Situation

Lancôme is a French heritage brand with a strong 50+ aged female audience. Our agency was tasked with shifting the dial towards a Gen Z and Millennial audience for the Lancôme brand through a Bastille Day event and campaign that re-engaged key media, beauty lovers and key tastemakers.

Brief

Launch Lancôme’s new happiness (internal) brand positioning and re-launch My Lancôme Rewards loyalty program to recruit a new, younger audience, while engaging its existing customer base.

Objectives

Engage, emotionally connect with new younger audiences by leveraging the happiness insight, and presenting the brand in unexpected ways.

Educate new audiences. Lancôme has always intrinsically linked together people and beauty through generous product experiences.

Differentiate by driving conversations around Lancôme as a pioneer in digital customer experiences with My Lancôme Rewards.

Drive brand relevance and commercial objectives, positioning Lancôme as a choice for all women, not just its loyal customer base.

- Guests were invited to explore multiple facets of happiness through notable commissioned pieces by Justin Ridler and Dr Lisa Cooper

- We leant on Ambassador Jesinta Franklin and other creatives to bring the happiness message to life from a press perspective and be the centrepiece of the content created

- Multi-sensory launch featured immersive product installations, inspiring guests to feel the Lancôme difference at every personalised touchpoint

- Guests were invited to experience the My Lancôme Rewards program with interactive rooms spotlighting the products

- Q&A with Jesinta Franklin hosted by media personality Ksenija Lukich

- Special performances by Australian singer-songwriter Vera Blue, global DJ Yo! Mafia, and quirky duo The Huxleys. These artists were selected based on their ability to connect with a Gen Z–Millennial market and to draw social virability and talkability.

Insight

Our campaign hinged on happiness. The world was in a recovery phase following the pandemic and people were seeking ways to maximise their personal experiences, focus on themselves, and create a happier tomorrow. Anecdotally, people desired events that pushed the boundaries and fostered a sense of connection through interactive, personalised touchpoints.

We leveraged Bastille Day as a timely hook to launch An Evening with Lancôme, an enchanting sit down spectacle held at The Eveleigh that amalgamated happiness, generosity and the iconic beauty brand’s French heritage.

Target audience

Our target audience was Gen Z/Millennials with a keen eye and appreciation for luxurious and sophisticated beauty products.

Key message

Every woman is encouraged to embrace her beauty and femininity, no matter her age with Lancôme.

Creation and distribution of assets

At the event, we captured a total of 150 still images and a 1min 13sec video.

Total spend: $350k

The campaign was in-market from July 14–late August 2022.

Brand event: Working with Creative Director Christian Wagstaff, our brand event was underpinned by the phrase ‘joie de vivre’, a fitting approach to spark happiness at every touchpoint. Digital artist, Justin Ridler and floral artist, Dr Lisa Cooper were engaged and charged with creating digital and floral installations that brought to life Lancôme’s brand motif, the rose.

Ambassador strategy: To recruit a new, younger audience, and drive positive branded press outcomes, we appointed Australian Media Personality and entrepreneur Jesinta Franklin. We engaged high reaching traditional publications - Today Show and News Limited for existing audiences – and beauty press for new audience recruitment.

Influencer strategy: Because talent is subjective/polarising, we invited a mix of unpaid/paid media, celebrities, social personalities, digital influencers and content creators to the event, offering content opportunities to target the largely Gen-Z/Millennial audience.

Overall, the campaign was a huge success and garnered the following results:

708 total hits across traditional and social media

45M+ unique reach

$6M+ total PR value

13:1 ROI which exceeded the industry benchmark of 8:1

129M+ total impressions

#1 buzz ranking across all luxury beauty categories

Across social media, the campaign generated a total of 689 social media hits, with 284k+ total engagements and a PR buzz value of $429k+.

Key press highlights included:

The Today Show (broadcast)

Herald Sun (print)

The Daily Telegraph (online and print)

The Sun Herald (online and print)

Elle Australia (online)

Harper’s Bazaar (online)

9Honey (online)

News.com.au (online)

Daily Mail Australia (online)

Retail Beauty (online)

Spotlight

From the bespoke cocktails upon arrival and the opulence and sophistication of the Eveleigh, to the love letters from Lancôme on guests’ seats and angelic voice of Vera Blue serenading beauty lovers into the night, guests were transported to Paris while happiness exuded throughout all event touchpoints.