Shiseido Americas Acquires Creative Agency JWALK

Shiseido Americas Corporation has acquired JWALK, a full-service creative agency, bringing cutting-edge creative and digital design power to support the company’s brands. The acquisition significantly and immediately elevates Shiseido’s creative excellence and speed and is consistent with the company’s Vision 2020 goal to accelerate the growth of its brands through effective digital strategies and consumer-oriented marketing, according to the global beauty giant.

Since its founding in 2010 by Doug Jacob, Michael Lastoria and Charlie Walk, JWalk and its team of experts have become leaders in the art of purpose-driven creative design, partnering with marquee lifestyle-driven brands across the beauty, fashion, hospitality, spirits and consumer packaged goods industries to drive success in brand building and digital communication.

JWalk has a long-standing relationship with Shiseido, having worked with the company for the last four years, particularly on the company’s bareMinerals and Buxom brands. 

Jacob will be chief creative director, Shiseido Americas and founder, JWalk. He will report to Jill Scalamandre, president of Shiseido’s Global Makeup Center of Excellence.

As an integrated part of the Shiseido Americas organization, JWalk will work hand-in-hand with Shiseido’s brand teams, playing a role in the entire creative process, from strategy to execution, and from concept to delivery. JWalk will provide innovative ideas, digital savviness, and creative support to help strengthen each brand’s creative consistency across all consumer touchpoints.

“Creative excellence is at the core of consumer communication and is key to building the value of our prestige brands,” says Masahiko Uotani, president and CEO of Shiseido Group. “I am convinced that Jwalk will add significant intangible value and capabilities to our marketing efforts, especially in leveraging their digital communication expertise. I also look forward to JWALK’s collaboration with our creative teams in Tokyo on key projects to deliver creative excellence on a global scale.”

“Creative power and agility have never been more important to a brand’s success. Jwalk’s team members are bold, talented experts who have delivered stunning results by pushing the envelope in thoughtful, innovative and integrative ways. They bring tremendous expertise and energy in creative content, digital design, and brand building and will help our brands drive creative excellence across the board,” noted Marc Rey, president and CEO of Shiseido Americas.  “This acquisition immediately sets Shiseido apart from the traditional approach to beauty marketing and how companies like ours approach creative excellence. By infusing Jwalk into our entire creative process, we will not only be able to achieve organic, 360-degree results, but we will also have greater speed and agility in both the assets we create and the way we work. I am excited to welcome Jwalk into our team as we drive our brands to the next level of success.”