Promotional image for Saks’ Glam Gardens 2016
Marketers in the luxury beauty and fragrance sector have turned to today’s technologies to capture the attention of consumers.
Above all, the social media-equipped consumer has provided marketers with endless inspiration whether it be the appointment of socially savvy models, a modern color palette and packaging approach or using a mobile application to hail a branded ride home. Technologies seen in the first half of 2016, such as virtual reality and live chat capabilities, have helped sector marketers create personal care efforts that are increasingly interactive way before a product is tried or purchased.
Here are the top 10 beauty and personal care brand efforts from the first half of 2016, in alphabetical order:
Sophie Turner for GQ and Burberry’s The Night Before
Burberry’s one night stand
Men’s lifestyle magazine GQ recounted what happened the night before through a native content partnership with British fashion house Burberry.
Created by the Condé Nast Britain Video team for GQ’s global markets, “Mr. Burberry: The Night Before…” is housed on the publication’s GQ Video channel and spins a narrative in three short films. The collaboration ties in with Burberry’s latest fragrance launch, Mr. Burberry, a cologne inspired by the brand’s iconic black trench (see story).
The first episode of Mr. Burberry: The Night Before… is titled “The Departure” and features British actress Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark on HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and Jean Grey in “X-Men Apocalypse,” which premiered in the UK on May 9.
In the 2 and half minute film, viewers see Ms. Turner laying in a bed while talking on her cell phone. Although viewers miss the start of the conversation, the bits heard shows Ms. Turner telling a friend that her companion for the night was gone by the time she woke up, giving no intimate details (see story).
Video still from Inside Chanel, chapter 15
Chanel’s couture concoction
In its latest Inside Chanel chapter, French atelier Chanel painted a self-portrait of its iconic N°5 perfume, introducing its backstory and role in the brand’s DNA.
Inside Chanel now consists of 15 chapters that explore the brand’s codes such as its use of particular colors, the lion motif and the legacy of founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel. As its most well-known fragrance, N°5 has been the subject of two other Inside Chanel chapters to date, showing the significance of the house’s first scent.
Chanel promoted the 15th chapter of Inside Chanel, titled “The Self-Portrait of a Perfume,” on its Facebook account by leading off with a quote from the video, in which the narrator speaks as if she is the fragrance, saying, “I am a consciousness, a way of walking, of thinking, of dreaming, of being true to oneself: a final flourish of elegance. A freedom” (see story).
Alicia Vikander, W magazine April 2015
Condé Nast knows what #TheLookIs
Media conglomerate Condé Nast has developed a new beauty franchise that will tell its readers what #TheLookIs.
Condé Nast’s #TheLookIs will be a socially-led beauty offering to help the conglomerate’s titles speak to next-generation consumers in the cosmetics and personal care space. Beauty has found a niche in the digital space, thriving on YouTube tutorials, personalization applications and user-generated content to propel new products and introduce countless users to sector leaders and up-and-comers.
Set to launch in September, #TheLookIs will connect Condé Nast publications with a new generation of beauty mavens. The concept will create a vast beauty network aggregating the content and audiences already available to Condé Nast through its beauty knowledge found at titles such as Vogue, W magazine and Vanity Fair, among others.
In addition to tapping its publication’s beauty sources, #TheLookIs was developed and informed by Condé Nast’s behavioral data insights (see story).
Bella Hadid for Dior cruise 2017
Dior’s Bella
French atelier Christian Dior’s newly recruited beauty ambassador Bella Hadid is giving consumers a sneak peek of what goes on before a runway presentation begins.
Dior announced Ms. Hadid’s appointment on May 31 with an Instagram post on its dedicated beauty account hours before its cruise 2017 runway show in London, just as enthusiasts would be checking out its social feeds for backstage content (see story). As Dior’s beauty ambassador, Ms. Hadid will star in a series of category-related films for the brand, allowing the atelier to leverage her large social following.
The first Ms. Hadid-fronted film was released in the days following Dior’s Blenheim Palace presentation. Doing so prolonged the discussion surrounding the cruise collection, but shifted attention to Dior’s cosmetic offerings.
Dior’s first episode in “Dior Makeup Live with Bella Hadid” series serves as an introduction to the model and the cruise beauty collection developed by Peter Philips, creative and image director for Dior Makeup (see story).
Sophia Loren for Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana’s inspiration
Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana has cast Sophia Loren in a three-act film, capturing the generational appeal of its latest women’s fragrance and its inspiration, the rose.
