Graphic

Zero Helps AI Find its Inner “BFF” with Retail Site for Anti-Aging Innovator SpoiledChild.

Since it burst onto the scene in 2018, tech-driven prestige beauty brand Il Makiage has helped redefine online shopping for an audience demanding modern beauty experiences. As they looked to launch SpoiledChild, they wanted to leverage their strong DNA to not only create a new kind of eCommerce site but an entire brand system that could help introduce their new AI-assisted shopping system, SpoiledBrain, to the world. Partnering with digitally-native branding agency Zero, the SpoiledChild team collaborated to craft a mobile-first shopping experience that let their proprietary AI bring a little personalization, humanity, and playfulness to online shopping.

“The SpoiledChild team inspired us immediately,” says Zero Creative Director Mark Goldwell. “We share a love for creative risk-taking and not taking yourself too seriously. But, more than that, they were eager to establish this new offering as something more than a beautiful, high fashion product. We knew from the start that we were working with folks who had a vision.”

With SpoiledChild, Zero wanted to tap into the colorful, joyful, and rebellious spirit of their past work, taking cues from existing logo and packaging design while leveraging a sense of playful maximalism that would help the brand’s digital experience stand out. Central to this was not only the site design, which needed to celebrate the products and establish a bold but relatable brand voice but the site’s AI – conceptualized as the sole way to shop on the SpoiledChild platform.

The site works by pairing AI insights with a detailed questionnaire designed to help the site make skincare suggestions. The user is greeted by SpoiledBrain, which sits in the corner of the screen as you walk through questions about skincare challenges and needs, encouraging along the way. The results page is robust in its information – making sure the user is educated around the suggested products and why they are perfect for their personal goals. While the questions themselves are backed by years of research by skin care experts, Zero worked with SpoiledChild to turn every question into a complete experience that feels relatable, digestible, entertaining, and human rather than purely technical.

This approach extended to the AI itself, where the team went to great effort to give SpoiledBrain the voice of a familiar skincare guru and trusted best friend. As customers answer questions, SpoiledBrain chats with you, offering motivation and education around the selections being made. Messages like “Blame it on the fam! Genetics play a large role in determining how much hair loss you’ll experience” were crafted to make sure users feel supported while covering particularly sensitive topics.

For the design of the site itself, Zero put SpoiledChild’s gorgeous metallic capsule packaging front and center, making them large, floating, and always showing a sense of movement. Zero also integrated user-generated content (UGC) into the brand system and site, proving how the product works by having real-life people demonstrate its use and benefits. “With the UGC we wanted to make sure it all felt integrated with the story and authentic,” explains Goldwell. “We referred to these content creators as ‘SpoiledChildren’ and I feel like they helped bring the brand’s world to life.”

The site’s tongue-in-cheek messaging also helped solidify the brand’s disruptive identity, featuring big, bold in-your-face typography complimented by decidedly irreverent copywriting, such as, “Hot people are people too,” “Looking this good should be considered a public service,” and “If age is just a number, make yours 21.” Lastly, Zero also designed a series of out-of-home ads based on the art and creative directions they established.

Working in unison, each feature of the digital experience for SpoiledChild helps establish the brand as a loud and colorful disruptor that still keeps a sense of prestige, sophistication, and simplicity. “Instead of following all of the minimalist design tropes inherent to the beauty industry, the SpoiledChild team saw the power of personality,” adds Goldwell. “ As a result, the brand feels like a breath of fresh air in how bombastic it is while still feeling playful and enduring. It was a lot of fun to get under the skin of a brand using AI in such inventive ways and truly craft a world that consumers can step inside – one centered around encouragement, joy, and delight.”