The Future of Sun Protection

Kao
Project with NEXT Innovation Scholars Program
Fall 2025
Contracted Insights and Future Foresight Analyst

The NEXT Innovation Scholars is a highly selective scholarship program at the University of Cincinnati spearheaded by President Neville G. Pinto that builds on and supplements traditional discipline-based degree programs with program-specific requirements integrated into the course of their degree without adding additional years of study.

Applied strategic foresight methodologies to identify future innovation opportunities in the sun protection category for Kao brands: Jergen's, Biore, Bondi Sans, and Curel.

Due to client agreements, I can not share any details of the work online but can discuss our process in an interview setting.

The Research

The team conducted landscape research spanning 141 articles and conducted 28 stakeholder interviews. From these, insights were pulled and applied alongside signals of the future to identify 5 drivers that will impact sun protection.

The Result

The team identified areas where Kao could win 5-15 years in the future: explained through approachable, in-depth user personas.

Ellie Joyce