Augustinus

bader

Revolutionary science, biological wisdom

What

Brand authorship and launch for a luxury skincare cult phenomenon

Role: Concept, copy lead

Agency: Sunshine

Creative Director: Cat Hope

Art Direction and Design: Alex Bones, Simon Holmes, Ursula Underhill

Editorial lead: Alison Smith

BRIEF: Create a brand to bridge premium efficacy and luxury desirability for a stem cell researcher’s skincare venture.

“The most successful new-to-market launch of all time”

Cassandra Grey, Founder, Violet Grey

Display of Augustus Bader skincare products on a white tiled shelf, featuring blue bottles with gold caps.

BRAND NARRATIVE

Until now, stem cell skincare brands had typically been either cold and clinical or ‘weird science’ niche oddities. To position Augustinus Bader adjacent to the growing conscious wellness movement being embraced by luxury audiences, we cast the non-invasive wound-healing process on which Professor Bader’s skincare was based as a sympathetic technology harnessing ‘the wisdom of the body’.

Under the brand line Revolutionary Science, Biological Wisdom, we created a brand story that balanced the enhancing effects of Professor Bader’s skincare innovations with an empowering celebration of our audience’s skin’s own innate ability to repair and renew.

A person swimming underwater with waves creating bubbles around them, and a quote in the center about science, technology, and the human body.
Close-up of a person's face and shoulder with text about the body's cellular unity and healing capacity.
Inspirational quote in white text on black background: 'We have no need to look to myths or miracles'.
Close-up of a person's shoulder and neck with dark skin, with text that reads "Everything your body needs, it already knows."
Close-up image of a textured, dark surface with a gray background, featuring overlaid text about Dr. Augustinus Bader's stem cell treatment.
Close-up of a person's face with closed eyes, outdoors in a natural setting with green grass.

CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

WEB BUILD: For the single product DTC-only launch, we worked with Stink to build an e-commerce site where consumers could explore both the brand philosophy and the product proof point of Professor Bader’s research in the field of wound healing.

To support the site, we created an editorial platform in which artists, poets, anthropologists and athletes (amongst others) shared their own experiences of the wisdom of the body.

Close-up of a woman with blonde hair looking downward, with overlaid text about revolutionary science and skincare.
Two blue skincare serum bottles with copper caps on a white surface with a beige wall and marble shelf in the background. Text on the image promotes unlocking the body's innate wisdom with a skincare range. There's a 'Shop now' button.
The cover page of the Bader Journal titled "Towards a deeper appreciation of the human body" features a close-up photograph of a woman with wavy blonde hair and fair skin. The journal's title and subtitle are displayed on a light green and white background.
A black and white close-up photograph of a human face with the hand covering the eyes, on the left side of the webpage titled 'The Social Body'.

LAUNCH ASSETS: featured the work of Magnum photographer Christopher Anderson, who we engaged with a brief to ‘reframe the body’ as an artefact of the natural world through abstracting angles, lighting and crops.

A close-up black and white photo of a woman with wavy hair resting her head on her arm, with a contemplative expression.
A photographer taking a close-up shot of a woman with a scenic landscape in the background.
A woman with blonde hair practicing yoga outdoors on a black mat, illuminated by the warm glow of sunset, with a scenic hillside landscape in the background.

CAMPAIGN: To support the efficacy claims of the brand’s The Cream and The Rich Cream products, we followed up with the beauty-led campaign, The Cream that Works starring Diane Kruger and makeup artist Pati Dubroff.

DOCUMENTARY: Rethinking Skin (trailer below) combined editorialised testimonials and macro photography to track the changes in it’s subjects’ skin over a 27-day skin cycle.

Participants included an olympic gold medal winner, a member of the royal ballet, a DJ and a journalist – all of which had their own relationship with their skin, dictated by their biology and lifestyle.

IN A LINE: Revolutionary Science, Biological Wisdom

“Perhaps no other brand better represents the last decade in skincare than Augustinus Bader”

Puck