Web3 Beauty Brand KIKI Is Co-Created By Customers, Made Via AI Tech

New Web3 ready beauty brand KIKI is putting its community in the driving seat, letting them vote on the products that go to into production.

“To build a brand for the future, we need to build it with people so they need to be able to tell us what they want,” co-founder and CEO, Jana Bobosikova said in an interview.

First to market is a nail polish called Pretty Nail Graffiti. Three basic shades — black, white and crackle — are available to order from the website and users can also vote on 10 potential colors to determine which come next. The action of voting accrues loyalty points which translate into discounts when the voted for color goes on sale.

“Beauty rallies around physical product so we wanted to have some that were ready to go,” she explained.

Participation is free and can be done either via traditional email sign-up or by minting blockchain based token KIKI World Pass. For the record, KIKI is assuming the cost of the gas fees for this initial token, object being to onboard as many people as possible.

So while a blockchain based subscription is not a requirement, as things develop, the full benefits conferred by the Web3 proposition will become increasingly apparent. The next phase, rolling out in the latter part of the year will add further elements of ownership and revenue sharing to the on-chain proposition.

It’s a pragmatic approach says Bobosikova, because for now, at least, for the majority of customers, blockchain based tokens and custodial wallets still represent a barrier to entry. While KIKI is launching direct to consumer, the plan is to work with wholesale partners going forward.

The product: Pretty Nail Graffiti

As for that all important physical product itself, it’s just as innovative as the concept. The polishes come in one-handed, refillable pens with a click out brush like a marker. A certified clean, water-based formula means that you simply peel them off when you want to change your shade.

Bobosikova likens them to lipsticks: “We’re about expression as a first principle. Why shouldn’t you change your nail color three times a day?” She adds that the formulation dries more quickly than regular polish, doesn’t smell and isn’t flammable.

The pens also come with NFC chips (like the ones Uniqlo uses which prevent garments buzzing when you leave the store having paid) in the caps that pair with a smartphone app so members get points every time they use them. “Normally beauty customers only get rewarded when they make a purchase which is pretty lame,” quips Bobosikova.

Lead time to production of any of the colors is one month — made possible via robotics and artificial intelligence. “This allows us the translate the digital signature of a color into a formula very fast. We’re one of the first to use it,” says Bobosikova. Pigment is blended with a milky base color to achieve the shades via a very precise calculation achieved through a combination of robotics and AI.

Products next in line

There’s a further suite of products already developed which will likewise be put to the vote to determine which come next. They include a hardball cleanser which dissolves into foam in under a second, an eyeliner meets face and body paint, a one day hair color and a micro fluid moisturizer.

Users will also have a say on functional attributes such as skin type (acne prone, hyper pigmentation or dry skin). And if you’ve participated in the voting process, you will receive additional digital collectibles when you come to purchase them. “We want everything to be interactive and playful,” says Bobosikova. “Informed by the latest technology but also serving the most basic of needs.”

What else is on the market?

A non-Web3 beauty brand that favors such a community driven approach is French start-up Nide.co. Beauty fans can submit ideas based on skin and hair issues they would like to see its new products tackling. If the team thinks one has potential they put it to community vote via the website.

If the idea gets over 2000 votes over the course of three months, its initiator wins around $1500. Then it goes to the lab to be formulated and a beta version is tested by the community, optimized according to their feedback and sent to market. The person who submitted the idea gets 10% of profits.

Currently under development on aforementioned basis is a restructuring product for curly hair while an anti-friction reparative cream for chaffing thighs with 3453 votes is next in line. Many of the top performing products are linked to hormonal issues.

The brand launched DTC in 2018 and is now retailed with leading wholesalers including Printemps.

The Team Behind Kiki

With a background in the beauty industry, Bobosikova has a track record in fast growing brands and operations outfits. Her fellow co-founders CCO Ricky Chan and CMO Brendon Garner have created influential start-ups, scale-ups and international names. KIKI is backed by backed by leading tech and consumer investors, including a16z Crypto Startup School, Red DAO, Double Down, FirstLight and 2 Punks Capital.

Final analysis

A hyper engaged and invested community is a common denominator of both beauty and blockchain so if you can onboard beauty devotees it’s a massive step forward in moving the needle towards mass adoption of web3.

Up until now though, beauty industry related Web3 loyalty programs have followed a pretty traditional model — community membership with perks generally conferring access to token gated product be it physical, virtual or both.

Once KIKI transitions into its next phase — fully revealing its decentralized ethos of value via shared ownership — it will significantly raise the game.

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