Kiehl’s Found an Unlikely Success in Fortnite, Blending Skincare and Gameplay

Legacy brands are finding new audiences in places once reserved for play. Kiehl’s discovered an unexpected growth channel in Fortnite, where its first skincare-gaming campaign reached more than 1.6 million players and lifted sunscreen sales 40%, showing how immersive experiences are becoming the next frontier for consumer engagement.

“It’s a unique blend of entertainment and education,” said Guillaume Monsel, senior vice president of operational marketing at Kiehl’s, to PYMNTS. “Players get to enjoy a game they already love while learning about the importance of SPF and skincare. That kind of seamless integration of play and education is rare, and it made this collaboration both impactful and effective.”

Blending Play With Purpose

The campaign turned Kiehl’s Better Screen UV Serum SPF 50+ into a playable feature inside Fortnite’s Minigame Box PvP mode. Players collected in-game versions of the UV Serum and UV Blaster, embedding the brand directly into gameplay rather than relying on traditional ads.

“One of the biggest challenges was making sure our brand felt authentic in a gaming universe,” Monsel said. “We wanted educational content to feel native to the experience, not like a forced overlay. That meant adapting Kiehl’s heritage and visual identity to Fortnite’s aesthetic without losing who we are, and it took a lot of collaboration and iteration to get that right.”

The payoff was clear. The activation generated more than 75 million minutes played and 35.5 million total impressions, ranking among Fortnite’s top three branded maps. About 1.19 million players selected the Kiehl’s map whenever it appeared, a 74% vote-through rate.

Beyond engagement, the campaign produced tangible business results. Direct-to-consumer searches rose 12%, and Amazon sales climbed 42% compared with May and June levels. “The campaign didn’t just capture attention,” Monsel said. “It educated consumers to the point of driving conversion, which is exactly what success looks like for us.”

Brands Level Up Across Platforms

Kiehl’s move joins a long line of retailers testing virtual engagement. Recently major retailers have partnered with Meta, Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox in a bid to connect with younger audiences.

Walmart, for example, built out entire virtual experiences in Minecraft and Roblox that replicate its grocery and retail environments, as reported by PYMNTS. Players can explore virtual aisles, fill digital shopping carts and earn in-game rewards tied to real-world products. The retailer has also hosted immersive concerts, and fashion showcases that blend entertainment with commerce, part of its broader strategy to reach younger consumers who spend more time in digital worlds.

Disney has focused on developing story-driven, branded spaces across Meta’s Horizon Worlds, where users can interact with characters and settings from its franchises. The goal is to extend its storytelling universe while keeping fans inside its ecosystem across physical, streaming and virtual channels.

Wendy’s famously entered Fortnite to destroy freezers in a campaign that protested frozen beef. The fast-food chain’s playful presence quickly became one of the most talked-about brand activations in the game.

Roblox has also seen a wave of beauty activations. Essence Makeup launched “Kingdom of Essentia: Guardians of the Lash Princess,” and acne-care brand Differin introduced mini-games to teach skin-health basics. Nike created Nikeland on Roblox, a branded environment where users can play sports-themed mini-games and try on virtual versions of Nike gear. Players can then buy matching physical items through integrated eCommerce links, effectively turning gameplay into a retail experience.

Monsel said Kiehl’s objective was not to replicate other brands’ efforts but to find a setting where it could connect authentically. “Fortnite gave us a testbed to learn how to translate education, product storytelling and community engagement into a vivid, interactive form,” he said. “It wasn’t about chasing a trend. It was about showing up where our consumers already are.”

From Experiment to Playbook

While “metaverse” headlines have faded, brands are again exploring how virtual spaces can create real connection. As PYMNTS reported, the next wave of immersive marketing focuses less on spectacle and more on interactivity, identity and community.

Kiehl’s campaign reflects that shift. Instead of building a virtual storefront or offering digital collectibles, the brand created a playable story around SPF awareness that resonated with an audience of mostly 18-to-34-year-old players. That demographic also overlaps strongly with Kiehl’s existing customer base.

Monsel said this first activation is shaping the brand’s future approach. “This wasn’t a one-off experiment,” he said. “We’re using insights from this campaign, what types of mechanics resonated, what players engaged with most, to inform future campaigns, product communications and even new product features.”

For a brand that began in 1851 as an East Village apothecary in New York City, Kiehl’s found an unexpected stage inside Fortnite.

The post Kiehl’s Found an Unlikely Success in Fortnite, Blending Skincare and Gameplay appeared first on PYMNTS.com.