Pop-ups are taking over the beauty scene. At this point, it is rare to come across a brand that has yet to dive into the temporary shop phenomenon, which is unsurprising considering pop-ups are found to rake in 20 to 30% more revenue than a traditional brick-and-mortar store. From Amorepacific's second successful venture into the pop-up landscape to Foria's worldwide orgasm art treasure hunt, here are the latest notable retail installations:
Amorepacific: After the success of its K-pop-themed retail innovation in Soho, New York, at the end of last year that saw customers line up around the block, the Amorepacific Group presented another temporary shop in collaboration with Shopify. Celebrating the company's popular brands Innisfree and Laneige, the Seoul to SoCal pop-up was a free event offering several interactive elements for its visitors. Similar to the December pop-up, attendees were given a treasure map on entry and encouraged to visit different stations within the space, receiving stars they traded in for a free goody bag at the end of the event. Special offers, discounts, and complimentary refreshments were also available, as were gaming elements including claw machines populated with Innisfree samples. Inside the venue, different sections were dedicated to specific product offerings―such as Laneige's Sleeping Mask, decorated with giant versions of products that created perfect photo opportunities. Designated selfie spots were also featured, including a hot pink dome decorated with candy-floss-esque clouds that spilled across the steps to which guests were directed to get their best picture. Staff were on hand to walk customers through products or assist with samples.
Foria: In recognition of Women's History Month, sexual wellness brand Foria created a nationwide scavenger hunt that encouraged its community to search for expressions of pleasure in art. The OG O-Face Campaign invited consumers to photograph art pieces that featured a woman with an "O-face," a couple with an "O-face," a person who looked like they had used Foria's Awaken Arousal Oil, or a piece of art featuring the female gaze. Once these images were captured, participants were asked to upload the pictures to Instagram and tag the brand in the snaps or through a form on the brand's website. Uploading the images entered them into a competition where one winner will be selected to receive a one-year supply of Foria's Awaken Arousal Oil and Sex Oil, and five others will win a $100 Foria gift card and a membership to a local museum of their choice. The campaign also featured an event at the Brooklyn Museum that provided visitors with a guide to the Ancient Egypt, 18th Century Iran, American Art, and Center for Feminist Art exhibition rooms at its location. Several prompts and questions about each art piece further educated those involved in the history of sexual relationships and were printed onto the guide. Foria made this information available to all Foria fans across the globe; it served as a guide for the types of art to seek out for those living outside of NYC.
Charlotte Tilbury: Popping up in several locations across Europe, Charlotte Tilbury has begun a bus tour to promote its Pillow Talk range. The bus is adorned in a bright, baby pink wrap, with campaign images of models, and news headlines about the range printed onto it. Inside the bus, a large digital screen is on display, showcasing marketing content, light-up mirrors for a Hollywood glamour feel, a champagne fridge, and shelves stocked with Pillow Talk products. The campaign is thought to have involved over 2.5 million consumers so far, which is a significant number for the brand. "In a post-pandemic world, people want experiences that they can touch and feel, but that doesn't diminish the importance of creating work with the potential for a huge social reach. Because we do everything in-house, from conceptualization to physical builds, every aspect of the bus was created with marketing in mind to be as social media friendly as possible," Dean McCormick, Managing Director of Charlotte Tilbury says of the Instagramable event.
Benefit Cosmetics: The beauty brand presented the Pore Wash pop-up in New York in early March. The installation was created to offer a "sensorial playground" intended to educate customers on the new Porefessional Pore Care collection while offering the chance to try new products, receive expert advice, and win prizes. The temporary shop was themed to replicate elements of a car wash, with free-standing foaming and scrubbing gantry car wash mechanisms dotted around the location. Sections of the space were separated by various bold colors―including purple, blue, yellow, and orange―and decorated with bubbles as well as other elements that portrayed cleanliness. The experiential shopping space also touched down in London's Covent Garden towards the end of March and was live streamed on TikTok with a panel of industry experts who presented an "immersive master class" that taught viewers all they needed to know about the collection.
Aesop: The personal care brand contributed another International Women's Day-related pop-up. Taking place in Dongping Road, Shanghai, the pop-up took the form of a "Women's Library," that allowed women's voices to be heard while encouraging solidarity among women. For the week of March 3–10, 2023, all the shelves in the store were cleared and replaced with books related to feminism, which visitors could take home free of charge. According to Jing Daily, social media content of the pop-up generated over 708,000 views on the popular Chinese platform Xiaohongshu, with users showcasing the books they snapped up. In conjunction with the pop-up, Aesop also launched a series of podcasts in collaboration with Chinese personalities that discussed topics such as the relationship between men’s and women's literature.
Westfield: The shopping destination hosted a series of pop-ups in both its locations (White City and Stratford, London) to showcase the brands and products beauty has to offer. The event comes shortly after Sephora's UK launch within the retail giant. Pop-ups featured trailblazing brands, including MAC Cosmetics, Too Faced, and Neal's Yard Remedies. Visitors immersed themselves in cosmetic offerings and learned about their benefits before entering the stores and purchasing the products. Workshops were presented throughout the event, including The Clinic by Space NK, which offered the experience of high-quality skin examinations, advice, and facials, as well as hand massages from Margaret Dabbs and arm massages from Mirror Water Hair Hacks, beauty tips from Bread Beauty Supply addressing how to keep up with the latest trends, and makeup tutorials from MAC Cosmetics. The space was designed to look professional and clinically clean, with elements of color popping up in product displays, cosmetics stations, and sales counters.
Westman Atelier: The beauty brand is hosting its first-ever West Coast pop-up in LA. Taking place in the Grove shopping center, the location was chosen by founder Gucci Westman as homage to her early makeup artistry days that began just outside the city. The pop-up is set to run until April 20, 2023, and each week new events with different activities and product giveaways are scheduled. These include "meet and greets" with Westman, cocktail happy hours, makeup appointments and makeovers, and shade matching programs. For those purchasing products at the pop-up, custom engraving sessions will also be available. The pop-up follows a past event that took place inside Nordstrom’s flagship store in New York last September. Through this past event and the LA pop-up, the brand hopes to attract new customers after being primarily online due to its digitally native brand.
Tree Hut: The TikTok viral brand best known for its shower products―specifically body scrubs―hosted its first pop-up at 365 Broadway, New York City. The multisensorial experience allowed visitors to create their own personalized regimen alongside expert staff. Attendees were able to shop best sellers, as well as learn more about the brand during their experience. The pop-up was designed to immerse visitors in the brand's history while creating awareness of its portfolio of products and push the narrative that many more SKUs hold the same level of self-care and quality as those popular online. Decorated to fit the brands popular products, the space showcased products on shelves decorated with showers. According to Glossy, the brand used TikTok and the programmatic platform StackAdapt to examine how the pop-up impacted brand awareness in New York, online, and worldwide. Influencers Davis Burleson, Audrey Trullinger, and Nnenna B were hired to create specific content surrounding the event.
