Winona Triumphs at the 618 Shopping Festival

Winona Triumphs at the 618 Shopping Festival

In the 2022 edition of the 618 shopping festival, Winona, a leading cosmeceutical brand specializing in sensitive skin, once again achieved outstanding performance.

As of midnight on June 20, Winona secured a top 8 position in Tmall's beauty category and continues to maintain a spot within the top 10. Moreover, Winona's omni-channel performance is exceptional across various platforms such as JD.com, Vipshop, Douyin, and Kuaishou, consistently leading the pack. For example, the brand's flagship product Sensitiveness Relieving Moisturizing Tolerance-Extreme Cream generated sales exceeding RMB 100 million, and 1 million bottles of Winona Sunblock Milk tailored for sensitive skin were sold out. Winona Baby, a brand specializing in infant skin care under the Botanee Group, is rooted in the science of children's dermatology. Emphasizing "professional care for delicate baby skin", the brand has effectively established a strong foothold in the baby skincare products market. After a successful debut last year at Double Eleven shopping festival, Winona Baby secured Top 5 in baby and children's skincare on Tmall during 618.

In recent years, as the traffic dividend has peaked, more beauty brands are shifting focus towards competing in efficacy ingredients and beauty technologies rather than relying solely on traffic for growth. In this context, Winona, backed by "medical expertise" and "botanical technology", emerged as the standout victor in the cosmeceutical sector during the 618 shopping festival.

I. Shaping China's Sensitive Skin Market Pattern with Product Power

In the early years, China's sensitive skin market was long dominated by foreign brands. However, with the increasing market demand for sensitive skin products and the rise of local brands led by Winona, more domestic brands are now scrambling to compete in this sector.

Winona released the 2022 White Paper on Delicate Care Trends for Sensitive Skin together with Tmall Beauty and TMIC on May 26. According to the White Paper, domestic brands now hold over 60% of the top 10 positions, indicating a trend towards localized development throughout the market.

As a leading Chinese brand in the sensitive skin market, Winona has dedicated over a decade to specializing in sensitive skin solutions. In 2019, Winona secured the top spot in the domestic market share for sensitive skin care products. In addition, the brand has held three sensitive skin summits in collaboration with five authoritative institutions to explore fresh ideas and recent findings in repairing sensitive skin with experts from various fields.

Product power serves as the foundation of Winona's rise. After over a decade of growth, Winona has integrated "medical expertise" and "botanical technology" into its product research and development.

In advancing the exploration of medical expertise, Winona has collaborated with dermatologists both locally and internationally to conduct extensive basic research and analysis into the causes and mechanisms of sensitive skin among the Chinese population. For example, to assess product efficacy and safety, Winona will conduct clinical validations. This process includes collaborating with dermatologists from 63 renowned hospitals in China, as well as international dermatologists from the University of Franche-Comté in France, to observe and validate the effect of key products until their safety and efficacy are thoroughly confirmed.

As of December 2021, Winona has contributed to creating 15 dermatology-related medical guidelines and expert consensuses, along with 20 association standards for cosmeceuticals in China. Moreover, the company has led the development of 11 enterprise product standards and currently holds 80 valid patents along with 11 core technologies. In particular, the book Collection of Clinical Application of Winona Cosmeceuticals features 128 papers highlighting Winona's product research and clinical validation published in core journals worldwide. As a result, Winona has built a significant competitive advantage by leveraging academic resources.

In addition to considerable medical expertise, Winona is also unrivalled in botanical technology. In the cosmeceutical sector, the competition essentially boils down to technology and ingredients. Leveraging the gene bank of thousands of plants in Yunnan, Winona consistently develops new products by blending medical knowledge with scientific exploration. This positions Winona more as a efficacy-focused technology enterprise rather than just a conventional beauty and skincare brand.

In view of Yunnan's abundant plant resources, Winona's team of dermatology experts has chosen thousands of plants for active ingredient extraction and efficacy studies. Notable among these are Winona's premier patented ingredients, such as prinsepia utilis royle, purslane, camellia reticulata, and paris polyphylla. For instance, prinsepia utilis royle oil targets skin barrier repair, while purslane extract offers significant soothing effects, swiftly alleviating redness and addressing various skin sensitivities like itching, burning, and tingling.

