So, imagine that a brand could tell you which moisturiser is best for your face out of thousands of choices …. and why. Imagine that a brand could help you reduce the chances of a disease that may run in your family and, at the same time, connect you to a network of other people who share the same risks and concerns.
Michel Mommejat, the president of Genesis Healthcare, now rechristened to ADAM Innovations in Tokyo, and a former agency leader, is realising this future. Mommejat makes a big and credible claim, even without wearing a black turtleneck. His company can provide marketers with precision targeting using DNA sequence data through consented, anonymised online communities.
ADAM Innovation’s database of over 300,000 individuals was constructed primarily by targeted DNA information and corresponding characteristics. In taking their genetic tests, users frequently choose to join an app-based community organised around specific wellness topics like diet, fitness, beauty and gut health. Mommejat explains, "Based on your line of the genetic prediction risk, you can see how if I gain 5 kilos or 10 kilos, what is the increased risk? If I stop drinking or smoking, is it reducing my risk? This is the type of value that people can get by using and sharing their data."
Within a controlled, social-media-like environment, brands serve targeted advertising by reaching users grouped into communities based on their interests. Experts inform the conversations. Michel emphasises that no personal information is transferred to advertisers. "This is totally opt-in. This is totally anonymised. You cannot identify the user." Within ADAM Innovations’ platform, advertisers work within aggregated, anonymised targeting parameters.
Communities within their platform, as Mommejat puts it, are “highly motivated and interested.” Unlike impulse buyers, someone who takes a genetic test to learn something about themselves has likely researched a topic, discussed it with family or friends, and made a considered decision.
Shiseido developed the Shiseido Beauty DNAprogram, collaborating with ADAM Innovations during Covid. Toshiro Sugimoto, then the chief digital officer at Shisedo, now at Tiffany and Co., noticed that the pandemic disrupted personal rituals and habits in ways that piqued demand for wellness: physical, spiritual and mental. For Shiseido, habit change was a value it wanted to deliver by providing personalised, evidence-based advice to its customers. As Toshiro puts it, “as you grow older, you form habits, and then it's really difficult to break that habit. The cognitive mind in many senses, in many ways, because the mind or the brain wants to shortcut or do the least amount of work." As such, Shiseido needed to move from outer beauty into the territory of inner beauty.
On its own, Shiseido’s researchers had been studying how hereditary traits affect skin beauty. A.D.A.M’s platform provided the kit infrastructure to collect and process saliva DNA samples, while Shiseido provided the analytical framework. Together, they provided a highly personalised skin and nutrition profile for their customers.
Here’s how it worked: customers purchased the Shiseido Beauty DNA kit at retail counters. They submitted a saliva sample, which was then cross-referenced with Shiseido's own research database. Results were presented at an in-store or Zoom consultation with a beauty adviser, covering three outputs: which skin traits (wrinkles vs. sagging vs. pigmentation) were genetically likely; which vitamin deficiencies were hereditary; and a recommended product selection drawn from Shiseido's 56,000 SKUs across 32 brands—not a brand-pushed selection, but a genetics-informed one.
The DNA sequence used by ADAM is only a snippet of an individual’s genome. Today, it costs nearly a thousand dollars to sequence a whole human genome. In 10 years, this cost will come down significantly. What happens when companies less scrupulous than ADAM, which owns genetic databases, decide to generate revenue by unmasking DNA profiles and selling them to marketers?
There will be unprecedented abilities for brands to create value for customers, especially when genomic information is linked to an individual’s demographic, buying and social preferences. Imagine how powerful AGI technologies will be when combined with this information. Imagine the potential dangers.
Evidence-based marketing using DNA has thus far been deployed on a small scale. Make no mistake. DNA-informed communications will be an earthquake for our profession. Every couple of months or so, we talk about an innovation of the decade. Like it or not, this may really be it. Get out your chequebooks and prepare.
Barry Lustig leads Cormorant Group, a Tokyo-based executive search consultancy.
