Consonant Skincare rejected band-aid solutions when it cut the ribbon on its Toronto flagship retail store. The beauty industry presents skin problems as though they’re personal failings, when the environment, in some cases, might actually be the culprit. In turn, people seek ways to remedy skin issues after the fact, rather than caring for their skin beforehand.

Consonant Skincare wanted to inspire people to protect their skin, and so it worked with Zulu Alpha Kilo to demonstrate how a city’s surfaces react to the environment just like skin. Posters were applied to walls, sidewalks and lamp posts that featured textures like concrete, brick, plywood and stones. The caption read: “If your skin feels like this, visit us on June 30th.” Another execution featured UV-sensitive ink, with the line, “Like the ink on this poster, some signs of premature aging only show up after exposure to the sun.”

Through communications as natural as Consonant’s products, the flagship store launch received 100% higher-than-average transactions and double the expected coupon redemptions, with non-sale opening-day sales higher than two previous store opening. It also went home with a Silver in the Launch Strategy category.