II. Developing Plus Cosmeceuticals for Sensitive Skin

"After a decade of research on sensitive skin repair, Winona has gradually developed into plus product lines for sensitive skin, including areas like sun protection, whitening, anti-aging, and functional makeup base. In response to consumers' increasingly scenario-based needs, we must offer them a selection of products for delicate skin care," said Dong Junzi, co-founder of Botanee Group at the 3rd China Sensitive Skin Summit Forum.

In the 618 shopping festival, Winona's flagship product, the Sensitiveness Relieving Moisturizing Tolerance-Extreme Cream, surpassed RMB 100 million in sales. For one thing, this success has not only elevated the cream to a popular and traffic-generating product but also amplified Winona's brand visibility. For another, the success has driven the sales and market recognition of Winona's other offerings. Among them, the Anti-Sensitive Essence, when paired with the cream, enhances the repairing effect, leading to the collective term "Winona Ace CP". Notably, during the 618 shopping festival, an impressive 400,000 bottles of sensitive skin essence products, including the Anti-Sensitive Essence, were sold online.

In recent years, Winona's Sensitiveness Relieving Moisturizing Tolerance-Extreme Cream has won many industry awards, including the Tmall Beauty Awards and the "Popularity Award for Best Cream (Moisturizing) of the Year" from BAZAAR Beauty Awards. Above all, the cream has made appearances twice at the quadrennial World Congress of Dermatology, representing Chinese sensitive skin products. Clearly, it is a star product worthy of the name in the industry. Similarly, the Anti-Sensitive Essence has also achieved remarkable recognition, securing the Rayli Beauty Awards for Anti-Sensitive Essence of the Year, as well as the OnlyLady Beauty Award for the Most Reputable Repair Essence.

Winona Ace CP primarily caters to the widespread need for sensitive skin repair. An exemplary instance is the highly sought-after Soothing Repairing Freeze-Dried Mask, which has been consistently sold out in recent years. According to data from the 618 shopping festival, an impressive 6.5 million pieces of the mask were sold online. Simultaneously, Winona is consistently expanding its portfolio to include vertically specialized products tailored for more precise scenarios. Examples include the Winona Sunblock Milk, Camellia-Lucent Spot-Correcting Essence, and Revitalizing Repairing Essence. These products achieved a jump in sales during the 618 shopping festival.

In response to the growing demand for sun protection solutions catering to both indoor and outdoor settings, Winona has developed several specially formulated sunscreen products tailored for sensitive skin. Take the Sunblock Milk as an example. This product achieved sales exceeding 1 million bottles during this year's 618 shopping festival, earning the title of ONLYLADY's Most Popular Sunscreen Product of the Year and receiving international SGS authoritative certification. Winona's sunscreen family further comprises Aqua-Shield Sunblock Milk and Aqua-Shield Sunblock Spray, ideal for outdoor use due to their waterproof and sweatproof properties. In the future, Winona plans to further develop the anti-blue light product line.

Alongside the sunscreen family, Winona's skin brightening offering includes the Camellia-Lucent Spot-Correcting Essence, often referred to as the Pure Whitening Bottle, and the Revitalizing Repairing Essence, commonly known as the Light Beauty Bottle. Both products are strategically positioned in the cosmeceutical landscape and have delivered outstanding results over the past two years.

In the future, as part of the PLUS strategy targeting sensitive skin, Winona aims to categorize sensitive skin types and conduct R&D on specialized products tailored to these categories. This will involve exploring target pathways related to the pathogenesis of sensitive skin. Simultaneously, Winona will strategically introduce products designed to address different sensitivity symptoms like nerve hypersensitivity and barrier insufficiency to meet the evolving demands of consumers with sensitive skin.

III. Enhancing Brand Visibility Through a Comprehensive and Accurate Marketing Matrix

Winona's impressive success during the 618 shopping festival is attributed not only to its years of product strength but also to its comprehensive online and offline marketing matrix.

