Lancome & Napoleon Studio
Creative & Experience
Insight
By Molly Presly
26th Jun 2024
Creating engaging brand activations is crucial in the beauty industry, with consumers wanting to buy into an experience and a lifestyle alongside the quality and benefits of the cosmetic products themselves. We’re sharing our top 5 experiential design trends inspiring beauty brand activations right now.
Monochrome palettes aren’t going anywhere in the experiential space. Influencer Molly Mae’s home account on Instagram featuring entirely monochrome snaps of her home has 1.3 million followers, showing the current popularity of this aesthetic. These minimal styles with elegantly simple palettes and carefully curated decor items make a great backdrop for beauty products – more visual appeal and less distraction make hero ranges and products stand out as much as possible.
Creating cosy, home-like environments – think comfortable seating, and soft lighting (say goodbye to the big light) makes larger beauty brand activations more intimate and inviting, encouraging event guests to engage with the brand for longer.
Creating a cohesive, immersive theme that can be used across a product launch, digital campaign and brand activation creates a 360 campaign, making your beauty brand come to life across every possible touchpoint. We created Idole House for Lancôme – a luxury pop-up in Covent Garden for the launch of the Idole Butterglow. The pop-up included a beauty lab, a VIP influencer event and professional makeup masterclasses – guests were totally immersed in the luxury of Lancôme from start to finish.
Biophilic design which mimics nature is becoming increasingly popular in beauty brand activations. This style is often used to emphasise beauty brands’ values when it comes to sustainability – a factor becoming more important for brands as the purchasing power of Gen Z and Gen Alpha increases. 62% of Gen Z purchasers prefer to buy products from a sustainable brand.
Customised ultimately means more memorable. Whether it’s skincare routines for your specific skin concerns or shade-matching for base products, customisation will always give the consumer a better experience with your beauty products. Interactive installations, such as virtual try-ons using AR and VR also add to the experience. Tailored gifting is also key here, with samples playing a big part in brand activations for both consumers and beauty content creators.
Effective brand activations incorporate experiential design trends in ways that capture attention but are unique to their brand and audience, not the copy-and-paste approach. Looking to elevate your next unique brand experience?
Highlights of our Beauty Brand Activations
