Five findings that reshaped how the brand names and labels its serums
A science-led D2C brand questioning whether its naming language was working
A science-led D2C skincare brand with an ingredient-transparency positioning needed ground-truth data on how young urban Indians actually process serum names and ingredient claims, after category naming drifted toward abstract language like Glow Boost and Skin Balancing.
The brand needed to know which serum names win for each skin concern, which ingredients carry the most purchase-ready credibility, where the knowledge gaps sit, and whether skin type, gender, or city changes what works.
Five questions that defined the research
A concern-routed quantitative study built to test naming and ingredient claims the way consumers actually shop
Flickly conducted a quantitative consumer study among urban Indian serum users aged 18 to 25, routing respondents into concern-specific modules and analysing results across skin type, gender, and city to determine whether a unified national naming strategy was viable.
Concern-routed survey design
Respondents were routed into concern-specific modules based on their top skin concerns, evaluating name options, reasons for preference, and perceived ingredient effectiveness within each module.
Audience and reach
A quantitative study among urban Indian serum users aged 18 to 25, spanning major metro markets, representing the premium D2C skincare category.
Name and ingredient evaluation
Within each concern module, respondents evaluated competing name options for preference, and rated perceived effectiveness of the ingredients carried in each.
Cross-segment analysis
Results were analysed across skin type, gender, and city to determine whether a unified national naming strategy was viable, or whether segmentation was required.
Name it like the consumer, not the chemist
- Across every concern module tested, names that stated the problem or expected outcome outperformed names built on abstract or aspirational language, by wide margins.
- Glow-led names placed last in every module they appeared in: glow works as a supporting cue in the story, not as the primary product name.
- Salicylic acid, Vitamin C, and Niacinamide do most of the trust-building work and need prominent placement as front-of-pack proof anchors.
- Newer ingredients like Tranexamic acid and PDRN cannot stand alone: every use must be paired with a plain-language outcome statement.