For Winona, a solitary triumph is not the end game. Rather, the focus is on developing robust product power and brand influence to achieve long-term sustainable sales. Therefore, Winona avoids chasing short-term top-selling items, opting instead for a balanced blend of sophistication in products and marketing to present a trustworthy and consistent brand image to the public.

As an illustration, on May 20, Winona collaborated with singer-songwriter Shang Wenjie to release the music video for the new song "To Your Best Self". Along with this release were a series of striking attitude posters featuring Winona's endorsers Shu Qi and Zhang Junning, media figure Yi Lijing, and actor Wan Peng. This marked the grand launch of Winona's 618 marketing campaign, under the inspiring banner "Fearlessly Embracing a Sensitive Skin Future". On the same day, as a Valentine's Day gift, Winona introduced the Sensitiveness Relieving Moisturizing Tolerance-Extreme Cream with customized gift box packaging in a live streaming session hosted by celebrity coach Will Liu. This innovative brand promotion form instantly triggered public opinion, further enhancing the reputation of Winona's brand and products.

On May 22, during its debut marketing event on Douyin, Winona collaborated with top influencer Guo Xiaopang to host a special live stream for the brand. Within just one hour of its introduction, Winona's Copper Peptide Repairing Essence was completely sold out, with over 45,000 sets purchased and a gross merchandise value (GMV) for that single item surpassing RMB 9.08 million. In this peak period, the total brand GMV soared beyond RMB 34.94 million, effectively building momentum for the upcoming product launch ahead of the 618 shopping festival. This remarkable achievement also established a solid foundation for Winona's position in the top 3 domestic cosmetics brands on Douyin for the final stage of the 618 shopping festival.

On May 26, coinciding with the pre-sale of Tmall's 618 event at 8:00 PM that evening, the Weibo hashtag "Fearlessly Embracing a Sensitive Skin Future" was initiated. As of this press release, the topic has garnered over 200 million views, sparked 20,000 discussions, and engaged upwards of 1,400 participants.

During the 618 shopping festival, Winona launched customized content across multiple platforms. It partnered with state media such as People's Daily and a comprehensive omnimedia network to ensure extensive coverage, reaching over 100 million impressions. In early May, Winona collaborated with more than 150 KOLs across Xiaohongshu, Douyin, Weibo, and WeChat to advertise its products. Through social endorsements, Winona amassed brand value, enabling consumers to grasp the brand and product essence from various angles, including brand ethos, medical and botanical DNA, and product efficacy, resulting in over 350 million impressions. At the same time, the marketing matrix further amplifies the brand's marketing efforts, enabling them to reach a broader audience.

IV. Navigating Disruptive Innovation Pathways with Long-term Strategic Vision

As a leading cosmeceutical brand in China, Winona takes on the significant responsibility of delivering top-tier cosmeceutical products to consumers. Grounded in product power, the brand extensively explores the realm of sensitive skin care and upholds a legacy of craftsmanship.

What is even more noteworthy is that, while committed to long-term strategies, Winona consistently leads the way in innovation within the realm of sensitive skin care. It continues to explore the most cutting-edge and scientific solutions for sensitive skin care and repair, leading the trend of category innovation.

作As a brand navigating disruptive innovation pathways with long-term strategic vision, Winona is dedicated to creating China's skin health ecosystem. It focuses on empowering the beauty industry through academic collaborations, enhancing product efficacy with authoritative scientific research, and leading the cosmeceutical sector into a new era.

Overall, Winona's product range, marketing strategies, and branding efforts are deeply reflective of Chinese characteristics. The brand emphasizes pragmatism, aligning closely with the actual demand of Chinese consumers. In the era of high-quality development of cosmetics, Winona shows the strength of Chinese creation.

Today, Botanee, the parent company of Winona, has achieved the status of being the most valuable listed cosmetics company in China. Winona has also evolved from a phenomenal brand to a leading brand for sensitive skin care, pushing the boundaries of local cosmeceutical brands and embracing the mission of elevating from a local brand to a world-class brand.