabling local adaptation.

3 Content Pillars shaped how the campaign connected with audiences:

  • Pillar 1 - FOMO Hook

  • Pillar 1 - Stalking Celeb Regimen Hook

  • Pillar 2 - K-Drama Hook

  • Pillar 2 - K-Concert Hook

  • Pillar 3 - Purple Tone-Up Cream Hook

  • Pillar 3 - Purple Blusher Hook

Execution

The campaign toolkit was designed as a scalable system across markets, bringing the strategy to life through a cohesive suite of assets:

✔ Glorified Product Renders
✔ Product Photography
✔ E-Commerce PDP & Thumbnails
✔ TikTok-first Social Videos

From visual direction to production oversight, I ensured consistency in brand expression while adapting the content for different platforms and audience behaviours.

The campaign successfully translated cultural relevance into performance, driving strong engagement across APAC markets.

Content developed under this framework generated over 100M+ TikTok views across Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, contributing to the campaign achieving a USD $24M milestone in its first year.

Social-First Videos

Pillar 1 - Get to Know IU x Purple
Fan-led storytelling tapping into K-pop fandom culture.
Hooks: “#IUMadeMeBuyThis”, “IU-ism”, “Trying IU’S Morning Routine”, “Stalking IU’s regimen”

Pillar 2: K-Beauty Codes x Purple
Positioning Purple as a K-beauty essential.
Hooks: “1-Step K-Beauty Smile”, “GRWM for My K-Drama Life”, “Concert Essential”, “K-Beauty Serums”

Pillar 3: How It Works
Make the Purple Color-Corrects Yellow science in tangible K-Beauty way.
Hooks: “Tone-up Your Smile”, “K-Beauty Hack to Brighten Under Eyes”, “Purple Setting Powder”, “Before/After Transformation”

Product Photography

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Wave 2 (2026): Keeping Culture Moving

The content system evolved in Wave 2, introducing new hooks to sustain relevance and engagement across social platforms. Building on fan behaviour and K-beauty culture, the next phase explored:

  • Fandom-led storytelling through iconic IU K-drama moment and glow-up unboxing

  • K-beauty experiential formats such as one-pump challenge and sensory-driven content

This phase was further amplified through collaborations with regional content creators to extend the campaign’s reach and cultural resonance:
Jack Gor (66K) · manajesslyn (217K) · thatszina (87K)

This project showcases my approach to building culturally-driven content systems that not only scale across markets, but evolve through new cultural hooks and formats to stay relevant and impactful over time.

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Colgate Optic White Purple