Dolce & Gabbana’s film was created to support the Dolce Rosa Excelsa fragrance and stars Italian Academy Award winners Ms. Loren, Giuseppe Tornatore and Ennio Morricone. The film traces Ms. Loren’s character and her five sons as they return to their ancestral home Villa Valguarnera di Bagheria, near Palermo, Sicily and the romantic events that unfold there after.
The minute-long film, if watched in succession, was directed by Mr. Tornatore, the fifth collaboration between the house and the director. The scores heard in the short film were composed by Mr. Morricone (see story).
Kendall Jenner and Irene Kim for The Estée Edit by Estée Lauder
Estée Edit
Beauty marketer Estée Lauder is appealing to the next generation of consumers with a collection designed specifically for a social media-savvy clientele.
The Estée Edit is retailing exclusively through Sephora in the United States and Canada on March 15, with a coinciding launch campaign featuring influencers and models Kendall Jenner and Irene Kim. When developing the line, Estée Lauder envisioned what its eponymous founder would do to disrupt the beauty market today, keeping heritage at the heart of this new brand extension.
The Estée Edit consists of 72 makeup and 10 skincare products, including a Pore Vanishing Stick and a white mud exfoliating scrub and mask. For this new collection, the brand revamped the original packaging designed by Ms. Lauder, using a silver and white color scheme remixed with blue splatter graphics.
Establishing a social community of “beauty junkies” around the Estée Edit, the brand has established a dedicated Instagram account for the collection (see story).
Instagram post from La Mer
Chatting with La Mer
Estée Lauder Cos.’ Crème de la Mer helped InStyle readers gear up for their own big night with an Oscar-themed live chat.
On Feb. 22, consumers could tune in to InStyle’s Facebook page to watch the 20-minute conversation between the magazine’s fashion and beauty editor at large Kahlana Barfield Brown and La Mer skincare expert Clyde Johnson. In addition to the editor’s questions, consumers could ask their own questions to get specific advice from Mr. Johnson.
At the beginning of the video Ms. Barfield Brown introduces Mr. Johnson and gives an endorsement, telling viewers that she frequently turns to him for skincare questions.
First, the editor offers up a timely question, asking what can be done to combat dry skin after riding in an airplane, something many luxurians are doing to attend the Academy Awards or fashion weeks around the globe (see story).
Marc Jacobs’ Daisy
Marc Jacobs beckons spring
U.S. fashion label Marc Jacobs collaborated with ridesharing app Uber as the car service worked to further expand its delivery program.
Beginning as an app for hailing a car service, Uber has now moved into the delivery space in a similar vein to Seamless, Peapod and Delivery.com, with options for food and product deliveries. Marc Jacobs teamed with Uber for an “immersive offering” for consumers living in New York.
Marc Jacobs incorporated its Daisy fragrance into the offering scheduled on Saturday, March 26. From noon to 6 p.m., Uber users living below 59th Street in Manhattan, Brooklyn’s Williamsburg, Greenpoint and DUMBO neighborhoods could also hail a ride in an Uber covered with daisies (see story).
Promotional image for Saks’ Glam Gardens 2016
Saks’ Glam Garden blooms
Department store chain Saks Fifth Avenue wandered through a secret garden with the help of 360-degree virtual reality video.
Created in support of its 2016 Glam Gardens in-store and digital experience, the virtual reality video was intended to introduce consumers unable to attend the physical aspects of the initiative to the beauty brands offered by Saks. Marketers have begun implementing virtual reality aspects into campaigns to turn flat, 2-D experiences into something much more immersive for consumers to enjoy and interact with.
Establishing a tradition, the retailer’s Glam Gardens campaign was back for the second year, this time playing off the theme of “The Secret Garden.” Presented by Mastercard, the multichannel effort saw the launch of a dedicated magalog, store window displays, a special high tea and digital experiences such as Snapchat geofilters.
Saks’ virtual camera led consumers down the facade of its flagship between 50th and 49th Streets and Fifth Avenue. The consumer could interact by either using her mouse on the desktop version or with her finger and by pivoting the screen on a mobile device (see story).
SK-II promotional image
SK-II spurs social change
Beauty marketer SK-II is helping single Chinese women overcome the stigma of being labeled a Sheng Nu, or leftover woman, in an emotional documentary-styled advert.
A Sheng Nu, meaning an unmarried female over the age of 27, is considered incomplete by Chinese society. SK-II’s “Marriage Market Takeover” film, which went viral in the month following its debut, brings to light the difficulties these women face since being cast as Sheng Nu.
Part of SK-II’s larger #ChangeDestiny movement, where the brand looks to defy age- and gender-related stereotypes, the Marriage Market Takeover film works to empower Sheng Nu to change their own destinies and challenge society’s views on being unmarried (see story).