Pola’s renewed APEX brand faces the future with long-term personalization support
As a pioneer of personalized skincare, Pola’s 30-year-old APEX brand is no stranger to change and evolution. However, the impact of this year’s renewal promises to be in a different league from before.
Japan’s own “personalized skincare” brand APEX will be launched anew on 8 July this year with two new innovations. In anticipation of the release, the BeautyTech.jp editors received the opportunity to try out this renewed version of APEX.
One distinct aspect this time is the implementation of an industry-first skin analysis technology. It involves an enormous amount of skin data (18 million entries worth of accumulated data, as of January 2019), static image analysis using high-speed cameras and Pola’s original AI video analysis. Not only can this technology analyze a person’s skin status with high precision — down to its deeper layers — but it also innovates by deciphering what your skin’s health needs for the next five to ten years and calculating the potential your skin has to be its best. It also features the immediacy of getting the results straightaway after undergoing diagnosis through an in-store device.
Based on this skin diagnosis, a skin plan for the customer is then created, carried out and updated as necessary. It’s here that the sales staff (called “Pola Beauty Directors”) “escort” the customer throughout the long term to provide optimal skin care in the form of customized suggestions and support. In other words, a key feature of the renewed APEX is a skin care program designed to make customers’ skin look good today and in the future — by combining objective and scientific data with the personal human touch of advice and encouragement.
Pola calls these technologies “sensing” — comprehending a person’s skin now and in the future — and “coaching” — providing suggestions and options based on short-term predictions. It has designated these two technologies as essential elements of the new APEX brand. A mind-boggling 8.62 million different recommendations are made based on customers’ personal information, lifestyle environment, and habits, and are obtained through analysis and one-on-one consultations.
Using video to analyze skin and predict the future
How the new APEX brand is sold will be similar to before: 19,000 licensed Pola Beauty Directors will help customers select the optimal product customized for them by way of skin diagnoses and consultations at stores and within the customers’ homes. It comes down to four processes that include profiling, analyzing, fitting and ordering, all of which can be completed in as quickly as 30 minutes.
● Profiling
During this process, the customer answers questions from three categories: skin (skin-related concerns), life (lifestyle habits and physical condition) and mind (the customer’s perspective and beauty tastes, such as their ideal skin condition). Based on this, their personal profile is formed.
● Analyzing
Next, the customer’s skin is looked at with a scientific lens as “condition analysis” and “potential analysis” are conducted.
In condition analysis, the skin surface is photographed using a custom camera. Then, by cross-referencing profile data with skin-related big data, the AI analyses the skin’s status in the context of the present and the near future and of factors such as aging, skin pores, sebum, risk of acne, collagen and melanin. The results reveal attributes of the customer’s skin’s color, shape, problem areas, and moisture balance, along with their causes.
Then, in potential analysis, a 14-second video is taken of the user opening their mouth and moving their facial muscles. This step analyses the structural condition of the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis, and estimates the condition and potential of the skin in five to ten years.
● Fitting
To accompany the profile information and analyzed results, the Beauty Director gets the customer’s feedback on their ideal skin and a skincare plan for the present and future is generated. During the consultation with the Beauty Director, a pattern is picked from the millions of possible recommendations that take into account the customer’s neighborhood and environment, the frequency of skincare routine and type of skincare used, and the preferred feel, texture, and color of skincare products.
At the heart of APEX’s personalized system is how the customer receives support from a human advisor, then has their preferences implemented there and then with a customized product. The service isn’t limited to answering questions on a website and having the AI elect what it thinks is the best option; it has real people keep track of customer results using a much deeper level of customization.
● Ordering
Once the above processes are completed, this final phase begins. A total of seven items are recommended to the customer (including skincare and makeup foundation).
A four- to five-digit number is assigned to each recommended item, with the first two digits representing the item number and dosage form, and the last two or three describing the status of the skin.
The Beauty Directors have samples of some 39 varieties of the seven items, so the customer is able to try recommended items and see if they like certain aspects such as texture. If, for example, the customer prefers a slightly lighter feel, they can ask for modifications.
By using the latest digital print technology, each item’s label design is also personalized for the customer. In addition, the delivery period of products, which was previously an issue, has been shortened to a minimum of four days.
The new APEX is available from 8 July this year.
Text: Denyse Yeo
Original text (Japanese): BeautyTech.jp editorial team
Collect materials: Shidu Kumon
