In June Shiseido Travel Retail staged an ambitious Nars Icons animation at China Duty Free Group’s Sanya International Duty Free Shopping Complex, in Haitang Bay, which resulted in sales well above the expectations of the brand.

 

Held from 2 to 29 June, the brand was able to build on it its growing presence in China with the latest activation supported by an extensive digital media and marketing campaign on Chinese social media platforms, which resulted in a combined online reach of 35.9m, while sales rose +26% above Nars’ expectations.

 

The Nars Icons animation featured a global-first augmented reality (AR) game; the brand’s first-ever celebrity engagement in travel retail with Chinese actress, Wang Ou; and CDF-exclusive sets that consist of Nars’ iconic products.

 

The campaign was also boosted by an extensive, omnichannel marketing programme, centred around the Chinese consumer and spanned across digital platforms and interactive instore experiences.

 

KEY STRATEGIC DOOR IN TRAVEL RETAIL

Elisabeth Jouguelet, Vice President of Marketing & Innovation, Shiseido Travel Retail, commented: “Since its travel retail debut in China last year, Nars has grown its duty free footprint to five stores, with CDF Mall Haitang Bay becoming a key strategic door for the brand.

We are pleased to have brought the Nars Icons animation to this important market with China Duty Free Group; this collaboration marked our steadfast commitment to our retailer partner and our core Chinese traveller audience during these unprecedented times.

 

“The animation was a bold expression of Nars’ modern, audacious and iconic style, and its engaging digital and in-store elements were a testament to our dedication to creating captivating and exciting experiences for the ever-changing consumer.

 

Together with CDFG, we implemented a thrilling online-to-offline (O2O) consumer journey for all visitors as they resumed their travel plans within China, and the results affirm the appeal of Nars and lay a blueprint of success for future initiatives.”

 

Terry Chua, Vice President of Central Merchandising Division, China Duty Free Group added: “We were very proud to host the Nars Icons campaign at CDF Mall Haitang Bay, our most premium mall in China.

 

AUGMENTED REALITY

“Shiseido Travel Retail is a longstanding partner with a strong track record in consumer experience, digital engagement and retailtainment, and this was reflected in our exclusive collaboration with Nars, which brought a high level of excitement as we welcomed consumers back to our stores.”

 

At the activation, consumers scanned a QR code to play the Nars Icons AR game, after which, they could redeem a product sample for their participation.

 

They then had the opportunity to discover Nars’ top five bestselling products.

 

With the cessation of makeup demonstration services for the safety of consumers, iPads were stationed at the makeup consultation table to allow consumers to watch makeup tutorials and learn artistry tips to experiment on their own using Nars’ products.

 

Shoppers were invited to vote for their favourite top five iconic Nars products, by pressing a button at the outpost.

 

DRIVING ONLINE CONVERSIONS

Consumers could also purchase CDF-exclusive sets that consisted of the Aqua Glow Cushion Foundation Duo Set, the Light Reflecting Setting Powder Loose Duo and the Essential Set, as well as redeem gifts with purchase, depending on the amount spent.

 

The Nars Icons digital campaign, which targeted visitors to Sanya, was aimed at driving online conversions via the CDFG e-commerce store as well as footfall to the animation.

 

Nars utilised targeted programmatic ads to engage consumers and drive traffic to the Nars dedicated page on the CDFG website, where they could make their purchases and self-collect at the pop-up.

 

As mentioned, the campaign partnered with Chinese actress Wang Ou, the brand’s first-ever celebrity engagement in travel retail, and Chinese beauty KOLs to amplify the launch on their Weibo accounts.

 

Wang Ou, who has a following of 12.6 million on Weibo, created video content introducing CDFG’s exclusive set and promoting the animation to drive awareness and conversion. To generate further buzz on social media, CDFG developed eye-catching campaigns across its Weibo, WeChat and Douyin social media platforms with impressive results.