www.iDagency.com

BEAUTY BRANDS GOING LIVE

Beauty is big business in Britain, worth an estimated £15bn a year the industry is continuing to grow. Perhaps the health of the beauty industry can be put in some small part down to the investment in live marketing that beauty brands have consistently made. There are several sources which cite Estee Lauder as the founder of experiential marketing when they first introduced what we now call in-store demonstrators to sample fragrances directly to consumers. Now of course there are a multitude of face-to-face marketing options available to beauty brands, but which is the right approach for each brand? Well this entirely depends on what the objectives for the brand are. This guide will outline which approaches have worked in the past to help beauty brand managers get the most out of their marketing budgets.

#1 BRAND AWARENESS

As brand awareness is often the primary objective for many of the big beauty brands, a national road show will give your brand maximum exposure visiting multiple high footfall locations. These large scale touring experiences can often be the most immersive, allowing for longer dwell time and interactions with consumers. This in turn generates engaging content for PR and social media.

Although selling is possible on roadshow campaigns, experiential campaigns are often used as a sampling occasion due to having the ability to reach large numbers of people in one go. Clever messaging and collateral can effectively drive purchase in-store or online - this route is ideal if you are looking for mass communication.

The Sanctuary celebrated their 30th birthday in style with their Spa in the City which toured city centres nationwide, providing free treatments, samples and drove traffic in -store.

#2 SALES

If sales are your number one priority then in-store demonstrations programmes are ideal. With a nationwide presence in retailers you can better compete at point of purchase. In-store activity provides measurable uplift as well as forging successful relationships with retailers for those beauty brands that have listings.

Revlon have had significant success in-store over the past 5 years. We’ve recruited and trained a core team who live and breathe the brand to sell in-store at strategic points throughout the year.

Revlon have seen an average uplift of 142% in sales when demonstrators have a presence on the high-street.

#3 NEW AUDIENCE Consumer shows, festivals and other ‘destinations’ should always be considered when looking to target a certain type of consumer – or to position your brand in a new context. By taking your product or brand directly to where your target audience is often makes the most sense, particularly for niche or premium brands.

Sleek make-up took an integrated approach to experiential when trying to reach a more fashion forward audience. Partnering with fashion brand PPQ at London Fashion Week and touring UK festivals and shopping malls allowed them to retail directly to the specific audience they were targeting.

£45k of sales later and the brand not only affected their bottom line but also created an engaging experience – offering mini-makeovers and a photo mechanism.

Traditionally we have supported beauty brands in-store when launching new products, both Elizabeth Arden and Revlon launch 4-5 products a year with us in this way. However in order to create a real buzz and wider awareness it may be necessary to cast a wider net, particularly for those brands that want to retail directly with their consumers.

#4 PRODUCT LAUNCH

Utilising vacant retail space on the high-street, or shopping malls can be a great way for beauty brands to retail. A traditional Pop-up Shop such as this creates significant stand out and brand awareness. This is an ideal way to test a retail concept or new product in a low risk way, but can also generate content for other channels when utilising social media or technology in innovative ways.

#5 CONTENT GENERATION FOR OTHER CHANNELS

Live experiences are engaging and the best form of sharable content generation whether that be for social, PR or above the line channels

Benefit saw impressive PR coverage with their Benefit Mascarathon campaign which raised money and awareness for domestic violence charity Refuge. The campaign saw 223 consumers and celebrity ambassadors running 2 miles each in a relay across the UK.

Of course there is no cut and fast rule. Every brand and all of their many objectives are different; therefore don’t feel like you have to keep up with the Jones’s when it comes to your competitors. The great thing about live brand experiences wherever they may be, is that they can be tailored totally to your brand, consumer and objectives.

Please get in contact if you’d like to speak to us about an experiential roadshow or in-store campaign for your beauty brand - call

020 7428 1461 or email hello@iDagency.com

www.iDagency.com