Charlotte Tilbury is ushering in the next digital engagement phase in its customer services evolution. Having previously brought a customized and glamorous experience to virtual consultations, the high-end beauty brand is now taking its endeavors to new heights, with the help of repeat collaborator experiential e-commerce platform Obsess. In honor of the brand’s recently expanded Pillow Talk collection, which saw the launch of four new products in April of this year and a shade expansion in early 2020, Charlotte Tilbury launched the Pillow Talk Party Virtual Wonderland.
Obsess, which recently secured a $10 million Series A funding round, specializes in photorealistic online activations—a far cry from the lagging, pixelated interface with which the concept began decades ago. Meanwhile, Charlotte Tilbury has been harnessing the power of such activations to add excitement and engagement to the online shopping process, naturally bathed in lustrous rose gold.
Time spent online isn’t diminishing any time soon, and with that comes higher expectations for not just aesthetics but also engagement possibilities. “Demand for these kinds of immersive online shopping, entertainment, gaming, and fitness experiences has skyrocketed during the pandemic, making it now crucial for brands to offer distinct and engaging virtual store experiences to differentiate themselves from their online competitors,” Neha Singh, founder and CEO of Obsess, tells BeautyMatter. “With each of Charlotte Tilbury’s new campaign launches over the past year and a half, the company has evolved its virtual presence, making its Obsess-powered virtual store experience richer and more immersive and engaging for customers. This launch is the most advanced yet.”
Upon entering the pink paradise that is the Pillow Talk Party Virtual Wonderland—greeted by a 3D volumetric avatar of Tilbury herself, who is surrounded by a sparkling interface decorated with disco balls—visitors are welcomed into a boudoir with makeup tutorials for (directly shoppable) base, cheek, and lip products. The Party room offers the chance to enter a giveaway for the entire collection (recently expanded with four new products alongside the bestselling Pillow Talk Lip Cheat and Matte Revolution Lipstick). The platform also enables live video shopping excursions with up to 10 friends and a complimentary 15-minute virtual consultation to create a Pillow Talk Party look. Other highlights include interactive 3D products and livestream content.
“The Pillow Talk franchise is one of our most iconic, world-famous collections, it’s a cult favorite, easily recognized and suits everyone. At Charlotte Tilbury, we’re always looking for innovation and technologies that could bring this much-loved collection even closer to our customers, show them even more exclusive content and provide an experience inspired by the collection itself,” a spokesperson at Charlotte Tilbury tells BeautyMatter. “Our Pillow Talk Virtual Beauty Wonderland gives everyone, everywhere, at any time, the opportunity to immerse themselves in the sights and sounds of the collection.”
Crafting the experience meant predicting “the evolving psychology and motivations of the ‘new-internet’ and the metaverse-savvy customer,” which includes “moments of true and genuine connection,” they state. Delightfully skipping through the interface to the soundtrack of Baccara’s timeless hit “Yes Sir, I Can Boogie,” one can’t help but feel filled with that very emotion that permeates beauty with its gravitational pull: the excitement of discovery. Akin to a swan effortlessly gliding across the water’s surface while its feet furiously paddle below, behind the joyful user experience are months of technical finesse and digital alterations.
“One of the challenges in creating the Obsess platform was seamlessly bringing together all of these advanced capabilities that most e-commerce platforms don’t have today into one cohesive and immersive experience,” Singh states, adding that conveying the digital interface on mobile was particularly complex. “With graphics this rich, ensuring optimal processing and performance can also be tricky. Additionally, launching the virtual store simultaneously across all the global markets in which Charlotte Tilbury operates required quite a bit of work and tight coordination.”
The new video commercial for the collection has championed a welcoming and diverse representation, including the likes of Twiggy, Jourdan Dunn, Fernando Casablancas, and Ceval Omar. With the Pillow Talk Party Virtual Wonderland, Charlotte Tilbury is offering even more beauty enthusiasts an opportunity to get in on the fun. “We are now on our fourth virtual store, and for every new launch we learn from our customers and push boundaries to add more features and improvements for them to discover and explore,” the Charlotte Tilbury spokesperson explains. “This launch further cements our evolving position as a beauty-tech platform as it continues to elevate the digital customer experience—seamlessly transitioning from physical realities, to augmented reality, to virtual reality. There’s so much more to come—so watch this space!”
